Leadership

Improve Follower Well-Being with Leader Mindfulness

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Improve Follower Well-Being with Leader Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness will help you clear away the trivia and needless worries about unimportant things, nurture passion for your work and compassion for others, and develop the ability to empower the people in your organization.” – Bill George

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. How we spend that time is immensely important for not only to productivity in the workplace but also to our psychological and physical health. Mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace and they have been shown to markedly reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress. This, in turn, improves productivity and the well-being of the employees. As a result, many businesses have incorporated mindfulness practices into the workday.

 

Mindfulness may also help to promote leadership in the workplace. It can potentially do so by enhancing emotion regulation, making the individual better able to recognize, experience, and adaptively respond to their emotions, and making the leader better able to listen to and to understand the needs and emotion of the workers they lead. Hence, the mindfulness of the leader may well be associated with the follower’s perception of their leadership abilities and in turn with the follower’s well-being.

 

In today’s Research News article “Follower Mindfulness and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Perceived Authentic Leadership and the Moderating Role of Leader Mindfulness.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00879/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1339331_69_Psycho_20200528_arts_A), Zhang and colleagues recruited team leaders and followers at 2 Chinese manufacturing plants and had them complete questionnaires measuring mindfulness, perceived authentic leadership, and well-being.

 

They found that the higher the leader mindfulness the higher the follower mindfulness and the higher the follower mindfulness the greater the levels of perceived authentic leadership, and follower well-being. In addition, the higher the perceived authentic leadership the higher the follower well-being. So, both mindfulness and the perception of authenticity of the leader are associated with greater well-being in the employee.

 

A mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between follower mindfulness and follower well-being was mediated by perceived authentic leadership with the higher the perceived authentic leadership the stronger the relationship between follower mindfulness and follower well-being. They also found that the leader’s mindfulness was associated with higher levels of perceived authentic leadership.

 

These results suggest that the well-being of the employee is positively related to both the employee’s and the supervisor’s mindfulness; the more they are mindful, the greater the employee’s well-being. In addition, the perception that the leader is authentic is positively associated with both the leader’s and the follower’s levels of mindfulness. Hence, the leader is perceived as authentic if they are mindful and also if the employee is mindful. Finally, the results suggest that the perception that the leader is authentic is important for the ability of the follower’s mindfulness to be associated with greater well-being.

 

This study is correlational and as such causation cannot be determined. But the results indicate that mindfulness in the workplace is highly associated with the well-being of the employees. It does so directly and also indirectly by being associated with the perception that the supervisor is an authentic leader. This underscores the importance of mindfulness to the workplace and suggests that mindfulness training for both the employees and their supervisors could results in improved morale and well-being.

 

So, improve follower well-being with leader mindfulness.

 

“A mindful leader is someone who embodies leadership presence by cultivating focus, clarity, creativity and compassion in the service of others.” – Janice Marturano

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Zhang J, Song LJ, Ni D and Zheng X (2020) Follower Mindfulness and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Perceived Authentic Leadership and the Moderating Role of Leader Mindfulness. Front. Psychol. 11:879. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00879

 

Drawing on implicit leadership theory and the mindfulness literature, we propose that perceived authentic leadership mediates the relationship between follower mindfulness and follower well-being. Leader mindfulness plays a moderating role in this process. We validated these hypotheses with the two-wave data from 56 leaders and 275 followers in two private enterprises located in China. We used Mplus 8.0 to test our hypotheses. Consistent with our hypotheses, the results showed that perceived authentic leadership mediated the positive relationship between follower mindfulness and follower well-being. Higher leader mindfulness enhanced the effect of follower mindfulness on perceived authentic leadership and also strengthened the indirect effect of follower mindfulness on follower well-being via perceived authentic leadership. The theoretical and managerial implications are further discussed in the light of these findings.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00879/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1339331_69_Psycho_20200528_arts_A

 

Build Better Leaders with Mindfulness

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Build Better Leaders with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“for leaders, the biggest benefit of mindfulness is its direct impact on the development of emotional intelligence.” – Monica Thakrar

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. How we spend that time is immensely important for not only to productivity in the workplace but also to our psychological and physical health. Mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace and they have been shown to markedly reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress. This, in turn, improves productivity and the well-being of the employees. As a result, many businesses have incorporated mindfulness practices into the workday.

