MM and the Workplace
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1 National University of Ireland, Cork Department of Management & Marketing in collaboration with The Centre of Adult & Continuing Education Mindfulness‐Based Interventions in the Workplace. A Case Study. An exploratory study to assess the need for a Mindfulness‐Based Training program to build personal resilience against Work‐related Stress within a small non‐for‐ profit organization. Niall Horgan 112144606 Supervisor: Anne Gannon Head of the department: Dr. Séamus O’ Tuama A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Masters of Science Degree of Human Resources Management. June 2014.
Transcript of MM and the Workplace
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National University of Ireland, Cork
Department of Management & Marketing in collaboration with
The Centre of Adult & Continuing Education
Mindfulness‐Based Interventions in the Workplace. A Case Study.
An exploratory study to assess the need for a Mindfulness‐Based Training program
to build personal resilience against Work‐related Stress within a small non‐for‐
profit organization.
Niall Horgan
112144606
Supervisor: Anne Gannon
Head of the department: Dr. Séamus O’ Tuama
A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a
Masters of Science Degree
of
Human Resources Management.
June 2014.
2
Declaration
I declare that the content of this assignment is all my own work. Where the work of others
has been used to augment my assignment it has been referenced accordingly.
Signed ______________________ Date ____________________
Word Count ________________
Volume No._________________
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Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the lecturers and staff at ACE (UCC) for their support during
the completion of this Masters dissertation. In particular, the patience and guidance of my
supervisor Anne Gannon. I would also like to thank the staff of EWC who agreed to
participate in this study and shared so openly in their interviews. A special note of
gratitude to the three experts who agreed to be interviewed, Juliet Adams, Michael Carroll
and Professor Derek Mowbray, who gave so generously of their time and insights. To those
in my class who encouraged me and to my family for their patience and support.
“Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”
Japanese Proverb.
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Contents.
List of Tables and Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….8
Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………………………………………9
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10
1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………….12
1.21 Rationale for the Study………………………………………………………………………...12
1.12 Aim and Purpose………………………………………………………………………..............12
1.13 Main Research Questions……………………………………………………………………..13
1.2. Background………………………………………………………………………………………………....14
1.21 The Role and Responsibility of HR in WRS…………..………………………………….14
1.22 Legal responsibility……………………………………………………………………………….14
1.23 The Focus on Employee Well‐being (CIPD)………………………………………….…15
1.3 The Evolution of Mindfulness based approaches in the workplace……………….…16
1.31 Spiritual Mindfulness. East meets West………………………………………………......16
1.32 Secular Mindfulness. West meets East…………………………………………………….18
1.321 MBSR (Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction)…………………………….......19
1.322 MBCT (Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy)…………………………….…20
1.33 The Science behind Mindfulness. Neuroplasticity……………………………………..20
1.4 The Organizational Context…………………………………………………………………………..21
1.41 Service description……………………………………………………………………...............21
1.42 Governance………………………………………………………………………………...............21
1.43 HR and related Issues………………………………………………………………………..…22
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2. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………………………………25
2.1 Work‐Related Stress………………………………………………………………………………..25
2.2 The Need for Resilience……………………………………………………………………………27
2.21 The links between resilience building, WRS and Mindfulness………………29
2.3 The emergence of mindfulness in the workplace. Literature Search…………30
2.4 MBAs and their relevant studies……………………………………………………………...32
2.41 Other Applications of MBAs within the workplace……………………………...34
2.411 Mindful leadership…………………………………………………………………….34
2.412 Mindful Coaching……………………………………………………………………….36
3. METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN…………………………………………………………………….37
3.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………..37
3.2 Conceptual Design/research planning………………………………………………………37
3.3 Sample selections and data collection methods used…………………………………38
3.4 Qualitative Methods…………………………………………………………………………………40
3.41 Group Interview……………………………………………………………………………….40
3.42 Individual Interviews………………………………………………………………………...40
3.43 Expert Interviews…………………………………………………………………………….41
3.5 Quantitative Methods Used…………………………………………………………………………41
3.51 Management Standards Questionnaire……………………………………………………41
3.52 MAAS (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale)……………………………………..42
3.53 RASQ35 (Resilience Assessment Scale)……………………………………………….….42
3.6 Proposed analysis………………………………………………………………………………………..43
3.7 Validity and reliability of data………………………………………………………………………43
3.8 Considerations and limitations…………………………………………………………………….44
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3.9 Ethics/consent/confidentiality………………………………………………………………45
3.10 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………..45
4. RESULTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………..46
4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………..46
4.2 Quantitative Results………………………………………………………………………………..46
4.21 Management Standards Questionnaire and WHO‐5…………………………....46
4.22 Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ35)…………………………………..48
4.23 MAAS (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale)…………………………………..50
4.3 Qualitative Results…………………………………………………………………………………...52
4.31 Participants………………………………………………………………………………………52
4.32 Work Related Stress and coping mechanisms……………………………………..52
4.321 Job Coach Responses. (Ind. & Group Interviews).(Q.s 1‐5)…………....52
4.322 Expert Opinions………………………………………………………………………….54
4.33 Mindfulness……………………………………………………………………………………….54
4.331 Job Coach Responses. (Ind. & Group Interviews). Q.s 6‐10)……………54
4.332 Expert Opinions…………………………………………………………………………..57
4.34 Resilience…………………………………………………………………………………………….58
4.341 Job Coach Responses (Ind. & Group Interviews).(Q.s 11‐12)……......58
4.342 Expert Opinions…………………………………………………………………………58
5. DISCUSSION AND RECOOMENDATIONS……………………………………………………63
5.1 The Mindfulness connection to building resilience against WRS………….…..63
5.2 Levels of stress, mindfulness and resilience In EWC…………………………..……64
5.3 The potential value of an MBI training program for EWC……………….…..……65
5.4 Program Elements………………...…………………………………………………………...….66
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5.6 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………….….67
5.7 Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………….68
6. PERSONAL LEARNING………………………………………………………………………………..69
BIBLOGRAPPHY…………………………………………………………………………………………….71
APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………………………………….….85
Appendix 1: Staff Interview questions……………………………………….…………………85
Appendix 2: Management Standards Questionnaire. …………………………………….86
Appendix 3: MAAS Questionnaire…………………… ……………………………………….….90
Appendix 4:RASQ35 Questionnaire…………………………….………………………………..91
Appendix 5:Management Standards Questionnaire. Outcome Results……………93
Appendix 6:Breakdown of Group response to RSAQ35 questions…………….…...97
Appendix 7:RASQ35 Individual Job Coach Scores……………………………………….109
Appendix 8: Breakdown of Group response to MAAS questions …………………116
Appendix 9:Transcript of JC3 (Indl. Interview)………………………………………..…121
Appendix 10:Transcript of JC4, JC6 and JC1(Group Interview)……………….…..128
Appendix 11: Transcript of JC2 (Indl. Interview)…… …………………………………147
Appendix 12:Transcript of Juliet Adams (Expert Interview)…………………..…...153
Appendix 13: Transcript of Prof. Derek Mowbray (Expert Interview)…………164
Appendix 14: Transcript of Michael Carroll (Expert Interview)……………...…..170
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List of Tables
Table.1. Taxonomy of psychosocial hazards. ………………………………………………26
Table. 2 Experts Interviewed……………………………………………………………………..39
Table.3 Summary of Management Standards Questionnaire Results……………47
Table.4 Individual Resiliency Scores across the Seven Categories. ………………50
Table.5 Individual scores and percentages of respondents’ level
dispositional mindfulness. ……………………………………………………………………….51
Table. 6 List of Appendices of Interview Transcripts……………………………………52
Table. 7 Summary of Individual and Group Interviews Responses……………….60
Table.8 Summary of Expert Interviews responses………………………………………..62
List of Figures
Fig.1 The Yerkes‐Dodson Curve. ………………………………………………………………27
Fig.2 Mindfulness research literature from 1980 to 2010. …………………………32
Fig.3 Management Standards Questionnaire Results…………………………………46
Fig.4 WHO‐5 Well Being Index results……………………………………………………….48
Fig.5 Overall Respondent Resiliency Levels. ………………………………………………49
Fig.6 Total mean average score of individual responses……………………………..51
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Abbreviations
EWC: (Pseudonym) The Company
JC: Job Coach
MAS: Management Advisory Service
MASS: Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale
MBAs: Mindfulness Based Approaches
MBIs: Mindfulness‐Based Interventions
MBSR: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
MBCT: Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
MBT: Mindfulness Based Training
RAS: Resilience Assessment Scale
WRS: Work Related Stress
Note for the reader.
MBT will be used interchangeably with both MBIs and MBAs, as they will imply the same
meaning when discussing Mindfulness‐Based Training programs in the workplace.
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Abstract
The growing phenomenon of Work Related Stress has become one of the major reasons
for sickness and absenteeism in the workplace. This presents a serious challenge to
present and future HR practitioners as they look to find new ways of addressing this
problem. In attempts to tackle this issue, a number of high profile multinational
organisations have begun to explore and embrace Mindfulness Based Training as a
possible remedy, not only in maintaining staff wellbeing and performance but also in
increasing their resilience against the challenges presented in the workplace.
This dissertation explored the hypothesis that Mindfulness Based Training can have a
positive impact on increasing personal resilience in the workplace and reducing the
negative effects of work place stressors. The study investigated work related stress within
the context of a small non‐for profit organization where there has been a recent history of
high sickness and absenteeism levels. It explored from a HR perspective, the proposition
that the introduction of Mindfulness Based Training (MBT) within the organization could
help build greater staff resilience to work related stressors, thereby reducing overall
sickness and absence levels while also helping to maintain, if not increase, current levels of
staff wellbeing and performance. This was approached by assessing the potential value for
such training through self‐reported questionnaires, interviews with staff and researching
published studies and articles, as well as interviewing a number of experts.
This study was an exploratory investigation, grounded in action research and employed a
mixed method approach for the triangulation of results using inductive analysis.
Quantitative measures were collected to measure current levels of staff stress,
dispositional mindfulness and resilience. Interviews were also carried with a sample of
staff within the organization, using both individual and group formats. A number of expert
interviews were also conducted to establish current best practice in the areas of stress
reduction, mindfulness and resilience and to garner further information that could aid the
analysis of data.
