I was rereading “That’s the Way We (Used to) Do things Around Here [1],” by Jeffrey Schwartz, Pablo Gaito, and Doug Lennick, a strategy-business.com [2]article published in February 2011. Because ACA’s Director of Research, Deb Bialeschki, and I often talk about mindfulness, self-regulation, and reflection, a couple of sentences in the article caught my eye:
“The kind of mindfulness that accomplishes this [change] combines metacognition (thinking about what you are thinking) and meta-awareness (moment-by-moment awareness of where your attention is focused). Adam Smith, the 18th-century philosopher, understood this. He described self-directed reflections as an ‘impartial spectator’ . . . .”
We train counselors each year to do what neuroscience has described as “attention density.” Pay attention, be in the moment [3], and respond to the current environment — not just habitual patterns. We help them refocus their behaviors to be aligned with the positive outcomes we all desire for our campers. We are grooming future leaders, and we understand that leadership demands a high level of self-awareness. Our efforts are two-fold: camper and counselor development.