 

Mindfulness may also help to promote leadership in the workplace. It can potentially do so by enhancing emotion regulation, making the individual better able to recognize, experience, and adaptively respond to their emotions, and making the leader better able to listen to and to understand the needs and emotion of the workers they lead. There has been, however, little research attention to the effects of mindfulness on leadership.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindful Leader Development: How Leaders Experience the Effects of Mindfulness Training on Leader Capabilities.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01081/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_999212_69_Psycho_20190528_arts_A), Rupprecht and colleagues recruited leaders in work environments who had completed a 12-week Workplace Mindfulness Training program 6 months to a year previously. They were questioned about their perceptions of the effectiveness of the program on themselves and their leadership with semi-structured interviews over the phone lasting about an hour. Responses were transcribed and subjected to qualitative thematic analysis.

 

The leaders’ responses indicated that the training helped them in mindfully managing tasks including focusing on single tasks, managing distractions particularly phone messages, and using breaks and transitions to meditate of become aware of their bodies. The training also helped them with caring for themselves including recognizing when they were tired and taking a break and sharing their feelings and state with others. It also helped them self-reflect and recognize how their state affects the people around them.

 

The leaders’ responses indicated that the training helped them become better leaders. It provided skills in relating to others, including deep listening, being less reactive to their ow emotions or emotions of others, being less judgmental, taking themselves less seriously, and being more responsive to the needs of their followers. The training also helped them to better adapt to changing situations, including acceptance of the changes and adaptively searching for solutions.

 

Finally, the leaders’ responses indicated that the effects that the training had on them spilled over to affect the organization and the processes used at work. It provided them with a new basis for communications with other team members. They began to include mindfulness practices in team meetings. This led to identification of long meeting as problematic and changing the structure of meetings.

 

These results are subjective and there weren’t any objective measures supplied to verify the reports. But the leaders’ responses were very encouraging and suggested that the Workplace Mindfulness Training program is very beneficial and affects a wide variety of work behaviors and attitudes. Although there were no measures of productivity changes, the nature of the effects of mindfulness training suggest that productivity would improve, burnout would be reduced, and work satisfaction would increase.

 

So, build better leaders with mindfulness.

 

“To become a mindful leader, you need to make this a daily introspective act. As you do so, you’ll worry less about day-to-day problems and focus on what is most important. As you become more mindful, you will be a more effective, successful and fulfilled leader.” – Bill George

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Rupprecht S, Falke P, Kohls N, Tamdjidi C, Wittmann M and Kersemaekers W (2019) Mindful Leader Development: How Leaders Experience the Effects of Mindfulness Training on Leader Capabilities. Front. Psychol. 10:1081. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01081

 

Mindfulness training is a novel method of leader development but contrary to its rising popularity, there is a scarcity of research investigating how mindfulness training may affect leader capabilities. To gain a better understanding of the potential of a new research field, qualitative research is advantageous. We sought to understand how senior leaders experience the impact of mindfulness training in their work lives and leadership ability. The sample comprised 13 leaders (n = 11 male) working in six organizations that completed a 10-week workplace mindfulness training (WMT). We conducted semi-structured interviews 6 to 12 months following course completion. We analyzed the data following thematic analysis steps and based on these findings, we devised a framework of the perceived impact of mindfulness training on self-leadership and leadership capabilities. We show that WMT exhibited impact on three self-leadership capacities: mindful task management, self-care and self-reflection and two leadership capacities: relating to others and adapting to change. Participants’ recounts additionally suggested effects may expand to the level of the team and the organization. We show that WMT may be a promising tool for self-directed leadership development and outline avenues for future research.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01081/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_999212_69_Psycho_20190528_arts_A

 

Improve Mindfulness by Interacting with Trustworthy People

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Improve Mindfulness by Interacting with Trustworthy People

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“When deciding in whom to place trust, trust the guilt-prone.” – Emma Levine

 

It is well established that engaging in contemplative practices such as meditation, yoga, and Tai Chi produces increased mindfulness. But the level of mindfulness varies among people who do not engage in contemplative practice; some being high in mindfulness, while others are very low. So, there must be other factors that contribute to the level of mindfulness. To some extent inheritance (the genes) affects an individual’s mindfulness. But what transpires in the environment during an individual’s life may also be important.