The main findings showed there were healthy levels of stress, mindfulness and resilience
among most staff within the organization at the time of the study. This was in contrast to
12‐24 months previous when a number of staff reported in interviews, experience of high
levels of stress.
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There was an enthusiastic response and openness to the implementation of a Mindfulness
based Training program with a strong proviso that there would be management buy in
and that elements of the program would be integrated in to systems, structures and
practices of the organization. It was also suggested that the MBI training program should
have a more continuous aspect to it so that the main element and practices could be
adapted into the organizations structures and practices.
It is recommended that the organization deliver an MBI training program to its staff.
The main limitations of this study are that the subject matter is a relatively new research
topic and while there are studies emerging, it is difficult to find. The validity of the claims
by the available research is also questionable and open to scrutiny as there are few agreed
measure that have wide acceptance and take can accurately quantify the effects of
wellbeing and stress reduction.
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale for the Study
The focus of this study was to explore and examine the potential value of implementing a
Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) training program into a small non‐for profit
organization called EWC. The rationale behind choosing MBT, was that the company had
been experiencing excessive levels of WRS (work‐related stress) over the past 24 months.
This resulted in major HR (Human Resource) issues that included fluctuating levels of staff
performance, absence and morale, which adversely affected the organization’s ability to
maintain productivity levels and attain agreed performance targets that closure was at
one point considered. The reason for considering MBI as a possible HR intervention is it
has been proven to be a highly effective stress reduction approach (Brown and Ryan,
2003), so much so that it has now been adopted by global organisations such as Google,
Apple, General Mills and Deutsche Bank. Research is beginning to emerge, showing that
one of the positive outcomes of MBT is greater emotional resilience (Glomb et al., 2011).
Research into the effects of personal resilience in the workplace is beginning to show that
it can enable employees adapt better to stressful environments (Gillespie, Chaboyer and
Wallis, 2009). There remains however, somewhat of a gap in relation to evidencing the
connections between the areas of Work‐Related Stress, Resilience and Mindfulness.
1.12 Aim and Purpose
The aim and purpose of the study was to explore with the organization and the help of
experts, if the introduction and implementation of an MBI program could help build
greater personal resilience for staff, thereby equipping them to better cope with potential
workplace hazards and stressors. It was hoped that this could also subsequently lead to a
reduction in sickness and absenteeism levels as well as an increase in performance and
wellbeing levels.
As research on the link between MBT and resilience building is still in its early days, it is
hoped that this study will contribute to this discussion and that body of knowledge. This in
itself presented challenges and limitations in sourcing directly related material, so
inference had to be drawn from indirectly related sources and then identifying the
possible connections. It must be noted that this has also been a major challenge for new
researches into this area. It is hoped by the examination of relevant research and the
responses and insights of both employees and experts that a clearer case can be
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established as to whether the implementation of MBI in to EWC is worth consideration.
These results are not intended to be generalizable to other organizations, as this is not the
intention of the study, as its focus was highly contextualized, however inferences could be
drawn towards its applicability for some small sized organisations with similar issues.
In establishing a research design, a mixed method methodology was employed, using both
qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative measures included the use of
questionnaires in the form of rated surveys to measure staff levels of stress, mindfulness
and resilience. Theses included the Management Standards Questionnaire measuring staff
stress levels; the MAAS (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale), which measured levels
of ‘dispositional mindfulness’ and the RAS (Resilience Assessment Scale) measuring
current levels of staff resilience. Qualitative measures employed were the use of individual
and group interviews conducted with a sample selection of staff (5 of 9) in both formats,
two individual and one group (consisting of three staff). Three expert interviews were also
conducted to gain additional insights by current practitioners in their chosen field of
expertise, which included stress management training, mindfulness and resilience.
For the purposes of clarifying the main issues under investigation, an organizational
description and the identification of its relevant HR issues pertinent to the focus of this
study will be explored, This is followed by an examination of the wider context and the
main concepts of WRS, Mindfulness and Resilience, as well as the role and responsibility of
HR in relation to their management of WRS.
1.13 Main Research Questions.
The main questions that this study will examine and attempt to answer are as follows:
1. Can mindfulness help build better resilience to work‐related stress?
2. What are the current levels of stress, dispositional mindfulness and resilience in
EWC?
3. Would an MBI training program be of potential value to EWC?
4. What elements should be contained within the MBT program?
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1.2. Background
1.21 The Role and Responsibility of HR in WRS.
The workplace and the nature of work continue to change at an ever‐increasing pace. The
advent of globalization, the development of new technologies and communications, and
the divergent nature of both work and the workforce, are just some of the main
contributors to this evolution (European Foundation for the improvement of Living and
Working Conditions, 2007). Theses changes have brought with them many advances but
also challenges for the workforce, in particular, potential detrimental effects on effects on
employee wellbeing and as a consequence, have presented new challenges for HR
practitioners. From its inception as Personnel Management to its current guise as Human
Resources Management, the responsibility for employee safety and welfare has also
evolved, with HR now playing a critical role in both its application and development
(Bratton and Gold 2012). Ulrick and Brockbank’s (2005) ‘employee champion’ strikes a
serious challenge to the profession as it seeks to balance employer demands with
employee expectations. The result can often be a mismatch and the challenge for the HR
professional is to marry the two into a more harmonious union. One way of achieving a
more uniform and healthier balance suggested by Watson and Reissner (2010), is the
adaptation of the Job Demands‐Resources model as proposed by Van den Broeck et al
(2008). This places responsibility on the organization to provide the employee with the
necessary resources to meet the demands of the job. Excessive demands without access to
adequate resources can result in employee stress. To clarify what is meant by stress,
Watson and Reissner (2010), cite Selye’s (1976) description of stress as the body’s
response to a perceived threat. While a certain level of stress/pressure may actually
enhance wellbeing and performance, excessive stress is both counter‐productive and
unhealthy.
1.22 Legal responsibility.
From a legal standpoint, employers have a legal responsibility and duty defined in
Common law under Section8 (1&2) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, to
ensure the health and safety of their employees. This responsibility not only includes
physical injury but also psychological (and psychiatric) illness caused by WRS (work
related stress) (Morganmcmanus.com 2001). A more balanced approach was further
developed through the formulation of the Hatton Guidelines and the ‘16 Golden Rules’, set
out by the English Court of Appeal after the Sunderland V Hatton (2002) case. The court
found that in relation to work‐related stress, the employer could only be held liable when
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they were aware that harm to the employee was ‘reasonably foreseeable’. Its principles
were accepted into Irish case law during the McGrath V Trintech case (2004),
(Peninsulaireland 2012). The HAS (Health & Safety Authority) in Ireland describes WRS
as;
“Stress caused or made worse by work….when a person perceives the work environment in
such a way that his or her reaction involves feelings of an inability to cope”.
(Work‐related stress. A Guide for employers. HAS n.d.).
The Hatton guidelines set out the necessary steps for employer identification, assessment
and control measure of risks that should be included in safety statements and lists areas of
potential workplace stressors such as ill‐defined work roles; poor communication; poor
working relationships; lack of personal control over work; highly demanding tasks and
dealing directly with the public (HAS n.d.).
1.23 The Focus on Employee Well‐being (CIPD).
In response to the growing concerns of stress within the workplace and its effect on the
bottom line, a number of umbrella organizations and consultancy groups have begun to
promote the merits of employers focusing more on employee wellbeing and welfare as a
way of addressing this issue. In a survey conducted by CIPD (Chartered Institute of
Personnel Management) in 2013 of over 2,000 employees, they reported that over 50% of
those surveyed had seen an increase in stress over the past year, mainly due to excessive
workload, increasing demands to meet targets, management style and poorly managed
change/restructuring (CIPD, p.3, 2013). In their guide ‘Building the business case for
managing stress in the workplace’ (p.1.3, 2008) the CIPD say, “Stress in the workplace is a
growing problem for individuals and employers and government” and suggest that the
management of stress in the workplace should form part of the HR portfolio, not only in
the application of HR policy and practice such as remuneration and conditions, but also in
working with other disciplines/departments in the delivery of health and wellbeing
interventions. One of these interventions is helping to build greater resilience among
employees through the utilization of mindfulness‐based practices. This is highlighted in
another of their guide publications entitled ‘Developing resilience. An evidence‐based
guide for practitioners’ (CIPD, 2011) where they list Tugade et al’s. study of mindfulness,
as an effective technique for developing greater personal/individual resilience.
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1.3 The Evolution of Mindfulness based approaches in the workplace.
In order to understand the evolution of Mindfulness based approaches as they have
become know today, one must first explore how they came into being as well as their
meaning and definition. Mindfulness could be described as having two main roots and
applications, that of the spiritual and the secular, which will now be explored.
1.31 Spiritual Mindfulness. East meets West.
During the research of this area it became evident that many current authors and articles
on mindfulness‐based approaches have either omitted (by design or default) or
downplayed its spiritual foundation and influence, supporting Rothwell’s
recommendation to minimize emphasis on its origins (Rothwell 2006, cited in Davis,
2012). For the purposes of this study, it was considered important to examine the spiritual
roots of mindfulness, as they have heavily influenced the development of many
mindfulness‐based approaches practiced today (Davis, 2012).
The spiritual roots of Mindfulness stem originally from Buddhism (Langley, 2011) and is
known as the seventh element of what is called the ‘noble eightfold path’ to enlightenment
(see Sujato, 2006 for a more in‐depth analysis of the spiritual history of Mindfulness).
Recorded in the teachings of Buddha over 2,500 years ago (Rezek, 2012), mindfulness has
been translated from the Pali (ancient Indo‐Aryan language) word ‘sati’ which means
‘awareness’ (Alidina, 2010). Its spread to the west came in the late 1800s but in more
recent times, has being promoted by notable Buddhist teachers such as Suzuki Roshi, the
Dali Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh. Suzuki Roshi, a Japanese Zen Master who founded a Zen
Center in San Francisco in the early 1960s (Kabat‐Zinn, 2012) advocated the concept of
the ‘beginner’s mind’ (Suzuki and Dixon, 1992), which has much in common with that of
Langer’s (1989) definition, noted later. The Dali Lama, has authored numerous books
which include many comments and discussions on mindfulness and its application to daily
life including work (Bstan‐‘dzin‐rgya‐mtsho & Cutler 1998, Bstan‐‘dzin‐rgya‐mtsho 2002;
2004) as well the mind‐body connection to maintaining health and promoting healing
(Goleman, 2003). Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk has done much in
recent years on promoting the value of mindfulness in everyday life, (Nhat Hanh 1987 and
Nhat Hanh 1991). In one of his most recent books entitled “Work” (Nhat Hanh, 2012), he
explores the benefits of mindfulness at work and suggests that the work we do and how
we do it, can be the cause of much suffering. The following quotation is Nhat Hanh’s
description of mindfulness, which will also demonstrate its similarity to that of Jon Kabat‐
Zinn’s definition, noted later.
