Government/Public Sector Managers/Executives/Administrators
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mindfulness training program in promoting resilience and transformational leadership behaviors in military leaders and in evaluating the perceptions of how mindfulness training affected leadership effectiveness. METHODOLOGY The sample consisted of 73 members of the 184th Intelligence Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard (response rate = 91 %). Respondents completed The Leadership Practices Inventory, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor & Davidson, 2003), and The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (Kabat-Zinn, 1991). The assessments were taken pre and post-Mindfulness-Based Attention Training. There were 58 men and 15 women that participated in this study. Participants held the ranks of Staff Sergeant, Technical Sergeant, Master Sergeant, Senior Master Sergeant, Chief Master Sergeant, and Major. The participants ages ranged from 22-55 years old (M=35.9).
KEY FINDINGS The Leadership Practices Inventory pre-test and post-test resulted in no significant differences. The results were the same for those who did and did not receive Mindfulness-Based Attention Training. A qualitative analysis did show a positive increase in the leadership practice of Encouraging the Heart. The author notes:
The sample population possibly had high levels of leadership competency. Without further investigation or assessment of the individuals, it is impossible to know the actual level of competency. However, high competency can be implied due to the higher ranks represented by sample participants, suggesting enough career success to warrant promotion to those ranks (p. 216).