title: ‘Against the grain’: over 75 years and joining a community exercise programme

authors: Grant, Bevan C.

subjects: ageing

abstract: This study explores the meanings that 22 men over 75 years attributed to their experience when joining a community exercise programme. Information gathered via interviews was analysed by inductive analysis. Four dominant themes emerged and these provide a framework for representing the findings. All men believed a physical active lifestyle was desirable for well-being and quality of life, although engagement at various levels is strongly influenced by the social construction of ageing and one’s personal history. Being physically active via a programme in later life is as much an embodied as a technical endeavour. It is also as much biographical as biological, and for ongoing engagement exercise must be deemed purposeful to self, irrespective of whether or not what occurs is in accordance with the scientific script prescribed for optimal health. Just being ‘older’ poses a variety of challenges to adopting a physically active lifestyle in the later years, something the men in this study imply needs to be better understood.

text: ‘Against the grain’: over 75 years and joining a community exercise programme This study explores the meanings that 22 men over 75 years attributed to their experience when joining a community exercise programme. Information gathered via interviews was analysed by inductive analysis. Four dominant themes emerged and these provide a framework for representing the findings. All men believed a physical active lifestyle was desirable for well-being and quality of life, although engagement at various levels is strongly influenced by the social construction of ageing and one’s personal history. Being physically active via a programme in later life is as much an embodied as a technical endeavour. It is also as much biographical as biological, and for ongoing engagement exercise must be deemed purposeful to self, irrespective of whether or not what occurs is in accordance with the scientific script prescribed for optimal health. Just being ‘older’ poses a variety of challenges to adopting a physically active lifestyle in the later years, something the men in this study imply needs to be better understood.

year: 2012

title: High Performance Leadership: The Influence of Mindfulness and Reinvestment

authors: Herring, Jacinda Ada-Marie

subjects: High performance leadership

abstract: In the forever changing national and global markets, the need for high performing leaders is critical, particularly for organisational success. High performance leadership, established in the current study by one’s self-reported recall of performance under pressure, as well as actual level of leadership, matters when functioning within highly complex, dynamic, and pressurised environments. These environments, however, can cause leaders to perform poorly, despite having high motivation and incentives for success; a phenomenon sometimes referred to as choking. 
	Drawing on 119 corporate and 63 athletic individuals, the current research set out to (1) assess the role of mindfulness in performance and to examine the role of mindfulness in pressure situations and (2) introduce the notion of reinvestment, a psychological concept associated with performance failure under pressure, into Industrial/ Organisational Psychology literature.
	Results of the study supported past research examining mindfulness, and reiterated the positive role that mindfulness plays in performance, particularly at high levels of employment; suggesting that individuals who hold high levels of dispositional mindfulness are more likely to reach higher levels of leadership or seniority within employment than those low in mindfulness. Additionally, the results supported past research examining reinvestment, and highlights the negative role that reinvestment plays in performance, with those individuals who have a high predisposition to reinvest when under pressure recalling lower levels of performance, and achieving lower levels of leadership within employment. Only partial support for these relationships were found for the athletic population.
	Moderation analyses indicated that mindfulness and reinvestment appear to function together, for the corporate population only. Participants reporting high levels of mindfulness and high levels of decision reinvestment (specifically decision rumination) appeared to achieve performance levels that were significantly higher than participants reporting low levels of mindfulness and high levels of decision rumination. This suggests that in the organisational setting, and particularly for leaders, some level of rumination in decision making is beneficial, provided mindfulness is also present. This new finding has been termed mindful rumination, and it is argued that, in the corporate setting, engaging in mindful rumination is beneficial to making informed decisions, particularly when under pressure. This suggests that encouraging mindful rumination may be beneficial to organisational performance, and support performance at high levels of leadership. Alternatively, mindful rumination may be used to encourage career advancement.
	Overall, this study explores notions of high performance leadership, which goes above-and-beyond traditional understandings. The current study has successfully introduced notions of reinvestment into organisational life, providing a foundation for future research to explore the mechanisms that underpin performance failure in the corporate setting. Additionally, this study has demonstrated that for high performing leaders, engaging in mindful rumination is beneficial to performance.