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“Mindfulness is the act of bringing one’s full attention to what is happening in the present
moment”. (Nhat Hanh, 2012. p11)
One of the main practices of Mindfulness is that of meditation, in the Buddhist tradition
this is known as ‘Vipassana meditation’ (Nhat Hanh, 1993). There are however numerous
mindfulness practices that can be adopted into daily life such as mindful breathing (Phra
Thepwisutthimethi, 1988), mindful walking (Ford, 2011), mindful eating (Nhat Hanh and
Cheung, 2011), mindful living (Tart, 1994) and mindful working (Nhat Hanh, 2012), the
latter which proposes a more positive and stress‐free work environment. Other notable
exponents who have helped spread the notion of mindfulness in western culture in the
spiritual sense include Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now, 1999) and Jiddu Kristnamuriti
(Hall, 2013). Many of the spiritual practices extolled through mindfulness have now been
secularized and adopted into mainstream culture as well as the workplace.
Within popular culture, a number of high‐profile personalities have embraced the ‘mindful
movement’ and written books on the subject. These include Goldie Hawn’s (Actress) ‘10
Mindful Minutes’ (2011) and Ruby Wax’s (Comedian), ‘Sane New World’ (2013). One may
be tempted to not take these publications seriously, but Hawn has spoken on the benefits
of mindfulness to world leaders at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos (Treanor,
2014) and Wax has given presentations on mental health and mindfulness to numerous
business and interests groups (Ted.com, 2012). US Senator Tim Ryan authored, ‘A Mindful
Nation’ (2012), promoting the personal and societal benefits of mindfulness and its
practices. This has led to development of weekly meditation sessions in the US congress
building on Capital Hill (Heard on the Hill, 2014) with MPs in the UK Parliament also
following this trend (Simons, 2013).
Within the education sector, Mindfulness training programs have been introduced in
primary and secondary levels schools for both teachers and students in the US, UK and
Ireland (Independent.ie, 2014). Irish authors of note who have written about Mindfulness
are Dr. Tony Bates ‘Coming through Depression (Bates,2011), Padraig O’Morain ‘Light
Mind, Mindfulness for Daily Living’ (O’Morain 2009) and Maureen Gaffney who in her
book ‘Flourishing’, discusses the benefits and connections between adopting ‘mindful’
practices to help cope with stress and build greater resilience, which she calls ‘flourishing
under fire’ (Gaffney, 2011. p.342).
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1.32 Secular Mindfulness. West meets East.
There are numerous definitions and interpretations of Mindfulness in the secular sense, as
well as views on its application (Langer, 1989; Kabat‐Zinn, 1998; Segal, Williams and
Teasdale, 2002; Bishop et al., 2004; Williams and Pennman, 2011 and Davis, 2012). Two of
the main contributors in the field are now examined in order to make a distinction
between the two, both with associated but different applications on mindfulness. The first
is Ellen Langer, professor of psychology at Harvard University, who developed a theory of
Mindfulness (Langer, 1989) where she proposes that being “mindless” is to be stuck in an
automated and habitual mindset, which can have negative impacts in one’s work and life.
This is opposed to being “mindful”, which is a process of continuous renewal of one’s
perspective in order to allow greater intuition and creativity, in other words, seeing things
anew. This type of “mindfulness” can also have beneficial medical effects in helping people
explore other options and resources available to them. Langer suggests that cultivating
mindfulness can help keep one situated in the present and has the following benefits:
1. A greater sensitivity to one’s environment.
2. More openness to new information.
3. The creation of new categories for structuring perception, and
4. Enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving.
(Langer & Moldoveanu, 2000, p.2)
Langer’s work has been incorporated into HROs (High Reliability Organizations) as an
organizational learning and development tool for developing behavior that will help
minimize risk and increase awareness to potential threats and opportunities (Marques,
2007).
The two main Mindfulness based approaches used currently are MBSR (Mindfulness
Based Stress Reduction) and MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy). MBSR
originated from the pioneering work of Jon Kabat‐Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at
the University of Massachusetts Medical School and founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic
and Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine. It was after attending a retreat given by Thich
Nhat Hanh that Kabat‐Zinn first realized the potential of mindfulness as a complementary
therapy in the treatment of patients. He started introducing this in his work in the late
1970s, but it wasn’t until 1989, in what came to be a seminal study, Kabat‐Zinn showed
how patients with moderate to severe psoriasis who practiced mindfulness meditation,
were more responsive to treatment than those who didn’t practice it, when on undergoing
phototherapy (UVB) and photochemoptherapy (PUVA), (Kabat‐Zinn, 1998). He points to a
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‘paradigm shift’ (Kabat‐Zinn, 1996. p150) of thinking within medicine, stating that more
and more research is demonstrating the linkage and unity between mind and body.
In establishing a working definition of mindfulness, Kabat‐Zinn uses the following
description;
“Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way:
on purpose, in the present moment and non‐judgmentally” (Kabat‐Zinn, 2012, p.1).
While there may be some similarity between Langer’s, Kabat‐Zinn’s and indeed Nhat
Hanh’s interpretation of mindfulness and its possible applications, there is also
divergence, which highlights the difficulty in arriving at a common understanding and
definition of the term. To add to the debate and confusion, Bishop et al. (2004) state that
within contemporary psychology, mindfulness is a two component method for developing
greater awareness and coping better with distressing emotions and behavior, which
involves both self‐regulation and the taking of a particular view in relation to subjective
experiences. This is further developed by Davis (2012) who suggests that mindfulness has
numerous dimensions and therefore should not be confined to any singular definition. He
proposes a more multifaceted description incorporating its various elements, most
notably, mindfulness as a method, perspective, subjective experience and cognitive
process (Davis, 2012).
Two particular types of Mindfulness‐based approaches have evolved to become the main
MBAs (Mindfulness‐Based Approaches) used today, namely MBSR (Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction) (Kabat‐Zinn, 1998) and MBCT (Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy),
(Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002).
1.321 MBSR (Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction).
MBSR evolved into an eight‐week course, developed by Jon Kabat‐Zinn in the late 1970s,
when he offered it to patients attending his Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School. It took the shape of a number of sessions of mindfulness
meditation coupled with yoga over an eight‐week period. It has now become mainstream
and is not only used in care settings as a complimentary therapeutic approach, but
variations of it have found their way into homes, schools, universities and workplaces.
Studies in this area are explored in more detail within the literature review section of this
paper.
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1.322 MBCT (Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy).
Inspired by Kabat‐Zinn’s work with MBSR, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy was
developed by Professor Mark Williams, John Teasdale and Zindel Segal in the early 1990s
(Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002). Taking the main elements from MBSR and
incorporating cognitive therapeutic approaches, MBCT is also an eight‐week program,
which was designed initially as a method to prevent the relapse of depression in sufferers.
This was accomplished by training people to cope with distressing emotions by focusing
more on the present moment nonjudgmentally, so as avoid relapse into to old patterns of
response. Since then, it has been further developed and incorporated into the mainstream,
including the workplace (Alidina & Adams, 2014).
1.33 The Science behind Mindfulness. Neuroplasticity.
Neuroscientist Sara Lazar suggests there is compelling evidence to suggest that
mindfulness has beneficial effects on both mental and physical health (Lazar in Germer et
al., 2013). Much of the leading research into the neurological effects of mindfulness
meditation has been conducted by Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and
psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison. He has worked with Jon Kabat‐Zinn on
the effects of meditation on the immune system (Davidson et al 2003) and the Dalai Lama
on emotions and wellbeing (Ekman et al., 2005). He is most noted for proposing the theory
that meditation can increase positive ‘neuroplasticity’ (beneficial changes in the brain in
response to experience) and conducted research to prove this hypothesis. He compared a
selection of meditation practitioners of varying levels of practice using MRI (Magnetic
Response Imaging) scans of their brains to measure which parts were more active and less
active. He found that the more meditation people practiced, the less their amygdala (the
emotional part of the brain) was activated by emotional sounds and the more their
prefrontal cortex (the monitoring part of the brain) was activated (Davidson and Lutz,
2008). Some of Davidson’s other research looks at clinical depression and how a person’s
‘outlook and ‘resilience’ can affect their ‘emotional style’ (emotional continuum)
(Davidson and Begley, 2012). While Davidson’s findings are impressive, some critics, such
as Pustilnik (2009) contest that MRI‐based research is not as conclusive as some scientists
would like to think.
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1.4 The Organizational Context.
This section sets out the organizational and situational context of the study, focusing
primarily on the make up the organization, its history and governance and then presenting
the relevant HR issues which have directed and influenced the researcher in exploring the
case for the implementation of a Mindfulness‐Based Intervention.
1.41 Service description.
EWC (pseudonym) is a small non‐for‐profit organization of nine employees, providing
state‐funded employment support services to people with a disability or people who are
recovering from an illness or injury. It operates within a defined geographical area in the
south of Ireland and has five branch offices that are manned by either one (full time) or
two (part time) Job Coaches. Its central office is located in one of these offices. EWC forms
part of a national network of sister organizations that provide similar if not identical
services. Funding for these services is provided on an annual specified contract basis by
the DSP (Department of Social Protection), which had assimilated the original funding and
governing body FAS, into its organization two years previously. EWC has been in
operation for the past 14 years with substantial involvement from other local voluntary
agencies specializing in disability care, which has reduced significantly in recent years.
Individual team members have been recruited from a variety of employment backgrounds
in industry and the care sector, as there is no professional certification or structured
career path for this type of job coaching. The gender makeup of the team is five male and
four females ranging in ages from the mid‐thirties to late fifties.
