Affiliations:
MSC HRM, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH BUSINESS SCHOOL
Abstract:
Although mindfulness and wellbeing practices have long been discussed, there has been very little actual implementation in the workplace. Keeping mental health in check is crucial given the amount of stress people experience both individually and at work. The pandemic’s onset brought this to light, and numerous businesses launched numerous programmes focusing on health and wellbeing. This study was created in an effort to better understand leaders and the factors that influence their effectiveness at work. It addresses two main research questions about how these factors influence leadership styles and how it impacts leader’ self-development over- time, by using a qualitative research method and semi-structured interviews with eight organisational leaders, who were either in senior positions or had extensive work history in any company or location. The research objective centred on acquiring instances demonstrating improved leadership effectiveness, which was found to be unaffected by the participants’ country and field of work, enabling the researcher to develop a varied participant pool. Overall, findings suggest that environments are deterministic to the leadership style one adopts in a certain situation or circumstance, and most of the participants have claimed to have evolved from exhibiting a transactional mindset to a more empowering and coaching one. Moreover, these practices have helped leaders become better at conflict management, resulted in improved team dynamics and, helped them reduce stress by reducing reactivity in challenging situations. Although it might not promptly help everyone, it has been observed to provide long-term benefits.
Keywords:
mental health, leadership, wellbeing
Publishing Chronology:
Received - 14/3/2024
Accepted - 21/7/2024
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