How serving in the military taught this boss the importance of employee well-being

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Once upon a time, protecting employee well-being might have been seen as a luxury for a few lucky workers or a touchy subject for quiet leaders who had nothing better to fear; but things are changing. The US military has recognized the importance of mental health since 2009 when it launched its "resilience training" program. While the corporate sector has been slower to catch on, more than 90% of leaders believe promoting wellbeing improves performance.

As a former military leader, many of the greatest lessons I learned about employee well-being came from my time in the military. Today I'm going to share them with you.

Related: How Military Service Made These Veterans Better Entrepreneurs

The big M has become popular over the past few years, but not all organizations think it's useful or feel comfortable talking about it. Most people would definitely not associate themselves with the military.

But mindfulness is the ability to be fully present in the moment. And where could this skill be more critical than in a survival environment where failure to be vigilant could put you and the rest of the team at risk?

The military teaches soldiers how to stay in the moment and make better decisions under pressure by encouraging mindfulness practices, such as sitting with your thoughts for a few minutes each day. In addition to improving performance on the job, the military has found that this training helps soldiers cope with the aftermath of a traumatic situation.

Standard employees may not face life or death situations, but they can adopt similar principles.

Mindfulness in the workplace is about developing the ability to deal with the emotions, stress and conflicts that arise every day. You need to teach employees to become more aware of the present moment and accept their feelings, thoughts, and decision-making processes instead of being slaves to them. It's the difference between feeling stressed and thinking "the world is burning, I'm overwhelmed and I want to go home" and "I feel the feeling of stress right now, but it's okay, it's just a feeling. I gonna let me breathe a bit and let it go."

With the widespread awareness of mindfulness these days, it's easier than ever to help your team learn to manage what's going on in their head. For example, the Calm app is full of guided meditations, many of which are directly workplace-related and last less than ten minutes (making them easy to fit into schedules).

Why not offer a free membership to everyone who works for you?

Related: Military Service is the Ultimate Training Ground for Entrepreneurship (Infographic)

You would be hard pressed to find an organization with a more tight-knit culture than the military - those who have been in the military often describe it as a "brotherhood". Everyone is united by their common goal of serving the country, authority is respected for the most part, and everyone knows they must