1.42 Governance.
Executive responsibility for the running of the organization is carried by the Board of
Directors, which meets once every six weeks. There are 8 members, all volunteers, who
come from a wide selection of businesses, services and backgrounds in the region. There is
a gender imbalance on the board, which is predominately male. This board is accountable
to the DSP for moneys spent and achievement of agreed performance targets, which is
outlined in an annual contract of the service level agreement. Client job activation target
figures are heavily scrutinized, so as to ensure there is an exact match with the
department’s records. The DSP also sets predetermined job placement targets for the
service with little to no consultation in determining the reasonableness of such targets.
The relationship between the Board and DSP has become quite strained in recent years,
22
due to the perception by the Board, that the DSP has attempted to micro manage its
operations through continuous attempts at direct management and the introduction of
highly bureaucratic control mechanisms. An example of this is the requirement for all
payments out to be authorized by two directors and every invoice submitted for
reimbursement is also to have two director signatures. This is particularly time consuming
and somewhat resented by certain board members who are giving of their time
voluntarily. There are also two annual financial and administrative audits of the company,
one every six months, with a report by the DSP inspectors sent to the board highlighting
any discrepancies. There have been a number of occasions when the DSP has withheld
payments of moneys owed, due to the restrictive interpretation of revenue or capital
expenditure and accounting practices. The DSP has a representative who attends board
meetings which some members feel restricts the capacity of the company to explore the
possibility of other contracts and revenue streams, outside the confines of the current
contract. The annual specified nature of the contract with the DSP also creates difficulty
for the organisation in planning any kind of long‐term strategy or vision, as funding is only
given on an annual, zero‐level basis and for contract specific purposes only. This limits the
organisation, not only in its ability to plan and develop for the longer term, put also to
pursue other possible sources of revenue from the delivery of other types of contracted
services. There is also some evidence to suggest that there have been conflict between
front‐line staff, the coordinator, the board and the DSP, with each party not fully trusting
the other and asserting its own individual right to greater responsibility and autonomy.
On a day‐to‐day basis, the service in managed by a Coordinator, who has responsibility for
all the operational aspects of the organisation and is accountable to a board of directors.
However the DSP does not see this role as a managerial one but more of an administrative
one, as they apportion no executive or financial responsibility to this position. They see
the Coordinator’s role as one that supervises job coaches and maintains records, which
has been the cause of some tension in the past.
1.43 HR and related Issues.
There have been a number of major HR/IR issues in EWC in recent years, some relating to
allegations of bullying and harassment, resulting in high levels of WRS (Work Related
Stress) and absenteeism in the form of long‐term sick leave. While there has been some
turn over in recent years, the core team has remained relatively stable with the majority of
the staff having an employment history of five years or more in EWC. The exception to this
trend in recent years has been the Coordinator position, which has experienced 3
23
Coordinators being in the position in the past two years. While acknowledging the
presence of these HR issues, Job Coach performance has remained stable, suggesting the
presence of some levels of intrinsic motivation. There is however some evidence of
‘burnout risks’ due to certain past management practices, as well as the intensive and
emotive nature of the work (one‐to one) with a disadvantaged and sometimes distressed
client group. These risks also include working alone for long periods due to the
geographically dispersed structure of the organization.
Team meetings are a monthly occurrence, but have not been a pleasant experience for
staff and so have tended to focus more towards information giving. Performance targets of
individual staff members would have been communicated and compared at team
meetings, resulting in the development of a more competitive as opposed to a
collaborative approach. Staff support/supervision meetings seem to have been conducted
on an ad hoc basis, with some staff reporting that they had not had formal supervision
meetings for long periods of time. The dispersed nature of the staff team has also resulted
in little contact and communication between some offices, with the competitive approach
fuelling the development of more territorial focused mindsets and silo mentality among
individual team members.
The annual ‘specified contract’ period has been a cause for much insecurity for staff,
resulting in them not knowing if will have a job in the following year. If redundancies were
to happen, a number of staff who have been employed over 4 years, feel their employment
rights may be breached under legislation relating to the protection of employees who have
been put on continuous fixed term contracts. To add to this insecurity, a new government
initiate was recently launched within the sector, promoting a public/private sector
partnership arrangement for the delivery of certain employment activation services,
which in time may see the possible absorption of EWC’s services into this model. Concerns
have been expressed by staff about the future ‘ownership’ and management of the service,
as well as the expectation of increased competition from other agencies.
Under a service level agreement, employee terms and conditions are determined by DSP,
such as salary levels/grades etc. This has meant that since the Haddington Road
Agreement (2013) (Public sector pay/conditions agreement), there are a number of staff
that are doing the same job but have different rates of pay, work hours and annual leave
days. This has created some division, dissatisfaction and consternation among some of the
affected staff team. There are no other monetary incentives, bonuses or benefits, which
reflects the ‘public sector’ approach to compensation and benefits. It has been left to the
24
Coordinator and board members to find other types of rewards and incentives for
motivating and rewarding staff. Unfortunately this approach has been applied
inconsistently in the past, resulting in questionable management practices and low morale
levels for some staff.
The Coordinator’s role is an important one in the organization, but one that has also been
the cause of much unease and stress in the organization, for the Coordinator themselves,
for the staff, the board, as well as the DSP. The relationship between the board and the
coordinator has been a pivotal one, however certain governance and support issues within
the board has led to an over reliance of trust and dependence on the coordinator position
and their ability to execute their duties with minimum support and oversight. One positive
outcome from recent difficulties has been the reengagement of the board of management.
There was also some turnover of board members in the past 12 months with the
introduction of three new directors joining as a result of a number of resignations.
25
2. Literature Review.
The literature review will identify the main theoretical definitions and developments of
Work‐related stress, resilience and Mindfulness. It will identify who the main players are
and examine a number of studies relevant to each area and then focus on the building of
personal resilience against workplace stress through the application of Mindfulness based
approaches.
2.1 Work Related Stress.
Research into the area of stress was pioneered by the work of Hans Selye in the 1930s
whose definition of stress is cited in Fries (2009) as the body’s nonspecific response to
demands (Selye, 1974, p.151). Since then, the impact of workplace stress on employee
welling and performance has been well researched and documented (see Cotton and Hart,
2003 and Michie and Williams, 2003) with numerous interventions executed in attempts
to nullify its effects (see LaMontagne et al., 2007, for a detailed review of job‐stress
intervention evaluation literature). In terms of it’s economic effect, stress, anxiety and
depression are noted as being the biggest contributors to workplace absenteeism and
presenteeism (present in body, absent in mind) (Friedli, 2009), costing economies billions
in lost productivity, £15.1 billion of that estimated in the UK alone (Sainsbury Centre for
Mental Health 2007, cited in Friedli (2009).
For the purposes of this study, we will examine one of the more recent reports on WSR,
conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2012) who carried out
one of the most extensive surveys to date in this area across European countries in 2010.
They found that nearly 80% of organisations surveyed said that WRS was an important
issue (Osha.europa.eu, 2010) and identified the following psychosocial (psychological
development and interaction with a social environment)) workplace risks;
1. New forms of employment contracts and job insecurity
2. The ageing workforce and long work hours
3. Work intensification and lean production.
4. High emotional demands at work.
5. Poor work‐life balance.
(EU‐OSHA. P.15 2012)
26
In developing taxonomy of these risks, they adapted Cox’s model (1993), separating these
into two main categories; ‘content of work’ and ‘context of work’ (See Table 1).
Table.1. Taxonomy of psychosocial hazards.
Content of Work Context of Work
Job Content Control
Workload and work pace Organisational Culture and function
Work schedule Interpersonal relationships at work
Environment and equipment Role in the organisation
Career development
Home‐work interface
(EU‐OSHA. P.20 2012)
They define the concept of ‘work stress’ as having two main theoretical approaches;
interactional theories, which explore the ‘structural dimensions’ (extrinsic) of an
individual’s interaction to environmental situations and transactional theories, which
focus more on the individual’s emotional reactions (intrinsic) to environmental situations.
This led the author’s to make the following definition of WRS:
“Work‐related stress is experienced when the demands of the work environment exceed the
worker’s ability to cope with (or control) them”. (EU‐OSHA, P.21 2012).
Their findings suggests that the management of psychosocial risks plays a significant role
in the health and safety of staff, which is supported by the WHO’s (World Health
Organization) following description a healthy working environment;
“…one in which there is not only the absence of harmful conditions but the abundance of
health‐prompting ones”. (http://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/stressatwp/en)
This, the WHO adds, includes not only the availability of health promotion materials and
training, but also of supportive organizational structures and practices.
27
The impact on stress can also have a significant impact on employee performance (Fox,
Dwyer and Ganster 1993) and impair information processing (Gino, Brooks and
Schweitzer, 2012). Chalskalson (2011) cites Yerkes‐Dodson (1908) who originally
researched the relationship between performance and arousal levels (including stress),
which is presented in what is known as the ‘Yerkes‐Dodson Curve’ (see Fig.1).
Fig.1 The Yerkes‐Dodson Curve.
Source: http://onpace.osu.edu/modules/managing‐stress/introduction‐to‐stress‐
management/positive‐and‐negative‐types‐of‐stress.
2.2 The Need for Resilience.
Much of the earlier research on personal resilience (understood in this context also as
psychological and emotional resilience) focused on the ability of children to cope in
adverse familial and social conditions (Werner and Smith, 1992 and Masten and Best,
1990). Earlier work focused on how people survive in difficult situations, such as Viktor
Frankl’s theory of Logotherapy (finding a meaning to survive) (Frankl 1984). Study into
personal resilience within the workplace has only recently begun to be explored, but has
mainly focused on professions within the health and social work sectors (Jackson et al.,
2007). This however began to change with the onset the global economic downturn and
28
the increasingly unpredictable nature of the work (Hoopes, 2013) but also in time of
recovery, with renewed interest in the work of psychologist Al Siebert (Crush, 2014).
