What if the key to better leadership, stronger organisations, and even societal change is your own self-awareness? Earlier this month GIC chairman Stephen Ibaraki spoke with Fleet Maull, PhD, a meditation teacher, mindset coach, author and entrepreneur who works at the intersection of personal and social transformation.
Their rich conversation offers insights into leadership, resilience, and mindfulness, highlighting how personal transformation practices can inform ethical, conscious engagement in complex systems.
Dr Maull is the founder of the Heart Mind Institute, the Prison Mindfulness Institute and the National Prison Hospice Association, and a two-time Inc. 5000 entrepreneur. His work has reached over two million people worldwide through courses, summits and coaching programs that integrate mindfulness, positive psychology and neuroscience. He also developed Neuro-Somatic Mindfulness (NSM), a deeply embodied, trauma- and neuroscience-informed approach to meditation that fosters self-healing, self-regulation and awakening, practices that strengthen resilience and mindful leadership.
During the interview, Fleet reflected on pivotal moments in his life, including serving a 14-year federal sentence, which he says profoundly shaped his understanding of personal responsibility and transformation. He shared stories of learning to navigate fear, uncertainty and conflict in highly constrained environments, and how mindfulness and self-awareness allowed him to respond rather than react. He also recounted experiences mentoring fellow inmates and supporting their personal growth, illustrating how compassion, presence and accountability can ripple outward even in the most challenging circumstances.
When Stephen asked about the intersections of indigenous wisdom, wholeness, and quantum science, Dr Maull explored how principles of connection, presence and interconnectedness inform both personal transformation and leadership. Cultivating awareness and responsibility in oneself, he explains, can ripple outward, shaping organisations and society.
The conversation also underscores a critical message for information professionals: mindful leaders are better able to recognise bias, unexamined assumptions, and systemic constraints, enabling them to respond thoughtfully rather than reactively in an increasingly complex, technology-mediated world.
You can find the full interview and more information about Dr Maull here: https://stephenibaraki.com/ifip/interviews/v1225/fleet_maull_ifip.html
The IFIP IP3 Global Industry Council (GIC) serves as the principal forum for employers and educators to engage with IP3 and shape the global ICT profession. Each month, they feature relevant and insightful ideas in IFIP Insights.