 

Being able to trust other people may be important in developing mindfulness. In today’s Research News article “Does interacting with trustworthy people enhance mindfulness? An experience sampling study of mindfulness in everyday situations.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6485709/), Kudesia and Reina examine the relationships of interacting with trustworthy people with mindfulness. They recruited undergraduate students and had them complete measures of mindful attention and mindful metacognition (noticing their thoughts and feelings about experiences).

 

For 8 days the participants engaged in experience sampling where they received “prompts for experience sampling three times a day (9:30 AM, 2:30 PM, 7:30 PM) over their phone.” They rated their mindfulness and indicated if over the time since the last prompt whether they interacted with someone they deemed a leader or a teammate and if so to describe the interaction, rate the trustworthiness of the leader or teammate, and rate their satisfaction with the interaction. “Common interactions with leaders entailed managers, executives, and recruiters in the workplace, coaches of sports teams, and professors, academic advisors, and residence hall advisors in the university. Common interactions with teammates entailed fellow members of workplace teams, volunteer organizations, sports teams, and class project teams.”

 

They found that the students cooperated for the most part, responding to 75% of the prompts. They separately analyzed responses on what they called a particularized pathway where the particular interactions reported to the prompts were associated with the mindfulness at that same time. There were no significant relationships between trustworthiness and mindfulness for this pathway for either leaders or teammates. They also analyzed responses on what they called a generalized pathway where the average trustworthiness over all interactions were associated with the average overall mindfulness. This produced significant positive relationships between trustworthiness and mindful attention and mindful metacognition for both interactions with leaders and with teammates.

 

The results indicate that overall, in general, when mindfulness is high so is the trustworthiness of both leaders and teammates. These are correlative relationships so it cannot be determined causation. Being mindful of experiences may make one feel that the other person is more trustworthy. That is being cognizant of what’s transpiring in the present moment may focus attention on the other person making them seem more trustworthy. Conversely, being with a trustworthy individual may relax the individual so they become more focused on the present moment (mindful). Finding someone else untrustworthy may help to shift thinking to the future consequences of that untrustworthiness or to ruminating about past occurrences that elicited the feelings of untrustworthiness. This would reduce mindfulness.

 

So, improve mindfulness by interacting with trustworthy people.

 

“He who does not trust enough will not be trusted.” — Lao Tzu

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Kudesia, R. S., & Reina, C. S. (2019). Does interacting with trustworthy people enhance mindfulness? An experience sampling study of mindfulness in everyday situations. PloS one, 14(4), e0215810. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0215810

 

Abstract

Mindfulness is known to increase after meditation interventions. But might features of our everyday situations outside of meditation not also influence our mindfulness from moment-to-moment? Drawing from psychological research on interpersonal trust, we suggest that interacting with trustworthy people could influence the expression of mindfulness. And, extending this research on trust, we further suggest that the influence of trustworthy social interactions on mindfulness could proceed through two pathways: a particularized pathway (where specific interactions that are especially high (or low) in trustworthiness have an immediate influence on mindfulness) or a generalized pathway (where the typical level of trustworthiness a person perceives across all their interactions exerts a more stable influence on their mindfulness). To explore these two pathways, study participants (N = 201) repeatedly reported their current levels of mindfulness and their prior interactions with trustworthy leaders and teammates during their everyday situations using an experience sampling protocol (n¯ = 3,605 reports). Results from mixed-effects models provide little support for the particularized pathway: specific interactions with trustworthy leaders and teammates had little immediate association with mindfulness. The generalized pathway, however, was strongly associated with mindfulness—and remained incrementally predictive beyond relevant individual differences and features of situations. In sum, people who typically interact with more trustworthy partners may become more mindful.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6485709/

 

Improve Leadership with Mindfulness

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Improve Leadership with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Truth be told, most of the discussions we have with others aren’t really mindful. Mindful discussion means shedding attention and awareness on our words — it’s rarely what we do, as our ego is consistently involved.” – Elyane Youssef

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. How we spend that time is immensely important for not only to productivity in the workplace but also to our psychological and physical health. Mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace and they have been shown to markedly reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress. This, in turn, improves productivity and the well-being of the employees. As a result, many businesses have incorporated mindfulness practices into the workday.