A WHO (World Health Organization) report into mental health and resilience recommends
the provision of workplace based support for employees experience mental health issues
and that organisations should strive to improve working pay and conditions as well as job
security and control for their employees (Friedli, 2009). Everly et al. (2008) site the
WHO(2004a), stating that research suggests that working with at–risk individuals to
stress related conditions can improve their ‘protective factors’ resulting in more positive
outcomes. In establishing a working definition, psychological resilience has been
described by Tugade and Fredrickson (2004, p.320) as:
“Characterized by the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences and by
flexible adaptation to changing demands and stressful experiences”.
Where as Naswall el al. (2013, p.3) describe employee resilience as;
“the capacity of employees, facilitated and supported by the organisation, to utilise resources
to positively cope, adapt and thrive in response to changing work circumstances”.
Resilience has also been associated with other related concepts, such as ‘hardiness’
(Kobasa, 1979) and ‘grit’ (Duckworth et al., 2007). For the purposes of this study the
following description, developed by Professor Derek Mowbray of MAS (Management
Advisory Service) will be adopted:
‘The capacity to maintain personal control and robust attitudes in the face of challenging
events and behaviours”. (Mowbray 2010, revised 2013).
Bill George, professor of management practice at Harvard University and author of
Authentic Leadership (2003) describes resilience as the combination of attributes such
heartiness, toughness and buoyancy of spirit and adds that these qualities are especially
needed by leaders of today in order to be able to cope better in difficult times, adopt to
stress and bounce back from adversity (George, 2009).
The ability of employees to cope more successfully with change and stress within the
workplace can have a direct affect on an organization’s level of effectiveness and
productivity (Hoopes, 2013). In Lyubomirsky and Della Porta’s (2010) research, they
suggest that resilience is a desirable psychological characteristic that can be developed
through the utilization of ‘happiness‐enhancing strategies’. Noblet & LaMontagne (2006)
issue caution to organizations that think they can remedy this issue by adopting a purely
29
individual‐based approach to combating work‐related stress without also giving due
consideration to the working conditions that may be the cause of it in the first place. This
is supported by Naswall et al (2013) who propose that employee resilience can be
nurtured by more open, supportive and learning‐orientated workplaces.
Numerous consultancy reports have pointed to the importance of building resiliency in the
workplace (Desjardins Financial Security, 2014, Business in the Community, 2009 and APS
(The Australian Psychological Society), 2011). In linking mindfulness‐based practices such
as mindfulness meditation to building resilience, Smithwick and Charney (2013) suggest
that it is an effective strategy for controlling stressful emotions and modulating their
response to challenges, which is backed up by scientific evidence in the form of brain‐
scanning experiments. Business in the Community published an ‘Emotional Resilience
Toolkit ’ (Business in the Community, 2009) for employers, in which they presented three
case studies of companies, AstrasZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and EDF Energy, all of who had
introduced resilience building workplace programs with positive results.
2.21 The links between resilience building, WRS and Mindfulness.
The research into the effects of MBAs and its effectiveness for building resilience in the
workplace is still in its infancy. There are some publications that do suggest there is a
distinctive and obvious link, such as Glomb et al., (2011). They suggest that there are two
resiliency processes in particular that can be directly linked to Mindfulness and are, what
they call, ‘key work‐related benefits’ (p.138). These are, ‘affective regulation’ (the capacity
to regulate and be nonreactive to one’s thoughts and emotions) and ‘persistence’ (to
persevere in the face of adversity) (Glomb et al., 2011).
A longitudinal study of Australian police recruits being more mindful, emotionally aware
and resilient (Williams, Ciarrochi & Deane, 2010), led the researches to conclude that
police recruits could benefit from training that included developing greater emotional self‐
awareness skills. This was based on their findings from self‐reported questionnaires that
recruits completed before and after normal training, but identified those recruits with
higher levels of mindfulness and emotional intelligence from the outset who seem to have
had better coping mechanisms and responses for dealing with work‐related stress. In
another study examining the relationship between burn, job satisfaction, social support
and mindfulness in a South African Bank (Ismail et al., 2013), the researchers concluded
that that were was a positive correlation between Job satisfaction and Mindfulness and
that the more ‘mindful’ employees were less likely to experience incidents of ‘burn out’.
Michael Chaskalson, in his book entitled ’The Mindful Workplace. Developing Resilient
30
individuals and Resonant Organisations with MBSR’ (Chaskalson, 2011) describes the
work of Professor Richard Davidson, who has done some pioneering research into the
neuroscience of mindfulness. Chaskalson cites two studies of note, one that demonstrates
a positive effect between the application MBSR in the workplace and reduction of stress
(p.78) and other, which suggests that the practice of mindfulness meditation increases
cognitive functions associated with resilience (p.82). This is supported by Alidana and
Adams (2014) who in addition cite the work of Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson. They
say she proposes that mindfulness can offer other ways to build resilience by helping to
develop such qualities as acceptance, self‐compassion, growth and creativity (p.31).
Some of the research focusing on the linkage of MBAs with resilience looks at this
application within educational settings. This is evidenced in Huppert et al’s. (2010) study
of mindfulness training in schools, where they conducted a controlled trial on a group of
adolescent boys to measure the effects of such a program on their resilience and
psychological wellbeing. They concluded that while there was some evidence to suggest
that there had been some improvements in students (in the control group), the results
were, while encouraging, were not significant enough to prove the effectiveness of
Mindfulness training and that more research was needed. In Meiklejohn et al’s. (2012)
study into the effects of Mindfulness Training to foster resilience in teachers and students,
they concluded there were identifiable improvements in both teachers and students. For
teachers, these included increases in sense of wellbeing and self‐efficacy whereas in
students they included attention span, academic and social skills with decreases in anxiety
and fatigue. . Rauch (2013) proposes that mindfulness can help in the development of
‘personal resources’ and cites Hobfoll et al.’s (2003, p.632) definition of this as being
“aspects of the self that are linked to resiliency”.
More research is needed to study the effects of MBAs within the workplace to obtain more
reliable evidenced based data to substantiate the claims made, particularly in relation to
more measurable and sustainable outcomes in terms of building resilience to workplace
stress and enhancing wellbeing and performance for employees.
2.3 The emergence of mindfulness in the workplace. Literature Search.
At this time of this study, a Google search of ‘mindfulness’ yielded 57,800,000 results,
119,000 in Google scholar and 10,785 in Amazon. Searching ‘mindfulness in the
workplace’ yielded 1,590,000 results in Google with 14,4000 in Google scholar and 76 in
31
Amazon. “Mindfulness‐Based Interventions’ search yielded 419,000 and 40,900 in Google
scholar. It is evident from these searches that mindfulness is a popular topic with a
growing interest into to its application within the workplace.
Publications on the topic of mindfulness in the workplace having begun to appear in
increasing numbers such as; The Mindful Leader (Carroll, 2007), The Mindful Workplace
(Chaskalson, 2011), Work (Hanh, 2012); Mindful Leadership (Gonzalez, 2012) and
Mindfulness at work (Arpa, 2013). This is supported by a growing number of research
studies in the possible application and benefits of MBAs in the workplace (Dane and
Brummel, 2014; Reb et al., 2014; Gordon et al., 2014; Edwards et al., 2014). More
mainstream articles in both hardcopy and digital format appear on the subject (Financial
Times Magazine, 2012; The New York Times, 2014; The Guardian, 2014; Forbes, 2013), so
much so that Time Magazine (2014) had the title ‘The Mindful Revolution’, the science of
finding focus in a stress‐out, multitasking culture’, on the cover of its February issue 2014.
New websites are emerging offering a range of mindfulness‐based services to the
corporate and non‐corporate (http://www.mindfulnet.org/index.htm) which are now
being supplemented with Linkedin forums such as Mindful Work, Mindful Resilience and
Mindfulness Based Leadership. While many universities have begun to offer mindfulness
based training services to both their staff, students and clients, a number have created
dedicated research centers focusing the development and application of mindfulness
based programs, such as the Oxford Mindfulness Centre (Oxford University), MIT
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Medical and The Centre for Mindfulness Research
and Practice (Bangor University).
There has been a growing number of high profile multi‐national companies and
organizations such as Google, Carlsberg, General Mills, Deutsche Bank, BT and the
Department of Health (NHS), London Underground and the US military, who have all
implemented highly publicized mindfulness training programs for their employees with
the intention of improving both wellbeing and performance (Financial Times, 2012).
Google’s ‘Search inside yourself’ (siyli.org, 2014) course is particularly worthy of note and
has gathered much attention from other organizations as a new model for developing
greater employee mindfulness and emotional intelligence skills (Boyce, 2009). Watson and
Reissner (2012) propose the use of meditation as an effective stress coping strategy
within the workplace and point to Williams et al’s. (2007) work in this area.
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The academic interest in mindfulness and MBAs has increased exponentially in recent
years with corresponding publications of peer‐reviewed articles on the subject, as can be
seen on the graph below Fig.1.
Fig. 2. Mindfulness research literature from 1980 to 2010. (Mental Health
Foundation of New Zealand, 2011)
However, Mindfulness has not been without its critics as evidenced in Bishop’s paper
‘What do we really know about Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction? (2002), where he
concludes that there is not available evidence to supports the claims made by MBSR and
that robust research is needed for it to be more reliably validated.
2.4 MBAs and Relevant Studies.
While most of the peer‐reviewed studies to date have attended to focus more on the
physical and psychology effects of MBAs (see Brown and Ryan, 2003) and have been
mainly confined to either patients or staff within the health and social sectors and settings
such as; Mind‐body self‐regulation techniques for medical school students (McCann et al.,
2013); helping psychotherapists develop greater inter and intrapersonal skills, thereby
benefiting their clients (Davis & Hayes, 2011). Dolland & Bond (2011) conducted research
on the applicability and benefit of using meditation practice in the workplace, leading
them to conclude from their findings that there were significant increases in ‘satisfaction’
levels in the general wellbeing of individuals who committed themselves to periods of
meditation. Heversedge and Halliwell (2012, p.181) cite an MBI in TfL (Transport for
London) which was experiencing high levels of sickness and absence among its staff. After
the introduction of a six‐week MBI program, levels for those who had attended the course,
33
fell by 70% in three years, with lower levels of incidents of depression and anxiety
reported.
