Cultivating Mindful Leadership: Engaging Wholehearted Practices in the Hamlet Process

The production process of Hamlet provided me with opportunities to embody various attributes of conscious leadership. In Hamlet, the eponymous character asserts "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." This quotation relates to the practice of mindfulness, which I have incorporated into my work as a leader. As the Production Stage Manager of Hamlet, I was a conscious leader, cultivating awareness of the production's collaborative dynamics and ways in which I could actively and intentionally facilitate continual change. The majority of the characters in Hamlet are woefully unaware of the disturbing realities of their lives. Hamlet, however, is arguably the most aware being in Elsinore; he knows that he must confront his inner demons to bring justice and righteousness back to his world. He realizes, "I must be cruel only to be kind, thus bad begins and worse remains behind." Only by exposing the people of Denmark to this painful truth can they begin to restore balance, harmony, and peace to the kingdom. Conscious leadership means being aware of the adaptive challenges surrounding collaboration. It means remaining flexible in the midst of change and empathically speaking truth to foster trust. By culminating my graduate studies with Hamlet, I have grown to understand that support cannot exist without presence, flexibility cannot exist without compassion, and curiosity cannot exist without courage. Through my journey towards conscious leadership, I have discovered how to guide with an open mind and an open heart