TY - JOUR SN - 1573-353X AU - Nübold, Annika, Van Quaquebeke, Niels AU - Hülsheger, Ute T1 - Be(com)ing real: A multi-source and an intervention study on mindfulness and authentic leadership JF - Journal of Business and Psychology SP - 469 EP - 488 IS - 35 PY - 2020 AB - Although authentic leadership has been shown to inform a host of positive outcomes at work, the literature has dedicated little attention to identifying its personal antecedents and effective means to enhance it. Building on strong theoretical links and initial evidence, we propose mindfulness as a predictor of authentic leadership. In 2 multi-source field studies (cross-sectional and experimental), we investigated (a) the role of leaders’ trait mindfulness and (b) the effectiveness of a low-dose mindfulness intervention for perceptions of authentic leadership. The results of both studies confirmed a positive relation between leaders’ trait mindfulness and authentic leadership as rated by both followers and leaders. Moreover, the results of study 2 showed that the intervention increased authentic leadership via gains in leaders’ mindfulness, as perceived by both followers and leaders. In addition, we found that the intervention positively extended to followers’ work attitudes via authentic leadership. The paper concludes with a discussion of the study’s implications for leadership theory and leader development. Amidst the public’s growing dissatisfaction with business executives, stemming from organizational malpractice and leadership failure, researchers and practitioners have increased their focus on alternative leadership approaches that allow to operate in line with values while still meeting the prescribed performance standards (Gardner, Cogliser, Davis, & Dickens, 2011; Kinsler, 2014). Many see authentic leadership as the prototype of such an alternative approach—a kind of “root concept” that forms the basis for other positive leadership behaviors like transformational or ethical leadership (e.g., Ilies, Morgeson, & Nahrgang, 2005). Stemming from the Greek word authentikós (meaning real), authentic leadership has been defined via four core dimensions focusing on self-awareness, a trustful relationship with followers where one is able to share one's true thoughts and feelings, open and unbiased processing, and strong moral values and congruency of actions (Gardner et al., 2011; Neider & Schriesheim, 2011). Authentic leadership has been shown to have benefits for followers’ job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors, justice perceptions, and task, group, and organizational performance (Banks, McCauley, Gardner, & Guler, 2016; Hoch, Bommer, Dulebohn, & Wu, 2018; Schuh, Zheng, Xin, & Fernandez, 2017). Although this evidence is well-established, organizational scholars surprisingly still focus more on the outcomes and mechanisms of authentic leadership (Gardner et al., 2011) rather than on how to foster it. To date, there is scarce research on the personal antecedents of authentic leadership and thus few answers about how to develop appropriate trainings. Addressing this question is of great practical importance, as organizations need guidance in how to hire and train leaders who can act and lead in an authentic way (Cooper, Scandura, & Schriesheim, 2005). As noted by Avolio and Walumbwa (2014), “the practice community has certainly responded to this need by offering a growing number of training programs” but these efforts are often “premature” and likely to “end up on the junk heap” if the concept of authentic leadership and the associated training efforts are not researched and validated in a scientifically rigorous way (p. 334). Thus, it is crucial to start testing training methods in order to offer evidence-based advice on how to improve and sustain authentic leadership. Authentic leadership is not a specific leadership style per se, but rather an integral part of a leader’s way of being (Cooper et al., 2005; Gardner et al., 2011). Authentic leadership training, thus, requires a holistic approach that accounts for the whole person: one's individual character, values, and preferences. Traditional leadership trainings focusing merely on a specific set of skills (e.g., goal setting or intellectual stimulation; Barling, Weber, & Kelloway, 1996; Dvir, Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002) will fall short in this case. In addition, training leaders to behave in a standardized, presumably ideal, way (e.g., using images and metaphors in a speech; Antonakis, Fenley, & Liechti, 2011; Emrich, Brower, Feldman, & Garland, 2001; Naidoo & Lord, 2008) without considering if this behavior is congruent or incongruent with a person’s character or values, may increase the chance that both, leaders themselves and followers, perceive the trained behavior as inauthentic. Therefore, an effective approach to increase authentic leadership will necessarily protect and even promote each individual’s “true core”. It will help individuals to find out who they really are, what they stand for, and how they can communicate that in an honest and transparent way to build meaningful relationships with followers. One factor that has been theorized