In one of the first studies of the effects of mindfulness in the workplace, Hunter and
McCormick’s ‘Mindfulness in the Workplace: An Exploratory Study’ (2008) found from those
sampled (who practiced mindfulness) experienced numerous beneficial effects such as
increased external awareness, greater acceptance of work situations, had more realistic
goals and were better able to cope with difficult work situations. The limitations of this
particular study lie in the ad hoc nature in which it both set up and conducted, the
selection and small sample size of those interviewed from which to draw generalizations
and the time span over which the interviews were conducted and results analyzed, which
was several years.
A more structured study in to the effects of an on‐site, low dose MBSR program on
working adults (Klatt, Buckworth and Malarkey, 2008) set out to determine if the same
results were achievable as those purported from more intensive offsite MBSR programs.
Out the 42 randomized participants who completed the study, 22 were in the intervention
group and 20 in the control group. The setting for the study was a university in the United
States. They implemented a six week MBSR‐ld (low –dose) program with the intervention
group and measured the effects, using various rating scales at pre and post test such as the
MASS (Mindful Attention Scale (Brown and Ryan, 2003), the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen
et al., 1983), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1989). In addition to this,
salivary cortisol tests were performed on both groups throughout the study to measure
cortisol levels, a biological stress marker. These tests were also carried out on the control
group. The intervention consisted of a weekly 60‐minute instruction which consisted of
group discussion on work related stressors, yoga stretches and 20 minutes meditation.
Participants were also instructed to complete an individual 20‐minute daily meditation as
well as keep a learning journal for the duration of the program. The aim of the program
was ‘to enhance the participants ability to pay attention to their moment‐to‐moment,
internal and external experience’ (Klatt et al., p4, 2008). Their findings showed that at the
end of the program, participants in the intervention and not in the control group showed
marked improvements across all rating scales with the exception of the salivary cortisol
test, which remained the same for both groups. The levels in the intervention group also
compared favorably with results achieved in others studies done on offsite intensive,
eight‐week MBSR programs. Noted limitations identify the lack of correlation between
self‐assessed stress levels and salivary cortisol levels and the need for more effective
indicators of stress levels. They also noted that the lack of social and personal between
34
participants could have affected the results as they all worked in different departments,
citing Oginska‐Bulik’s (2005) study into the importance of personal and social resources
in reducing job stress in uniformed professions. Although the results seem impressive, the
implementation and comparison of a corresponding off‐site, eight week MBSR program
could have strengthened their case, as it was this program that they were intending to
measure against. Another issue here is measuring an altered version of a program and
comparing results with the original version. There are potentially to many variables at
play to reach conclusive findings. Attention could also have been given to other stress
reduction programs that could have yielded additional noteworthy comparisons. Another
issue is that it is unclear as to who actually designed and delivered the program and as to
whether they were qualified and experienced MBSR trainers.
O’Gorman and Bradley (2013) conducted research to determine if MBSR might be adopted
by Irish General Practitioners as part of their own wellbeing strategies/practices. Their
research also gathered data regarding current practices already adopted by GPs and found
that 9% had or were practicing some form of ‘Mindfulness Meditation’. They also asked
what personal habits they employed to cope with stress, both positive and negative. On
the negative, responses included excessive eating, gambling, alcohol, avoidance and sleep,
while the positive responses included friends/family, gardening, holidays, fishing and
prayers. They concluded that while many of those surveyed had not practiced any form of
mindfulness, over 60% said they would consider attending an MBSR course in the future.
2.41 Other Applications of MBAs within the workplace.
2.411 Mindful leadership
With the emergence of new thinking on leadership approaches such as ‘Authentic’ (George
2003); ‘Resonant’ (Boyatzis and McKee, 2005); ‘Adaptive’ (Heifetz, Grashow & Linsky,
2009); ‘Transformative’ (Shields, 2011) and ‘Primal’ (Goleman, 2013), we can now add
‘Mindful’ (Gonzalez, 2012 and Chackleson, 2011) to the list. It would not be amiss to
suggest that all these approaches have a focus on EQ/EI (Emotional Intelligence) in
common, particularly in relation to developing self‐awareness, empathy and focus
(Geroge, 2009) and creativity (Gehani, 2011). There is also an emphasis on developing a
more servant‐like style of leadership, similar that espoused by Greenleaf (1977).
35
He also suggests that being mindful can make one a better leader and helps one become
more resilient by helping to increase one’s calmness, compassion and adaptability
(George, 2013).
The Institute for Mindful Leadership describes a Mindful leader as the following;
“ A mindful leader embodies leadership by cultivating focus, clarity, creativity and
compassion in the services of others. Leadership presence is a tangible quality. It requires full
and complete nonjudgmental attention in the present moment. Those around a mindful
leader see and feel that presence”. http://instituteformindfulleadership.org/definitions
Bryant and Wildi (2008) suggest that due the complexity of organizational life, the
capacity for executives and leaders to access mindfulness can be overlooked. They make a
distinction between two types of mindfulness, external and internal. External mindfulness
is the ability to be sense signals and cues in different situational contexts, whereas internal
mindfulness is the ability of be aware of one’s own body, thoughts and emotions. There is
similarity here with interactional (Karasek, 1979) and transactional (Mackay et al., 1978)
theory. They propose that mastering the following practices can develop the practice of
mindfulness;
1. Detachment from the outside.
2. Noticing.
3. Here and now awareness. (Bryant and Wildi, 2008).
Two studies by Reb, Narayana and Chaturvedi (2012) were conducted to assess the
possible effects of mindful leadership traits (at various supervisory levels) on employee
wellbeing and performance. In their first study, using trained undergraduates from a
Singaporean university, they used an online survey to measure mindfulness in the
workplace. They measured the supervisors’ levels of mindfulness using MAAS (Mindful
Attention Awareness Scale (Brown and Ryan, 2003) and the subordinates’ levels of well
being using MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory, (Maslach and Jackson 1981), work‐life
balance (Greenhaus, Collins & Shaw’s scale 2003) and performance (Motowidlo & Scotter’s
scale 1994) which was measured against negative performance reported by supervisors
using the Bennett and Robinson’s scale (2009). Their findings supported their hypothesis
that leader trait mindfulness does have a positive and beneficial effect on both employee
wellbeing and performance. In their second study, again with Singaporean graduates and
their supervisors, they set out to test the findings of their original study. They repeated the
same process as in their first study, but added a further assessment to measure in‐role
36
performance, developed by McNeely and Meglino (1994). The results confirmed their
original findings. While they acknowledge more research needs to be done in this area and
the measurement tools for assessing and analyzing different aspects of mindfulness need
greater testing and validation, they concluded that the results were encouraging and
showed how a leader’s level of awareness and attention can impact on their effectiveness.
2.412 Mindful Coaching
Mindfulness has begun to find its way in the world of business, executive and personal
coaching, as Hall (2013) proposes that if coaching is about helping clients to have more
choice in their lives, then mindfulness is a tool for helping them to achieve this. She lists
the qualities mindfulness and coaching both have in common, which include; empathy,
focus, non‐judgment, self awareness and awareness of others. The integration of
mindfulness into the coaching practice is further explored by Silsbee (2004) who suggests
that not only can mindfulness practices help the client, but can also support the coach in
achieving greater understanding of the true nature of the coaching relationship. This is
supported by Marques (2007), who highlights the role a more mindful approach can
contribute to the coaching process within the workplace and sites Slotte (2004)
description of ‘the space between’, which is created at the moment of each human
interaction and which forms an integral part of the dynamic of human dialogue encounter.
It is in developing non‐prejudicial awareness of the other (client/colleague/subordinate)
that can then allow space for the emergence of greater clarity and creativity in the
coaching process (Marques, 2007). The development of MBCC (Mindfulness‐Based
Cognitive Coaching) claims to have the benefits of aiding better stress management, more
effective communication and developing greater resilience (stability during change),
(Collard and McMahon, 2012). Although there is substantial evidence to support the
beneficial effects of mindfulness based practices, there has been little research to date into
its effectiveness within the coaching context to support the claims made by some coaching
professionals.
37
3. METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN
3.1. Introduction.
It is clear the literature that there is growing evidence of an established link between
mindfulness‐based interventions and building resilience (Glomb et al. 2011). This study
will seek to contribute to this area and has informed the rationale for the design of the
methodology and data collection tools.
In linking the methodology to the main questions of this research, the following
approaches would need to be adopted:
a) In order to identify and determine the value of implementing am MBI in WEC
between WRS, mindfulness and resilience within the context of EWC, a baseline
health check/risk assessment would need to be conducted to measure current staff
levels in all three areas. This should show how individual staff are currently coping
with WRS within the organization and highlight particular areas requiring
attention. Self‐reported questionnaires are a useful tool for collecting such data.
b) This would need to be supplemented with more in‐depth analysis, which would
require the use of both individual and group interviews, thereby generating more
insightful information which could be then correlated and compared with the
health‐check baselines. This would also help illicit additional information in
relation to the staff’s perception of mindfulness‐based interventions and how they
may be incorporated into both their own coping strategies and organization’s
response.
c) Further information would also have to be gathered in terms of determining
current ‘best practice’, which would necessitate the interviewing of experts in the
relevant areas. This information could also be used to collaborate or challenge the
original data collected from EWC by the researcher.
3.2 Conceptual Design/research planning
This exploratory study utilised with a convergent design (Hall & Howard, 2008) using a
mixed method approach (Crump and Logan, 2008). This was adopted for the collections of
relevant data, incorporating a combination of both quantitative and qualitative measures.
This was to ensure there is not an over reliance on any one data source and that both sets
of results could be crossed‐referenced and triangulated (Jick, 1979). A convergent design
38
is when both qualitative and quantitative are both collected concurrently, analysed
separately and then merged to draw comparisons and relations before they are then
finally interpreted. The rationale for such an approach is to get a more complete picture
and to aid in the correlation or validation of quantitative scales (Creswell et al., 2011).
Qualitative methods are suited more towards exploration, discovery and the use of
inductive logic (Patton, 1987) as they allow for more of a humanistic and naturalistic
enquiry approach where as quantitative methods are used in the collection of numerical
data to explain particular phenomena (Aliaga and Gunderson, 2003).