 

Mindfulness may also help to promote leadership in the workplace. It can potentially do so by enhancing emotion regulation, making the individual better able to recognize, experience, and adaptively respond to their emotions, and making the leader better able to listen to and to understand the needs and emotion of the workers they lead and to communicate effectively. There has been, however, little research attention to the effects of mindfulness on leadership and the ability of the leader to communicate.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness and Leadership: Communication as a Behavioral Correlate of Leader Mindfulness and Its Effect on Follower Satisfaction.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00667/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_951898_69_Psycho_20190404_arts_A), Arendt and colleagues recruited leaders and followers online from a variety of industries in Germany. Leaders completed an online measure of mindfulness. Their followers completed online measures of satisfaction with leader, follower satisfaction with leader’s communication, and follower’s perception of leader’s mindfulness in communications.

 

They found that the higher the leader’s mindfulness the higher the satisfaction with leader, follower satisfaction with leader’s communication, and follower’s perception of leader’s mindfulness in communications. A mediation analysis revealed that leader mindfulness was associated with higher follower’s perception of leader’s mindfulness in communications which, in turn, was associated with higher satisfaction with leader and follower satisfaction with leader’s communication.

 

These are interesting results but are correlative, so no definitive conclusions can be reached regarding causation. But the results suggest that mindfulness is an important characteristic for leaders in industry. When the leader is mindful, the followers find the leader’s communications mindful and when these communications are mindful they are associated with better overall satisfaction with the leader and the leader’s communication. These results, similar to prior research, suggest that mindfulness is important in the work environment, promoting well-being and productivity. This further suggests that “right communications” is important for leadership.

 

So, improve leadership with mindfulness.

 

“When you are talking mindfully, you are conscious of the words you choose. You think before you speak and make a conscious decision to use your best communication in a respectful manner, even if it is a difficult situation. You are also mindful of your intention and aware of expectations that may or may not be met. When there is a situation that needs to be addressed, being mindful can produce a better outcome and prevent the communication from getting out of control.” – Melinda Fouts

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Arendt JFW, Pircher Verdorfer A and Kugler KG (2019) Mindfulness and Leadership: Communication as a Behavioral Correlate of Leader Mindfulness and Its Effect on Follower Satisfaction. Front. Psychol. 10:667. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00667

 

In recent years, the construct of mindfulness has gained growing attention in psychological research. However, little is known about the effects of mindfulness on interpersonal interactions and social relationships at work. Addressing this gap, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of mindfulness in leader–follower relationships. Building on prior research, we hypothesize that leaders’ mindfulness is reflected in a specific communication style (“mindfulness in communication”), which is positively related to followers’ satisfaction with their leaders. We used nested survey data from 34 leaders and 98 followers from various organizations and tested mediation hypotheses using hierarchical linear modeling. Our hypotheses were confirmed by our data in that leaders’ self-reported mindfulness showed a positive relationship with several aspects of followers’ satisfaction. This relationship was fully mediated by leaders’ mindfulness in communication as perceived by their followers. Our findings emphasize the potential value of mindfulness in workplace settings. They provide empirical evidence for a positive link between leaders’ dispositional mindfulness and the wellbeing of their followers, indicating that mindfulness is not solely an individual resource but also fosters interpersonal skills. By examining leaders’ mindfulness in communication as an explanatory process, we created additional clarification about how leaders’ mindfulness relates to followers’ perceptions, offering a promising starting point for measuring behavioral correlates of leader mindfulness.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00667/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_951898_69_Psycho_20190404_arts_A

 

Develop Transformational Leadership with Mindfulness

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Develop Transformational Leadership with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“there is a definite impact on leadership skills by practicing mindfulness, such as increase in productivity, decision-making, listening,, and reduction in stress levels. But for leaders, the biggest benefit of mindfulness is its direct impact on the development of emotional intelligence.” – Monica Thakrar

 

Work is very important for our health and well-being. We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. How we spend that time is immensely important for not only to productivity in the workplace but also to our psychological and physical health. Mindfulness practices have been implemented in the workplace and they have been shown to markedly reduce the physiological and psychological responses to stress. This, in turn, improves productivity and the well-being of the employees. As a result, many businesses have incorporated mindfulness practices into the workday.

