1 Mindfulness is the Practice of Tuning Into Some Things and Tuning Out Others Richard E. Boyatzis and Bauback Yeganeh With glasses of wine and standing in front of a blazing fireplace in a townhouse in one of the oldest sections of town, an old friend and former boss, asked a simple question, “Are you having fun?” Dimitrios1 paused and looked at his friend. Should he give the typical, “Great” answer and move on, or should he try to answer the question? It was odd. He was not often caught off guard or found to be speechless in social settings. But there he stood for what must have seemed like hours to his friend. Of course, it was only about 15-20 seconds, but it was much longer than social norms would suggest appropriate. So his friend asked, “Are you OK?” Dimitrios said, “Yes, but I was trying to answer your question honestly. I’ll worry about that tomorrow. How is your business going?” His friend answered quickly and waved to someone else at the party and moved to another conversation, wanting to escape what might be a discussion that would be too heavy and too deep for a casual evening. But the seconds of that pause haunted Dimitrios on the ride home and the next morning. It did not make sense to him. Dimitrios was the CEO of a consulting company. The company was growing, but something was off, like mold growing in a damp basement. About 200 staff, mostly with PhDs, worked for the company. It was growing rapidly and building an international market. In an all too typical story, he did not notice that’s he and his wife had not had any of those laugh until you can cry moments in months. Conversations with his son seemed to always drift into a functional discussion of schools in his future. He did not notice that he was gaining weight and drinking more than he had previously. Their clients were happy. The consultants were innovating in their services and a few products. The company’s growth and reputation was excellent. So it came as a shock when 7 of…