The research design used was non‐experimental and conducted in two parts. The first
focusing on the staff EWC using individual and group interviews were conducted with 5
out of 9 EWC staff. This was supplemented with the completion of 3 questionnaires
completed by all 9 employees. As the researcher worked in the organization, an
organisational analysis was also conducted by examining the organisation and it’s
structure in order to determine the context with which the issue is set in including it’s
accountability structures and the mechanisms of control, as advocated by Phillips et al.
(1994). This also necessitated examining how the organisational culture evolved in order
to identify the major contributing factors.
The second part focussed on interviews with experts external to the organization to
identify current thinking within their relevant areas of expertise. This helped establish
best practice and support the rational for the design of a best‐fit MBT (Mindfulness‐based
training) program. The selection of interviewees is essential in exploratory research as it
is not only a rich source of information but is the key to the quality and depth of
information acquired (Crabtree and Miller, 1992). Those selected for interview could be
described as ‘key informants’ (Mitchell, 1994).
3.3 Sample selections and data collection methods used.
Those selected for interview within organization of EWC were a sample representation of
the staff. There were three male and two female with varying levels of age, experience and
employment history with EWC and proved a rich source of information. Those selected
for individual interview were two Job Coaches from within the organization. The selection
criteria for the individuals was that they would represent both male and female
perspectives and also have varying lengths of employment durations, the male being just
over one year in post with the female having over eight years history in her position. A
39
group interview was conducted to elicit more developed data than that which would
normally be deduced from individual interviews (Morgan, 1988). The make‐up of the
group consisted of 3 Job Coaches (two male and one female) and the facilitator. This group
was formed from an existing working work within the organization that had been
focussing on developing wellbeing strategies, so it was anticipated that participants would
see the topic of the study as a relevant extension to their work, thereby minimising
disruption to normal working schedules and expectations.
The rationale for interviewing experts (Shanteau et al., 2003) was to extract rich sources
of information related to the subject area and also aid in the cross‐referencing process.
Those chosen for interview were considered by the researcher as both knowledge and
technical experts in their area and who accepted the invitation to be interviewed as part of
this study. See Table 2. For those interviewed.
Table 2. Experts Interviewed.
Name Area of Expertise Accomplishments
Professor Derek Mowbray Resilience Policy advisor And Director of the
Management Advisory Service
Juliet Adams Stress Reduction
Mindfulness at Work
Founder of mindfulnet.org.
Co‐author of ‘Mindfulness in the
workplace for Dummies’ (2014)
Michael Carroll Mindful Leadership Author of ‘The Mindful Leader’ (2007)
The expert’s chosen for interview were those who had a relevant expertise for the areas
explored in this study and who were available for interview. They proved quite insightful
in their responses and added to the overall quality of the data collected.
The interview group and one individual Job Coach interview as recorded using QuickTime
audio recording software for mac. The laptops own internal microphone was used and
therefore excluded the necessity for using external microphones or video cameras, which
some interviewees may have found distracting. This again freed the interviewer/facilitator
from my writing notes during the interview and allowed greater participation and
attention to the responses given. The recordings were transcribed (see Appendices 9‐14)
then used to transcribe the responses ‘verbatim’ from these interviews. All Skype
40
interviews, 4 experts and one Job Coach, were recorded using Skype recording software
for mac. This software recorded both audio and visual. This allowed the interviewer to
give the interviewee their full attention during the interview and provided a clear
recording for the transcribing of responses after the session.
3.4 Qualitative Methods.
3.41 Group Interview.
The structure of the discussion took the same form as those of the individual interviews
(semi‐structured), i.e. the same questions asked, but allowed for greater fluidity of
discussion as participants react to each other’s responses, thereby creating a social context
to increase the possibility of gathering higher quality data (Patton, 1987). Caution was
noted that discussions within a group context can be shaped by the more extrovert and
higher status members of the group (Hogwood and Gunn, 1984), however this method
should improve the reliability rating of the overall data, as it reduces the risk of
dependency on more subjective, individual responses. Utilising a phenomenological
approach towards gathering this type of data lent itself more, as Lester (p.1 999)
describes, ‘bringing to the fore, the experiences and perceptions of individuals from their
own perspectives.‘ The types of questions asked included: ‘Do you think your role is
stressful’? ‘How do you cope with stress’? ‘What id your understanding of mindfulness and
resilience’? (See App.1).
The group interview took place within the meeting room of EWC’s HQ and lasted for one
hour. All participants had equal opportunity to respond to the questions posed as well as
to respond to other comments made.
3.42 Individual Interviews.
The format for theses interviews was semi‐structured which enabled access to information
that other techniques may not elicit (DiCicco and Crabtree, 2006). This semi‐ structured
open‐ended format for conducting the interviews was adapted as one the one hand it
enabled the interviewer to keep the conversation on issue by asking a set of prepared
questions while also allowing a flexibility to ask more probing questions relevant to the
information and issues raised by the respondent. A more structured approach was adopted
in the designing of the interview questions so as to standardise the interview format that
would help in the analysis of the information (see App.1) The questions focussed on
drawing from the interviews their perceptions and interpretations of work related stress,
resilience and mindfulness.
41
3.43 Expert Interviews.
The format of theses interviews was both unstructured and discursive so as to allow for
probing around the general areas of WRS, mindfulness and building resilience. They focus
of questioning was more specifically orientated to the subject the expert had most
knowledge in.
3.5 Quantitative Methods Used.
A positivism approach was taken to gather some ‘hard facts’ in relation to staff levels of
stress, mindfulness and resilience. It helped establish a baseline whereby data from the
qualitative methods could be crossed referenced for triangulation.
Three questionnaires were in this study used to collect data from individual staff in
relation to measuring current individual levels of WRS (Management Standards, HAS
2011), mindfulness disposition (MASS, Brown and Ryan 2003) and resilience. These
questionnaires were self‐reporting in nature which may not always give a completely
accurate picture of the situation, but only as individuals subjectively perceive it. This did
not limit the study or the quality of this type of data, particularly in relation to stress, as
stress is contextual and conditional on the subjects experience and perception of it.
Emails were sent to all staff requesting their completion of the questionnaire, with an
explanation their nature and instructions for use.
The Management Standards Questionnaire was completed online at the Work Positive
website, using its own software for completion, presentation and analysis.
The RASQ35 and MAAS questionnaires were both drafted from open source PDF files and
transcribed on to the ‘Survey Monkey’ website. Staff were sent a link with instructions to
this website, which then collected and presented the information using its own software,
but which did not analyse it. The researcher, following instructions given from the
designers of both questionnaires, did the analysis of these results.
3.51 Management Standards Questionnaire.
The Management Standards Questionnaire was adopted and adapted by the HAS (Health
and Safety Authority (Ireland)) from the UK’s HSE’s (Health and Safety Executive)
‘Management Standards’ Approach, as part of their Work Positive initiative to encourage
42
organisations to a more risk management approach to WRS. It is a self‐assessed rated
questionnaire focussing on six areas of potential WRS, namely:
1. Demands
2. Control
3. Support
4. Relationships
5. Role
6. Change.
The six areas are measured through a series of rating questions from which seven
workplace stressor scores are created, these are then are categorised into Manager
Support and Peer Support. This self‐report questionnaire measures employee perceptions
of workplace stressors across six defined categories and is scored from 1‐5, with 1 being
the lowest, indicating urgent need for attention. The individual scores are correlated on
the Work Positive Profile website (http://www.workpositiveprofile.com/) and produce a
series of tables highlighting where attention in needed and at what at what level of
urgency. The questionnaire also includes the WHO‐5 (World Health Organization)
standards, which measure emotional wellness and optimism, from five rated statements
(see Appendix 2.1 ‐ 2.4).
3.52 MAAS (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale)
MAAS is a self‐assessment rating scale developed by Brown and Ryan (2003) to determine
individual levels of ‘dispositional mindfulness’, which a number of subsequent studies
have validated (Mackillop and Anderson, 2007; Hansen et al., 2009; Van Dam, Earleywine
and Boarde, 2010). It is a 15 questionnaire, with a six‐point graded rating scale, posing
scenario type question such as, “ I drive on automatic pilot. “ The MAAS was transcribed on
to a Survey Monkey questionnaire and the emailed to all employees with instructions for
use. All employees completed the questionnaire (see Appendix 3).
3.53 RASQ35 (Resilience Assessment Scale)
The RASQ35 (Resilience Assessment Scale Q35) is an open source, self‐reporting
assessment tool used in measuring individual resilience. It was developed by Professor
Derek Mowbray of MAS (Management advisory Service) and has not been tested for
reliability, the reason for which Mowbray claims that it is not possible to test resilience in
a generic sense, as it is situational (Mowbray, 2014). Mowbray’s credential’s stand up to
scrutiny, as he has established a number of resilience building programs for a number of
43
reputable organisations, one of which includes University College Cork. The scale sets out
35 questions rated from 1‐6, I being ‘strongly disagree’ to 5, which is ‘strongly agree’.
These are then categorised under eight areas, which are: vision (know where your going);
determination (self‐driven); interaction (how you behave); relationships (forging
relationships); problem solving (ability to tackle issues); organization (well organised)
and self‐confidence (being confident). The scores are totalled for each category but are
also calculated in total to give the overall resilience rating (see Appendix 4.1 ‐4.2)
3.6 Proposed analysis
Emerging themes will be extracted from the qualitative data collected using inductive
analysis and then triangulated with the quantitative data which will then be crossed
referenced with the relevant information gathered in the literature review. Methodological
triangulation as proposed by Denzin (1978) helps the reliability and validity of data
collection through the use of gathering information from different sources e.g. case
interviews, expert interviews and documented research. Inductive analysis was used to
extract patterns, themes and categories from the data to identify emerging variations and
similarities. In the interpretation of the quantitative data i.e. the self reported
questionnaires, the researcher will use the analysis and interpretative guidelines as
suggested by the designers. This data is represented using tables, graphs and pie charts
with explanations. The qualitative data was read through twice and then particular words
and quotes highlighted to draw references from, which were related under the themed
headings of work‐related stress, resilience and mindfulness. Line codes were established
for each quote for reference purposes. This information is displayed through write‐ups
and summary tables highlighting key responses.
