Mindful leadership : the Impact of mindfulness on managers’ ethical responsibility
Creators: name: Koller, Nadine
Publisher: name: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Year: 2017
Subjects: 150: Psychologie
658: Allgemeines Management

description: Many publications highlight the importance of mindfulness in today’s world. However, it is vital to link this topic with organizational performance and ultimately with leadership, since leaders do not only directly influence employee but eventually also corporate performance. Companies are facing challenges regarding performance, pressure on the workforce is rising dramatically, since companies need to remain competitive and are thus trying to do more with less. Therefore, people are working more and harder while paying less attention to detail. With a constant flow of information, individuals can get overwhelmed quickly. Thus, it can be a challenge to focus on a particular matter and more importantly, to set priorities. This pace of life requires being mindful of activities from moment to moment, particularly in times where people are pressured to act against their own values. Studies show that times of pressure and stress can lead to unethical behavior and drastic measures.
The aim of this thesis is to evaluate how mindfulness impacts leadership, with regards to the ecological dimension of the leadership model as well as the triple corporate responsibility model. The emphasis, in this case, lays on the intrinsic responsibility, rather than managers solely being compliant with corporate standards. An increasing number of businesses is providing mindfulness training programs for their employees, such as the company SAP. Hence, it is to be evaluated, whether mindfulness impacts responsible leadership, ethical behavior and if it is a suitable concept to foster the two. 
Findings show that mindfulness impacts both responsible leadership and ethical behavior. Furthermore, it is evaluated as a suitable concept to foster both aspects. For example, mindfulness practice influences a manager’s leadership style, by increasing empathy, compassion, and the shift in perspective of the “I” to “We”. Moreover, mindfulness increases awareness of habitual behavioral patterns, thus questioning one’s behavior can result in ethical behavior by recognizing and leaving harmful behavior behind. 
The thesis applies a qualitative method approach. By applying a non-probability approach, namely purposive sampling, six interviews with industry experts were carried out, designed as semi-structured interviews in person or Skype. In addition, one industry expert answered a questionnaire via email. To include company views, five company representatives answered a questionnaire in person, by phone, or email. Data from both expert and company interviews were analyzed by grouping the answers according to keywords. 
For a mindfulness training to be successful, it is recommended, that strong supporters have to be evaluated in order to implement it in a company, either by management or a sponsor within the company. Furthermore, for the program being anchored throughout the whole company, it should be made accessible to as many employees as possible. Company culture should be shaped by an environment of free speech, employees should not be afraid of talking about exhaustion, and lastly, they should not feel ashamed to take time for themselves.