 

Mindfulness may also help to promote leadership in the workplace. It can potentially do so by enhancing emotion regulation, making the individual better able to recognize, experience, and adaptively respond to their emotions, and making the leader better able to listen to and to understand the needs and emotion of the workers they lead. There has been, however, little research attention to the effects of mindfulness on leadership.

 

In today’s Research News article “When Mindfulness Interacts With Neuroticism to Enhance Transformational Leadership: The Role of Psychological Need Satisfaction.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02588/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_862317_69_Psycho_20190101_arts_A ), Decuypere and colleagues recruited nurses who were in leadership positions (head nurses) in nursing care facilities. They completed measures of mindfulness, transformational leadership, need satisfaction, emotional stability (neuroticism), autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness, the higher the levels of transformational leadership, autonomy, competence, and relatedness and the lower the levels of neuroticism. Conversely, the higher the levels of neuroticism the lower the levels of mindfulness, transformational leadership, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. They then examined whether the association of mindfulness with transformational leadership was mediated by mindfulness’ association with the other variables. They found that the association of mindfulness with transformational leadership was completely mediated by its associations with need satisfaction and competence, and partially mediated by its association with autonomy and relatedness. They further demonstrated that neuroticism affected these relationships such that when neuroticism was higher there was a stronger relationship between mindfulness and need satisfaction and competence than when neuroticism was low.

 

These are interesting results that suggest that mindfulness affects the ability of head nurses to be transformational leaders and that this is amplified when there are low levels of emotional stability. Furthermore, these results suggest that mindfulness is associated with the nurses’ ability to regulate their emotions and this is what makes them better leaders. Hence, when they lack emotional stability, mindfulness has even great impacts.

 

This all suggests that the ability to lead others emanates from one’s ability to deal with one’s own emotions and this is strongly influenced by mindfulness. It has been well established that mindfulness produces a greater ability to experience and adaptively respond to emotions, emotion regulation. What is new here is that this is related to leadership.

 

So, develop transformational leadership with mindfulness.

 

“The key to effective leadership is the ability to integrate your head (IQ) with your heart (EQ). . . Our hearts are where essential leadership qualities like passion, compassion and courage reside. By practicing mindfulness, mindful leaders exhibit high levels of self-awareness and intentionality in their actions.” – Bill George

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Decuypere A, Audenaert M and Decramer A (2018) When Mindfulness Interacts With Neuroticism to Enhance Transformational Leadership: The Role of Psychological Need Satisfaction. Front. Psychol. 9:2588. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02588

 

Transformational leadership is a popular and well-researched leadership style. Although much is understood about its positive consequences, less research has focused on antecedents of transformational leadership. In this research we draw upon self-determination theory and incorporate a self-regulatory approach to investigate if and how leader mindfulness influences transformational leadership. The analyses show that autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction mediate between mindfulness and transformational leadership, indicating that mindfulness is associated with psychological need satisfaction. Furthermore, the data show that neuroticism moderates the relationship between mindfulness and relatedness need satisfaction. Generally speaking, the association between mindfulness and relatedness need satisfaction is positive. When neuroticism is also high, mindfulness has the largest impact. Or conversely, when emotional stability is high, mindfulness has the smallest association with relatedness need satisfaction. This is in line with evidence suggesting that mindfulness may primarily exert its influence through emotional self-regulation. Furthermore, the moderated mediation model for relatedness need satisfaction is significant, indicating that neuroticism is a boundary condition for the indirect effect of mindfulness on transformational leadership through relatedness need satisfaction.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02588/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_862317_69_Psycho_20190101_arts_A

