In past decades, mindfulness, non-judging awareness of the current experience (B (5/2) -- Organizational Communication (Ver. 3)

In past decades, mindfulness, non-judging awareness of the current experience (Baer, 2003), has received growing attention in psychological research. In recent years, a number of researchers have begun to explore whether, how, and to what degree individuals can benefit from mindfulness in the work environment. The main purpose of this chapter is to enhance our understanding of the underlying behavioral mechanisms linking leaders’ mindfulness to follower outcomes. Although some theoretical work has addressed the potential role of mindfulness in the leadership process (e.g., Glomb et al., 2011; Sauer and Kohls, 2011; Sauer et al., 2011), empirical evidence is scant. A communication-centered view of leadership (de Vries et al., 2010; Fairhurst and Connaughton, 2014; Ruben and Gigliotti, 2016) focuses on the leaders’ mindfulness as related to the communication style of leaders or “mindfulness in communication.” This communication style predicts the followers’ interaction satisfaction with their leader. Two studies reported by Reb et al. (2014) provided evidence for a positive effect of leaders’ mindfulness on follower well-being and work performance. Similarly, Reb et al. (2018) found a positive relationship between leader mindfulness and followers’ reports of leader–member (LMX) quality. These studies, did not investigate how leaders’ mindfulness manifests in actual behaviors that influence their interactions. Mindfulness Given the diverse research strands on mindfulness, mindful definitions vary. However, most definitions share two key elements: attention and acceptance (Bishop et al., 2004). - Mindfulness means fully paying attention to what is occurring in the present moment, both to internal (i.e., emotions and thoughts) and external stimuli with an open, non-judging attitude. - Baer (2003) defined mindfulness as “the non-judgmental observation of the ongoing stream of internal and external stimuli as they arise” (p. 125). The non-judgmental aspect of mindfulness does not imply that mindful individuals do not make any judgments. It rather refers to the ability to pay attention and to equanimously observe the current experience instead of getting carried away by the own immediate reactions (Dreyfus, 2011). - A key process of mindfulness, is the ability to mentally “step back” from one’s own experiences which allows an individual “to observe rather than to identify with thoughts and emotions” (Hülsheger et al., 2014, p. 2). This process has been labeled as reperceiving (Shapiro et al., 2006) or decentering (Hayes et al., 2004), both referring to a shift of perspective leading to the experience of thoughts and emotions as transient mental states and not as aspects of the self. - Longitudinal studies revealed a significant and positive association between individuals’ overall dispositional mindfulness scores and state mindfulness scores, assessed in their regular day-to-day lives (Brown and Ryan, 2003; Hülsheger et al., 2013, 2014, 2015). Also, ther