A Mixed Methods Research to Investigate the Effects of Mindful Leadership on Team Members in Further and Higher Education

Conference: The European Conference on Education (ECE2020)
Title: A Mixed Methods Research to Investigate the Effects of Mindful Leadership on Team Members in Further and Higher Education
Stream: Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Christina Balaska, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom

Abstract:

This research was conducted as part of my MA dissertation and explores the effects of mindful leadership on team members in the context of further and higher education. There has been an increasing interest in this research area in recent years; however, most studies have investigated the issue from the leader's perspective (Mahfouz, 2018; Garcia-Post, 2016). This research aimed at achieving a more holistic view of the issue by exploring mindful leadership through the perspective of both the leader and their team members. The five research questions included what mindful practices leaders embrace in their lives and the implications of these mindful practices on the team members' motivation and well-being as well as the effects on conflict resolution and communication within the team. A mixed-methods methodological approach was followed which included semi-structured interviews with the leaders and online questionnaires with their team members. The findings suggested a positive influence of mindful leadership on team members in aspects such as motivation, communication, resolution of conflictual situations and team members' overall well-being. Additionally, several correlations were found between mindful and transformational leadership, which links to the findings of previous studies in mindful leadership in education (eg. Hawkins, 2010).The findings of this research are indicative rather than generalisable due to the nature of the case study design. Further research is suggested with regards to whether there are differences in the leadership practices of those who embrace mindfulness as a secular tradition as opposed to those who follow the spiritual practices of Buddhism.



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