text: High Performance Leadership: The Influence of Mindfulness and Reinvestment In the forever changing national and global markets, the need for high performing leaders is critical, particularly for organisational success. High performance leadership, established in the current study by one’s self-reported recall of performance under pressure, as well as actual level of leadership, matters when functioning within highly complex, dynamic, and pressurised environments. These environments, however, can cause leaders to perform poorly, despite having high motivation and incentives for success; a phenomenon sometimes referred to as choking. 
	Drawing on 119 corporate and 63 athletic individuals, the current research set out to (1) assess the role of mindfulness in performance and to examine the role of mindfulness in pressure situations and (2) introduce the notion of reinvestment, a psychological concept associated with performance failure under pressure, into Industrial/ Organisational Psychology literature.
	Results of the study supported past research examining mindfulness, and reiterated the positive role that mindfulness plays in performance, particularly at high levels of employment; suggesting that individuals who hold high levels of dispositional mindfulness are more likely to reach higher levels of leadership or seniority within employment than those low in mindfulness. Additionally, the results supported past research examining reinvestment, and highlights the negative role that reinvestment plays in performance, with those individuals who have a high predisposition to reinvest when under pressure recalling lower levels of performance, and achieving lower levels of leadership within employment. Only partial support for these relationships were found for the athletic population.
	Moderation analyses indicated that mindfulness and reinvestment appear to function together, for the corporate population only. Participants reporting high levels of mindfulness and high levels of decision reinvestment (specifically decision rumination) appeared to achieve performance levels that were significantly higher than participants reporting low levels of mindfulness and high levels of decision rumination. This suggests that in the organisational setting, and particularly for leaders, some level of rumination in decision making is beneficial, provided mindfulness is also present. This new finding has been termed mindful rumination, and it is argued that, in the corporate setting, engaging in mindful rumination is beneficial to making informed decisions, particularly when under pressure. This suggests that encouraging mindful rumination may be beneficial to organisational performance, and support performance at high levels of leadership. Alternatively, mindful rumination may be used to encourage career advancement.
	Overall, this study explores notions of high performance leadership, which goes above-and-beyond traditional understandings. The current study has successfully introduced notions of reinvestment into organisational life, providing a foundation for future research to explore the mechanisms that underpin performance failure in the corporate setting. Additionally, this study has demonstrated that for high performing leaders, engaging in mindful rumination is beneficial to performance.

year: 2016

title: The discovery of gold at Te Aroha and its consequences: January to October 1880

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: By mid-1880, when there were expectations that gold would be found at Te Aroha, at last Ngati Rahiri permitted prospecting. A government-subsidized prospecting party under Hone Werahiko set out in early August and announced an apparently valuable find one month later. As the discovery was on Ngati Rahiri land, a goldfield could not be declared open immediately, but despite this increasing numbers of prospectors arrived. Newspapers were cautious, not wanting to encourage a rush based on nothing but rumours, some of them extravagant, notably one of finding ore that would produce 200oz to the ton. 
Despite being doubtful about the prospects, officials prepared to proclaim a new goldfield. In late October, good specimens were shown in Thames, encouraging more to leave both there and the Waikato to explore. After the warden inspected the ground where Werahiko had found gold, which was off limits to everyone except the original prospectors, he arranged to have the only test made before the field was opened. Although this gave an uncertain indication of whether the ore was payable, and little real work was being done outside the prospectors’ claim, regulations were devised permitting the proclamation of the new field.

text: The discovery of gold at Te Aroha and its consequences: January to October 1880 By mid-1880, when there were expectations that gold would be found at Te Aroha, at last Ngati Rahiri permitted prospecting. A government-subsidized prospecting party under Hone Werahiko set out in early August and announced an apparently valuable find one month later. As the discovery was on Ngati Rahiri land, a goldfield could not be declared open immediately, but despite this increasing numbers of prospectors arrived. Newspapers were cautious, not wanting to encourage a rush based on nothing but rumours, some of them extravagant, notably one of finding ore that would produce 200oz to the ton. 
Despite being doubtful about the prospects, officials prepared to proclaim a new goldfield. In late October, good specimens were shown in Thames, encouraging more to leave both there and the Waikato to explore. After the warden inspected the ground where Werahiko had found gold, which was off limits to everyone except the original prospectors, he arranged to have the only test made before the field was opened. Although this gave an uncertain indication of whether the ore was payable, and little real work was being done outside the prospectors’ claim, regulations were devised permitting the proclamation of the new field.

year: 2016