Journal Article

The Transformative Leadership Capacities of Mindfulness

Kantor, Linda, April, Kurt A, Nilsson, Warren

2020

Overview

This paper explores participant leader experiences of mindfulness at the workplace and presents an inductive model that highlights the potential of the mindful individuals to transform their work world in the domains of productivity, relationality and power. The model highlights the resources and capacities built through practice and considers capacities developed as antidotes to the three Buddhist poisons of greed, hatred and delusion. Using a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interviews from 53 participant leaders working in a variety of organizational contexts, this paper explores how individuals trained in mindfulness applied and understood this capacity at work. Participant leaders had trained in one of the three different Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs): Executive MBA (EMBA) Mindful Leadership Program, Mindfulness Teacher Training, and an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. The research distinguishes some key individual meta-capacities (awareness of the wandering mind, embodiment, equanimity and kindness) and individual capacities (resilience, sense of self, multiple perspectives and possibility) that develop. These individual capacities enhanced participant leaders' abilities to work with difficult emotions. The individual changes allowed for new behaviors and experiences in the areas of productivity, power and relationality.

• Publisher: IUP Publications
• Subject: Buddhism / Emotions / Leadership / Meditation / Mindfulness / Post traumatic stress disorder / Productivity