Episode 24-Darren McKellin- Author of Mind Over Sales

Originally from Chicago, Darren has lived in Japan for the last
30 years and has extensive sales and marketing experience in the
APAC region. He is currently the Area Director for North Asia for
Zscaler and prior held senior roles in Oracle NetSuite, Verizon,
and Vodafone KK. Darren is currently Co-Chair of the Information,
Communications and Technology Committee and Vice Chair of the
Digital Transformation Committee at the American Chamber of
Commerce in Japan.   


The book is a powerful distillation of Darren McKellin’s journey
to mindful leadership, which began 30 years ago when he moved to
Japan and had to learn to navigate one of the world’s most
challenging and opaque cultures, where team harmony and patience
are strong virtues.  


Darren was the co-founder of the Mindfulness Project at Oracle
Japan, an organization of 2,000 employees, in 2017.  Oracle
Japan had more than 2,000 employees and, as a result, there was a
full-time doctor on staff. That company doctor noticed that many
employees were suffering from work-related stress, resulting in
headaches, stomach pain, and other ailments. He would recommend
aspirin and other medication, but more and more employees were
asking for a remedy without taking any pills. The doctor
contacted the HR department, which in turn decided to create a
program based on Google’s “Search inside Yourself ” course.
   


The team set up a 5 week course including Meditation, Body Scan
Meditation, Mindful Listening, Mindful Eating, Walking
Meditation, Journaling and Reflection.  The team interviewed
the attendees and collected data and had a sizable improvement in
Concentration, Productivity, Confidence, Energy & Relaxation.
Because of his role in creating this course, he's led many
employees down the route of mindful sales, and now has written
Mind Over Sales so that anyone and everyone can become mindful in
their careers at any time or place.