Photo by Tai Power Seeff

In the late aughts, Joe Burton (PMD 75, 2000) looked like a success story. In 2006, after a successful career in consulting and the C-suite of numerous public companies, he was named COO of McCann Worldgroup, overseeing $1.5 billion in marketing communications relationships. But Burton was suffering—from chronic back pain, insomnia, and asthma. “My body was failing in response to the way I was approaching life,” he says now. “It was the cumulative impact of a long career of high expectations, high performance, and high stress.”

His doctor offered him a choice to treat his debilitating back pain: major surgery requiring months of recuperation or meditation to manage the stress that was at the root of his health issues. But the practice didn’t fit with his image of a type A, high-powered executive. “I came to meditation kicking and screaming. Looking back, I was actually afraid that other executives would find out that I was meditating,” Burton admits.

Today, he wants everyone to know about the workplace benefits of meditation and other stress-management techniques. Six years ago, Burton founded Whil, a digital training platform focused on topics that were rarely priorities in the corporate world when he was working his way up the ranks: mindfulness, stress resilience, sleep training, and emotional intelligence skills. “With ongoing change and disruption, the crisis business is now facing on a global scale is similar to the one I faced on a personal level,” Burton says. In the United States, for example, the American Psychological Association reports that one-third of workers experience chronic workplace stress. That stress costs American companies an estimated $300 billion a year in lost productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and other expenses, as estimated by the World Health Organization.

Whil currently works with nearly 250 companies (including HBS) in 100 countries to offer short, daily online training sessions that give employees the tools they need to manage their emotional health. Most popular are the sessions and minicourses focused on reducing stress and anxiety, followed by those focused on increasing happiness. On average, Whil costs around $15 per employee, per year. “For less than the cost of a T-shirt, you can help employees build a healthier and happier lifestyle for themselves, which translates into a more mindful culture for a company,” says Burton. “That means less stress, as well as better collaboration, communication, and teamwork.”

As CEO, Burton practices what he preaches. All 30 Whil employees meet at 2 p.m. each day to benefit from targeted minicourses (five sessions, five minutes a day), and Burton uses one of Whil’s daily meditation sessions each morning. “As it turns out, building a stress resilience company can be really stressful,” he jokes.

How to Make Mindfulness Work for You

Embrace EQ. “IQ is no longer enough. The playing field has shifted toward EQ. Building up the skills to be patient, caring, positive, relatable, open, and nonjudgmental are critical for a leader.”

Be a “corporate athlete.” “In the business world, we push ourselves until we break, but athletes push themselves, pause to recover, and then push more. We recommend that professionals use this same approach. For every hour you work, take a 5- to 10-minute break. Take a walk, do a mindfulness meditation, crack a book, do something that lets your mind recover.”

Start a gratitude practice. “Every night before you go to bed, say out loud three things you are grateful for. And when you wake up in the morning, do the same thing. According to research at the Mayo Clinic, this routine has a hugely positive impact on your mindset during the workday.”

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