Leadership is typically described as the process by which individuals influence, lead, and guide others to achieve a common goal. Successful leaders are often under significant pressure due to the competitive and dynamic environments in which they work. A leader’s well-being is crucial to the success of the individual and team that s/he leads, as evidenced by research.
Conversely, leaders’ ill-being is associated with toxic work environments and poor performance among followers. Therefore, the factors that affect leaders’ psychological health are a topic of vital significance and relevance. Towards this aim, the present study focuses on a specific psychological tool: mindfulness, and its influence on leaders’ well-being.
In leadership, leaders build relationships and networks that influence others to create visions for change. As organizations lean on their leaders to promote their shared values while influencing and motivating their employees, it is suggested that the psychological engagement of employees by leaders has a positive relationship with a healthy environment in the workplace.
Leadership roles in Encouraging Employees
Leaders work to encourage their employees, keep open lines of communication, and allow followers to engage and share important information. Positive relationship behavior is connected to leadership effectiveness, as it is suggested that practicing mindfulness activities contributes to the effectiveness of leaders. Mindfulness improves well-being by reducing stress levels through the utilization of mindfulness-awareness practices (MAP).
Mindfulness in this study is defined as the awareness that comes from focusing one’s attention and purpose and being present in the moment in a non-judgmental way. A state of mindfulness requires being centered in the present and having non-judgmental awareness of the surroundings. Thus, the quality of awareness is derived from the engagement of mindfulness practices as being fully aware of the current environment. Mindfulness practices include actively breathing, meditating, or performing some physical activity that allows one’s mind to focus.
Through mindfulness, a person can gain a new relationship between experiences and their connotations, as well as the ability to self-regulate emotions in response to similar sensations. This cultivation of mindfulness brings forward a heightened state of awareness and attention. Mindfulness practices such as meditation are linked to an increase in well-being and a decrease in negative symptoms of everyday life. Therefore, mindfulness has a significant role in mental health, which is believed through this research study to have an influence on a leader’s well-being.
