Central European Business Review 2015, 4(3):35-47 | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.131

The Emerging Role of Mindfulness Research in the Workplace and its Challenges

Marek Vich
Ing. Marek Vich, Ph.D. Candidate, Organizational Psychologist and Mentor, Department of Managerial Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Economics, Prague, W. Churchill Sq. 4, 130 67 Prague 3, Czech Republic, marek.vich@malp.cz

This paper focuses on the current state of art in mindfulness research on workplace and identifies some of the necessary steps and risks in the creation of mindful leadership theory. Mindfulness has the potential to effectively address three topical organizational challenges of growing demands on adaptability, prevailing issues of work-related stress and the necessity to raise the moral level in organizations. Current studies seem to suitably respond to the issues of work-related stress; however, the challenges of adaptability and morality so far lack appropriate empirical validation. Lack of empirical support is also noticeable in the case of mindful leadership theory as most studies still focus solely on individual leader development. However, it is important to start to discuss the suitable core variables of mindful leadership now as a clear differentiation from other leadership approaches like authentic leadership will be crucial for successful creation of mindful leadership theory. This paper also presents recommendations for entrepreneurs and managers willing to incorporate mindfulness into their organizational settings.

Keywords: mindfulness; mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs); mindful leadership; self-awareness; moral awareness; authentic leadership; ethical leadership
JEL classification: M14, M53, O35

Received: July 2, 2015; Revised: September 14, 2015; Published: September 30, 2015  Show citation

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Vich, M. (2015). The Emerging Role of Mindfulness Research in the Workplace and its Challenges. Central European Business Review, 4(3), 35-47. doi: 10.18267/j.cebr.131
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