A Developmental model for educating wise leaders: The role of mindfulness and habitus in creating time for embodying wisdom

David Rooney*, Wendelin Küpers, David Pauleen, Ekatarina Zhuravleva

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article brings together mindfulness and habitus theory in relation to developing wise leaders. In particular, we present new insights about the intersection of time, subjective and intersubjective experience, and mindfulness that are relevant to developing embodied wisdom in leaders. We show that temporal competence is essential for shaping habitus and developing embodied wisdom. Further, and to extend theoretical understandings of mindfulness in leadership, we argue that temporal capabilities developed through mindfulness can foster embodied wisdom by creating a specific ‘wisdom habitus’ that includes values and ethics. The system of dispositions that comprise one’s habitus is, however, largely unconscious and implicit and we discuss how mindfulness renders habitus, including ethical conation accessible to development for the bodily ability to act wisely. This article then establishes a framework that leadership development programs in business schools can adopt for understanding habitus and mindfulness to enable embodied wisdom to develop in leaders. Finally, we show that a mindfulness perspective offers valuable contributions to research on leadership.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)181-194
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume170
Issue number1
Early online date13 Nov 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2021

Keywords

  • Leadership
  • Mindfulness
  • Wisdom

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