How mindfulness impacts the way leaders connect with and develop followers

This study examines how leaders who possess the ability to stay present, observe information, and correctly navigate the distractions of the workplace will be more likely to enact individualized consideration successfully. A multi-source, cross-sectional study with a sample of 155 leader–follower dyads from Amazon's Mechanical Turk examines how leader self-reported mindfulness relates to follower-reported individualized consideration. Structural equation modeling results indicate a positive relationship between leader self-reported mindfulness and follower-rated individualized consideration. Furthermore, emotional intelligence mediates the relationship. Surprisingly, attention control does not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and individualized consideration. Implications suggest that emotional intelligence is instrumental to the mechanisms for leader mindfulness impacting individualized consideration with followers. Future directions are advised to explore more longitudinal relationships of mindfulness and leader–follower behaviors.