I recently went one on one with Scott Shute. Scott is the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion at LinkedIn, the co-creator of The Inner MBA, and the author of the new book The Full Body Yes.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Scott: My journey has not been a straight line. Part of my story is that I've had a career as an executive in organizations focused on customers. In my previous role I was the VP of Global Customer Operations at LinkedIn. At one point a dozen years ago, I experienced having my role eliminated three times in four years. Those were dark days, but each time I was forced to move outside of my comfort zone and learn something new. Over time I realized that my world didn't fall apart with these challenges. I realized we can turn every challenge into opportunity. The skills I learned by stretching after each "disaster" led me to my dream job at LinkedIn.

I've always been a bit of a dual agent. In parallel to this career track, I’ve always had a deep interest in contemplative practices. I started meditating when I was thirteen and I've been teaching since I was in college. It’s not something I ever talked about at work. When I got to LinkedIn, I recognized what an open and amazing place it is. It was finally safe for me to “come out” as a meditator. I started leading a weekly practice. With a group of volunteers, we established and grew an incredible mindfulness program. Over time I realized it was time for me (and LinkedIn) to fully invest in this work. I made a proposal to the CEO and the head of HR and collectively we created my current role. I moved from my dream job to my "lottery job". It’s pretty unique. My mission is to change work from the inside out by mainstreaming mindfulness and operationalizing compassion. 

Adam: What are your best tips on the topic of mindfulness?

Scott: Mindfulness is another word for awareness - awareness of self, awareness of others. One of the ways we can cultivate this awareness is through meditation. People ask me "What's the best type of meditation I can do?" Simple. The most powerful type of practice that you can do is...the one you'll actually do. It's just like physical exercise. Which is better? Running, biking, or swimming? Of course, it depends on the individual and their preferences. The same is true with mental exercise - meditation. I recommend each person explore and find the thing that works for them.

It starts with intention. Why do you want to meditate? If we don't have a clear purpose, it's hard to stay on track. Some people want peace, clarity, or the ability to slow down and be present. For me, I find that I'm a much better version of myself when I do the practice.

I love James Clear’s book “Atomic Habits” and this idea: “Our lives do not rise to the level of our goals; they fall to the level of our systems.” We can have all these great intentions, but unless we build in a system to support those goals, it’s very unlikely we’ll make any changes. 

If we want to remember to be present and breathe more, maybe we set an alarm on our phone. Create a calendar entry. Or every time we see the number of our birthday, we use it as a reminder. Want to build a daily meditation habit? Start with a bit of ritual. Go to the same place, the same time, every day. Start small, maybe one minute. Once you've built the habit of one minute, you can extend the time as it feels right to you. These are simple systems. 

My favorite is the accountability buddy. Pick something each of you will do, like share gratitude, meditate, or exercise. Then every day text each other with your update and encouragement for the other person. It’s a fantastic way to build a connection and a habit. 

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?

Scott: We follow leaders who have Clarity.

Clarity of purpose, Clarity of values, Clarity of communication.

Simple, but not easy.

Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Scott: Start by making everyone around you better. Meaning, it's not about you. It's about the whole, it's about the team. When we make others successful - our customers, our teammates, our partners, we build our own success.

It's counter-intuitive, but our own vulnerability makes us stronger. If we're willing to be our full selves, to be real, authentic, we'll build a followership that cannot be achieved through leading by fear and power.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Scott: 1.   Move from Me to We. 

Create solutions that find a balance for the whole, not just the company or group you're representing. Over the long haul, everybody wins. There's research that shows that companies who balance the needs of all their stakeholders, not just their shareholders, are more successful (profitable) over time.

2. Move closer to your center

Leadership can be a challenge. We can get very task focused. It's easy to lose sight of our real priorities. Our values. Why are we doing this work in the first place? When we have a deep sense of self and a deep understanding of our own values, it helps us stay on course. As we continue developing personally, the organization develops along with us. It's important that we never stop learning. Often, this learning is happening in situations where our values are being tested. When we're aware of our own growth edges, we become more aware that those are likely the same growth edges of the organization.

3.     Take time for yourself

As leaders, our own well-being must be a priority. This is not a luxury. The organization, the people we serve, our close ones, they all need us to be at our best. Each of us finds what we need to stay balanced, to stay creative, to stay healthy. We can exercise, sleep, meditate, or just sit under a tree and stare at the branches for a while. Sometimes doing nothing is something worth doing. Whatever we do, we need to make it a priority and schedule it along with everything else in our lives.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Scott: We know from Google's Project Aristotle that the biggest factor in creating a high performing team is psychological safety. In other words, can I be myself with my team? Can I fail in front of my peers, and know they have my back? Even harder, can I succeed, can I win, in front of them, and know that they still have my back?

It starts at the top. We show our employees that we care about them in both our words and our actions. Communicate, and then put those words to practice. It takes some will, and some concerted effort. Every leader needs to acknowledge the challenge and then model the right behavior. The work will get done. But only if employees feel respected and heard. 

We can encourage leaders to spend more time on building connections. Relationships matter. When we take a few extra minutes at the beginning of our meetings to catch up, it increases our sense of connection, reduces our sense of loneliness, and is a powerful way to enhance our well-being. Instead of asking “How are you?”, ask “On a scale of 1-10, how are you today?”. We take time to really listen. Get real. We move beyond simple transactional discussions and build true connections. 

Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing and customer service?

Scott: Leading with compassion, especially in customer-centric roles, is a strategic advantage. I define compassion as having the capacity to 

1. Be aware of others

2. Have a mindset of wishing the best for others and

3. The courage to take action

In each of these roles, it's critical that we deeply understand our customers, the people we serve. What are they trying to achieve by partnering with us? What will make them successful? We want the best for them. We treat them like we'd treat our grandmother or our children. And then we need to have the courage to take action on their behalf. This taking action part is where it can get difficult. Sometimes we need to act on our customers' behalf in a way that isn't great for us in the short term but will be great for our relationship (and our success) in the long term.

In Sales and Marketing, it means focusing on long term value. We don't sell something our customers don't need, just to hit our quota this quarter.

For Customer Service, it means designing systems and processes that allow our customers to get help easily, and in the way they'd like to be served. If we're taking thousands of customer support cases each day, we treat each interaction with the same care as we would if it were our favorite grandma on the other end of the call or email.

Adam: What do you hope students take away from The Inner MBA?

Scott: The Inner MBA is focused on building success from the inside out. There are three main areas we'd like people to leave feeling changed.

Inspired - We hope attendees will leave with an inner fire that can not be extinguished. They will be excited to apply their whole self, their entire being to their work and lives.

Connected - We are extremely interconnected. We realize that our personal transformation leads to the types of transformations we'd like to see in the world.

Skilled - Attendees feel comfortable and equipped to make real change. They know what to do when they "come home".

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Scott: My dad used to say, "Most of life's problems can be solved with a good attitude." That wasn't what I wanted to hear when I was a teenager, but as I got older, I realized how wise this is.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Scott: I'd love to invite all of us to be ambassadors for compassion. The world needs it.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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