Want to be a Successful Leader?

Mariann Johnson knew there was meaningful work that needed to be done.

For years she worked with leaders who were trying to work through changes in their organizations, focusing on how to be most effective when leading and working with others. Too often, by the time Johnson started working with these leaders, they were stressed out. Not to mention, the work they were doing in an attempt to make positive changes in their organization was very challenging and not always successful.“It really made me want to work with leaders to manage stress levels, help them access more internal resources, and in turn be more resourceful for others,” says Johnson, who came on board in 2019 as a Mindfulness and Wellbeing Instructor at the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. “I wasn’t certain how that work would unfold, but I knew I wanted to work with the Bakken Center, and with leaders to make a positive change.”

Johnson wanted to help make that a change from the inside out, including not only how people view leadership, but how leaders successfully lead. With years of mindfulness training and organizational development consulting under her belt, she knew that self-awareness and resilience were required to be an effective leader. So, with the help of her peers at the Bakken Center, Johnson created the Self-Leadership: Strengthening Leadership Effectiveness from the Inside Out workshop series.

The online series consists of four, 90-minute sessions and is open to everyone interested in expanding their leadership capacity, including students, university employees and those in the community. “I’m really proud of our team for coming up with this program. We worked really hard to make sure the cost of the program wasn’t a barrier to learning about these personal wellbeing and leadership strategies,” Johnson says. 

The workshop focuses on topics that Johnson has found to be most helpful for the leaders and aspiring leaders she’s worked with over the years, including personal wellbeing, capacity for self-awareness, self-care, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy. These skills help those in traditional business and organization settings, along with leaders and aspiring leaders in the community and in family settings.

“Self-compassion plays a huge role in leadership,” Johnson says. When under stress and facing challenges, many leaders tend to jump to working harder and faster, which when unchecked, can easily lead to burnout.

“Think about it – of course no one works under ideal circumstances all the time, but when we learn to recognize and care for our internal needs and external pressures with self-compassion and care, rather than self-criticism and reactivity, research tells us we not only become more effective leaders, but also role models for those we serve and lead.”

In fact, a recently published paper by the Gallup Organization focused on how a person’s wellbeing impacts their work life as well as life outside of work. “When employees are experiencing personal wellbeing, they take fewer sick days, deliver higher performance, and have lower rates of burnout and turnover,” says Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer, director of the Bakken Center. “When employees’ wellbeing suffers, so does the organization’s bottom line. Leaders are beginning to recognize that investment in wellbeing is both strategic and wise.”

Kreitzer noted that you should think about leadership as a behavior, not just a role since leaders are found at every level of an organization. The Self-Leadership series focuses on helping leaders develop personal awareness, a skill often referred to as mindfulness.

“When we are more mindful, we are more effective in our communication, problem-solving, and working within teams. In organizations, we need those skills as much on the front line as in the C-Suite,” Kreitzer says.

Johnson said one of the most important aspects of the series is how participants interact with one another via polls taken during the sessions and various group discussions.“It really does create a sense of shared humanity that we are all in this together, learning, and growing,” Johnson says.

Participants had overwhelmingly positive remarks after the first offering of the series. “Although I watched the recording because I was unable to attend in real time, I really appreciated the interactivity of the webinar …. The concrete examples to enhance mindfulness, improve resilience, and take care of oneself were helpful for me,” says one participant.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to attend these classes as a University of Minnesota employee, and I really enjoy classes that look inward and support our own wellbeing, while considering how that can be applied towards work and relationships. I’ve taken a lot of leadership courses and they tend to focus only on external factors, which can make it feel like our own feelings and perspectives are insignificant,” another notes.

“The Self-Leadership workshop is an extension of the work already being done at the Bakken Center,” says Sue Nankivell, director of business development and community relations at the Bakken Center. “We already offered a number of programs supporting personal wellbeing and resilience, and with the encouragement and support of the University of Minnesota Wellbeing Program, developed this series to specifically focus on the workplace, supporting skill-building and professional development.”

The hope is that the series will expand moving forward, with Kreitzer noting she would like to see more young leaders enroll, since the mutual learning among participants in the series can be life-changing.

“These workshops are for anyone and everyone, in informal, or formal leadership, whether it’s someone currently in a leadership position or someone aspiring to leadership,” adds Nankivell. “How do I act like a leader now? How do I lead people now when I don’t have that title? Leadership is everywhere.”

The next Self-Leadership: Strengthening Leadership Effectiveness from the Inside Out workshops will take place in Spring 2026. Participants can attend one or all four of the workshops. Recordings will be made available to all registrants for one month. The four workshops include:

• Workshop 1: Self-Leadership Essentials: Caring for Yourself as You Care for and Lead Others
  • The next opportunity to explore Self-Leadership: Strengthening Leadership Effectiveness from the Inside Out begins on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, and will be held via Zoom from noon - 1:30 pm. The registration fee is $15 per workshop, with sliding scale pricing available.
  • Visit z.umn.edu/selfleadership to learn more.
• Workshop 2: Navigating Conflict, Collaboratively
• Workshop 3: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Resilience
• Workshop 4: Enhancing Relationships and Teamwork through Mindful Communication