to show a strong conceptual link to authentic leadership is mindfulness (e.g., Kinsler, 2014; Reb, Sim, Chintakananda, & Bhave, 2015). Being mindful means paying attention to present-moment experiences in a receptive and non-judgmental way (Bishop et al., 2004; Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). In the present work, we treat mindfulness as a personal antecedent to and a holistic means (Amaro, 2015; Gause & Coholic, 2010) of training authentic leadership. Mindfulness promotes authenticity by allowing self-discovery and self-awareness, leading to more self-concordant goal setting (Kinsler, 2014) and the identification of one’s strengths and weaknesses (Brown & Ryan, 2003). For example, instead of pretending to be the charismatic, confident, or inspiring leader that they do not perceive themselves to be, leaders may learn to be more attentive and accepting of their true self . By being mindful, those leaders may be able to effectively communicate their needs (e.g., their desire to “stick to the facts”) to subordinates, thereby increasing authenticity and avoiding misunderstanding. In short, mindfulness has the potential to promote an authentic way of being and has consistently shown to be malleable (Eberth & Sedlmeier, 2012; Lomas et al., 2017). In two studies—a multi-source cross-sectional survey study (study 1) and a multi-source field experiment (study 2)—we tested (a) whether leaders’ trait mindfulness is related to follower- and leader-rated authentic leadership (study 1 and study 2) and (b) if a mindfulness intervention is able to causally impact leaders’ level of mindfulness and, in turn, their authentic leadership behavior (as perceived by themselves and their subordinates). Furthermore, we tested (c) whether that change also extends to followers’ job attitudes, such as job satisfaction and interpersonal justice perceptions (study 2). A recent review on the outcomes of mindfulness and meditation interventions for managers and leaders (Donaldson-Feilder, Lewis, & Yarker, 2018) offers initial evidence that mindfulness interventions may improve aspects of leaders’ well-being and leadership capability. However, the review also highlighted a number of shortcomings among extant intervention studies, including poor research designs that lack internal validity (e.g., no control groups or quasi-experimental studies) and the omission of follower outcomes. Furthermore, none of the included studies provided outcomes for leaders’ direct reports or assessed whether mindfulness was the mechanism through which the intervention improved further outcomes. We addressed these concerns with two multi-source field studies, one of which is a rigorous, randomized, controlled experiment. Furthermore, we assessed whether mindfulness is in fact the mechanism through which the intervention’s effects are translated into leadership behavior and whether said effects extend to follower outcomes. In addressing the role of mindfulness for authentic leadership, our present work makes important contributions to the literature. Firstly, it adds to the authentic leadership literature by identifying a theoretically and practically meaningful antecedent of authentic leadership behavior, as well as an effective means of enhancing authentic leadership through training (e.g., Gardner et al., 2011; Kinsler, 2014). Secondly, it contributes to the literature on mindfulness in the work context (for a recent review, see Good et al., 2016). While there is an incipient body of research on the benefits of mindfulness for leadership behavior, extant studies have predominantly investigated the role of leaders’ trait mindfulness for other leadership approaches, such as transformational and abusive supervision or servant leadership (Liang et al., 2016; Pinck & Sonnentag, 2017; Pircher Verdorfer, 2016). Our focus on authentic leadership not only advances the behavioral outcome domain of leader trait mindfulness at work but also represents a straightforward and parsimonious approach to directly target the essence of positive leadership (Ilies et al., 2005). Additionally, by testing the effect of a mindfulness training, our study paves the way for future intervention studies that may target a range of additional (leader) behaviors at work. Thirdly, it adds to the nascent body of leadership development (Day, Fleenor, Atwater, Sturm, & McKee, 2014). While a few valuable trainings have been developed for transformational (Barling et al., 1996; Dvir et al., 2002) or charismatic leadership (Antonakis et al., 2011; Frese, Beimel, & Schoenborn, 2003), the literature still features few interventions that are theoretically meaningful and methodologically sound. Furthermore, there is practical value in identifying tools that organizations can use to promote mindfulness and, by extension, authentic leadership. Organizations with access to effective and affordable interventions may be able to shift focus from personnel selection (i.e., hiring mindful individuals) to personnel development (i.e., enhancing the mindfulness of any current employee or new hire), thereby targeting a much wider range of individuals. DO - 10.1007/s10869-019-09633-y M4 - Citavi ER -