 

Improve the Effect of the Match of Leader Follower Optimism with Mindfulness

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Improve the Effect of the Match of Leader Follower Optimism with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindful leadership can alter the tone of the work environment in subtle and overt ways, making it a potential agent of positive change in organizations.” – Erika Garms

 

Most organizations are hierarchical. Groups of individuals are directed by a leader and groups of leaders are directed by another leader, etc. The leader sets the goals and strategy and directs the followers in the pursuit of these goals. In order for the leader to be effective the followers must execute his/her directives. This is best accomplished when the leader and follower both believe in the strategy.  Little is known, however regarding the factors that influence the sharing of optimism that the strategy will be effective.

 

Mindfulness has been shown to influence the mental health of workers and improve their work engagement and satisfaction with work as well as preventing the burnout of leaders. It is possible that one of the effects of mindfulness that mediates its influence on work engagement is by working to align the strategic optimism of the leader and followers.

 

In today’s Research News article “) Mindfulness – The Missing Link in the Relationship Between Leader–Follower Strategic Optimism (Mis)match and Work Engagement.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02444/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_847629_69_Psycho_20181211_arts_A ), Bunjak and colleagues recruited adult full-time employees online and had them complete an online questionnaire. They measured strategic optimism of leaders with questions like “He/she goes into these situations expecting the worst, even though he/she knows he/she will probably do OK” and followers with questions like “I go into these situations expecting the worst, even though I know I will probably do OK.” They also measured mindfulness, how long the leader and follower worked together, and work engagement.

 

They found that the higher the level of the followers’ mindfulness the greater was their level of work engagement and the lower the levels of strategic optimism both by the leader and the follower. Hence mindfulness appears to be associated with better engagement in work but less optimism that the strategies employed will work. Additionally, they measured the degree to which the leaders’ and the followers’ strategic optimism matched; either both high or both low. They found that the greater the match of the leaders’ and the followers’ strategic optimism the greater the work engagement and that this effect was mediated by mindfulness. In addition, they found that when there was a match in strategic optimism it was associated with higher mindfulness levels which, in turn, was associated with greater work engagement.

 

These are interesting results but they are correlational, so no conclusions about causation are warranted. But, nevertheless, they suggest that the more the leaders and the followers are on the same page regarding the probable success of the strategy the more they’re engaged on working on the project and this appear to be mediated by mindfulness. It is also interesting that with high degrees of mindfulness there is less optimism about the success of the work strategy. This may suggest that the more accurate and perceptive the individual is of the realities of the situation the less they believe in the eventual success of the projects goal. Mindfulness may simply make them more realistic. But that realism also is associated with greater engagement in the work itself. Mindfulness itself may make for greater engagement in the present moment activities, work engagement.

 

So, improve the effect of the match of leader follower optimism with mindfulness.

 

“Large companies, such as Google, Aetna and General Mills, have been implementing large-scale mindfulness programs over the past few years. Thousands of employees have gone through their programs with data now showing that there is a definite impact on leadership skills by practicing mindfulness, such as: Increase in productivity, Increase in decision-making, Increase in listening, and Reduction in stress levels.” Monica Thakrar

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Bunjak A and Černe M (2018) Mindfulness – The Missing Link in the Relationship Between Leader–Follower Strategic Optimism (Mis)match and Work Engagement. Front. Psychol.9:2444. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02444

 

Assuming a followership perspective and building on implicit leadership theory, this study examines the mediating role of followers’ mindfulness in the relationship between leader–follower strategic optimism (mis)match and work engagement. Specifically, we propose that a discrepancy between the respective levels of leaders’ and followers’ strategic optimism correlates with low levels of mindfulness and work engagement. A field study of 291 working professionals, using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, supports the (mis)match hypotheses. The results demonstrate that followers’ mindfulness mediates the relationship between leaders’ and followers’ matching levels of strategic optimism (whether at high-high and low-low leader-follower strategic optimism conditions) and work engagement. These findings have important implications for training and the extent to which interventions based on personal resources, such as strategic optimism and therefore mindfulness, foster higher work engagement.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02444/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_847629_69_Psycho_20181211_arts_A