3.7 Validity and reliability of data.
Much has been written on the subject of interviewers tainting the purity of interviews and
on ways to overcome this contamination (Mays and Pope, 1996, Morris et al., 1987 and
Madge 1952), however Oakley, cited in (Roberts, 1981) proposes demystifying the notion
of purely ‘hygienic’ research and that it is the actual human dynamic and interaction
between the interviewer and the interviewee that can enable in depth discussion and
sharing of information which can be mutually beneficial and enriching for both parties.
44
3.8 Considerations and limitations
Qualitative is more useful in researching relationships and understanding perceptions and
interpretations, however this method of data collection is in it’s nature subjective while
quantitative data can be more reliable and objective due to the methods used and
information interpreted (Phillips et al., 1994).
The use of ‘pure’ quantitative methods for the purposes of this study would not be
appropriate due to the forecasting nature of the research topic and the need to gather
information from well‐informed individuals on their own particular interpretation of the
situation. This would make in depth cross referencing and comparison of data difficult to
measure using just quantitative methods as they require a more structured research
design and therefore can limit the extent and depth to which the subjects could respond to
questioning.
As EWC is a small organization comprising of just 9 employees, the sample size was small
to begin with, however 5 of the employees were directly interviewed, three in the focus
group and two individually. Interviewing individual members of the organisation provided
an opportunity for them to make any recommendations in regards to the alteration and
improvement of the existing practice and/or development of new ones.
It should be noted that the intention of this study was not to generalise the findings that
would have required the collection and analysis of more quantitative and qualitative data
from a broader sampling population. The three remaining employees were not
interviewed directly but had participated in the study by completing the questionnaires.
By narrowing the scope and focusing on the relevant issues within semi‐structured
interviews and by recording the interviews and transcribing them primary information
can be directly quoted without interpreting summaries from notes can help to reduce the
amount of subjectivity and reliance on recall. However transcribing proved to be very
time‐consuming as well as extracting the required information from transcripts.
While comparison with Job Coaches in other similar organisations may have been
beneficial, it was felt that this comparison would not adversely affect the quality and depth
of the information obtained or its contextual relevance to the site of the study.
As an employee of the particular organisation in question and holding a position of
responsibility for the execution of personnel evaluations, the study has included some
subjective observations. However, being mindful of the fact that qualitative evaluations
45
can and often are in themselves quite subjective, the inclusion of these observations has
been limited. Qualitative research does not lend itself easily to validity, as the researcher
can strongly bias the results (Clarke, 1992).
3.9 Ethics/consent/confidentiality.
In seeking approval for the conducting of this research, senior management were assured
that the identity of the organization would remain confidential. All employees who
participated in this study were informed that their identity would remain confidential,
with no reference to names or locations that could lead a reader to establish their identity.
3.10 Summary
As the aim of this research was to establish the merits of implementing an MBT program
to build greater individual resilience, the measurements employed, both quantitative and
qualitative, covered the three essential areas, that is, Work Related Stress, Mindfulness
and resilience. All staff completed the questionnaires with the exception of the resilience
scale. This was due to the fact the RAS had to be completed again by staff as recent
changes had been made by the designer of the RAS, in both the format and analysis of the
questionnaire. Two staff were on annual leave at the time the RAS questionnaire was
resubmitted. However this did not have an adverse effect on establishing an overall
picture of resilience levels within the organization. The quantitative data collection
methods were used to maximise information gathering into current stress levels of staff,
as well as their level of ‘mindful disposition’ and personal resilience. Interviews within the
organization were used to yield historic information as well as pointers towards possible
improvements and openness to MBT. The rationale for Expert interviews was to generate
additional insights that would compliment the information gained and inform the design
process for a possible MBT program.
46
4. RESULTS
41. Introduction
The results are presented in this section under the headings of quantitative and
qualitative. Quantitative results are under the headings of the relevant questionnaire
covering the three main areas of research. The qualitative results are divided under the
main research area headings of Work‐related Stress, Resilience and Mindfulness. The
analysis used in quantitative results for WRS (Management Standards), RAS (Resilience)
and MAAS (Mindfulness) was that prescribed by the designers. The information of both
sets of quantitative and qualitative data are summarised in this section with the main bulk
of the raw data attached as appendices.
4.2 Quantitative Results
4.21 Management Standards Questionnaire and WHO‐5
All nine staff completed this questionnaire (see App. 5.1‐5.4 for outcome results) and the
overall rating results are shown in Fig.3. They indicate a healthy working environment, as
perceived by staff, with only one area requiring some improvement, which concerns ‘Role’.
This included issues such as role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload.
Fig.3. Management Standards Questionnaire Results.
47
While the results in the table appear to suggest that the only area needing attention is in
relation to role, in the more detailed breakdown of these categories, (see App. 5.2) there
are number of sub categories that suggest that more ‘urgent attention’ is required in a
number of areas, with reference to ‘some improvements’ in others (see Table 3).
Table 3. Summary of Management Standards Questionnaire Results.
Stressor Area Action
Demands Unachievable Deadlines
Workload
Time Pressure
Requires Urgent Attention
Requires Urgent Attention
Requires Urgent Attention
Control Flexibility Requires Improvement
Manager Support Supportive Feedback Require Improvement
Peer Support All Areas No Action required
Relationships Friction Requires Improvement
Change All Areas No Action Required
Role Clarity of Expectations
Clarity of job task
Clarity of duties & responsibilities
Requires Urgent Attention
Requires Urgent Attention
Requires Urgent Attention
It is clear from this table that those categories needing ‘urgent attention’ are both
‘Demands’ and ‘Role’. In relations to Demands, it would appear that staff feel under
pressure to perform and meet targets within unrealistic timeframes. With respect to the
Role category, there seems to be a worryingly high level of ambiguity around what
employees think their roles and responsibilities are and how to execute them clearly. The
areas requiring improvement are related to having greater flexibility around work,
receiving more supportive feedback from management and developing better
relationships with other staff.
48
In addition to the Management Standards question, staff also answered five questions in
relation to their perception of their own wellbeing using the World Health Organization’s
WHO‐5 Well Being Index (see Fig.4). Out of the 9 respondents, only one displayed a poor
level of wellbeing and could be at risk of suffering from anxiety or depression.
Fig.4. WHO‐5 Well Being Index results.
4.22 Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ)
Seven out nine staff responded to this questionnaire (see App. 4.2) and the overall results
(see Fig.5) show a healthy level of resilience among those who responded. Resilience
levels are measured in this scale on three levels, 35‐105, 106‐140 and 141‐175. A score
between 35‐105 would indicate a low level of resilience and a need to attend more
urgently to its development. A score of 141‐171 indicate very high levels of resilience with
a note of caution of possible overestimation. The medium score, which is between 106‐
140, is where all respondents are placed. This indicates a healthy level of resilience, built
up over time, but with some areas needing attention. The highest scoring respondent was
JC1 with 134 and the lowest was JC4 with 111. The mean average resilience level for staff
is 123 (out a possible 175), which indicates a good level of resilience among the team (see
Appendix 6.1‐6.12 for a breakdown of group responses to each RAQ question).
49
Fig. 5. Overall Respondent Resiliency Levels.
Closer analysis of these individual scores (see Table 4 and App. 7.1‐7.7) across the seven
categories, each with a maximum score of 25 in each category, show the variations
respondents scored across these areas. The scores are divided into four clusters; 5‐10
being the lowest which requires considerable attention; 11‐15 shows some level of
resilience but not enough to consider it a strong area; 16‐20 indicate a healthy resilience
level with room for improvement; 21‐25 is the highest level of resilience, showing a high
level of control and achievement in that area.
The highest score in any one category was 23 by JC1 in the vision category, which refers to
one’s own clarity of vision in life. The lowest score in any one category was 9 by JC5 in the
organization category, which refers to one’s own ability to plan and organise daily/work
life. It is interesting to note the totals of each category which show ‘Problem Solving’ to be
the highest, which is not surprising since this is an important skill in the Job Coaches role
and the lowest scoring is ‘Organization’, which highlights a potential training opportunity
for the team.
50
Table 4. Individual Resiliency Scores across the Seven Categories.
Job
Coach
Vision
Deter‐
mination
Interaction
Relation‐
ships
Problem
Solving
Organi
zation
Self
Confidenc
e
Over
all
Score
JC1 23 21 20 16 21 11 22 134
JC2 20 19 20 17 22 15 17 130
JC3 19 17 18 12 18 14 15 113
JC4 14 15 19 16 17 15 15 111
JC5 18 19 15 18 19 9 17 115
JC6 19 18 17 17 19 20 15 125
JC7 18 19 19 21 21 19 16 133
Category
Totals
131 128 128 117 137 103 117
4.23 MAAS (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale)
The MAAS (Brown and Ryan, 2003) self‐report questionnaire measures the respondent’s
current level of ‘dispositional mindfulness’ (the awareness of one’s actions). The higher
the score, the higher the level of dispositional mindfulness, which should also correlate
with levels of current wellbeing (Brown, Ryan and Creswell 2007).
All nine respondents replied (See Table 5) showing a variation of 39% between the
highest, which was 83% for JC1 and the lowest, which was 44% for JC7. (See App. 8.1‐8.5
for a summary breakdown of respondent’s answers).
51
Table 5. Individual scores and percentages of respondents’ level of dispositional
mindfulness.
Respondent Total Scored. 0‐90 Mean MAAS Score; 0‐6 % of Mindfulness
Disposition
JC1 75 5 83%
JC2 69 4.6 76%
JC3 60 4 66%
JC4 53 3.5 59%
JC5 63 4.2 70%
JC6 69 4.6 76%
JC7 40 2.6 44%
JC8 56 3.7 62%
JC9 52 3.5 58%
Total Mean 59 3.9 66%
The graph below (see Fig.6) shows the total mean responses by respondents to the 15
MAAS questions and suggest a healthy level of dispositional mindfulness across the team,
with the average score (out of six) coming in around 4. The main exception to this being
answers to the questions regarding respondent’s awareness of stress in the body, the
external environment when walking and forgetting someone’s name after the first time.
Fig. 6 Total mean average score of individual responses. 1 being lowest and 6 being
the highest level of dispositional mindfulness. (See also App. 8..1‐5 MAAS)
52
4.3 Qualitative Results.
4.31 Participants.
Five out the nine employees in EWC were interviewed for this study. Two individually, one
face to face the other using Skype and three in a face‐to‐face group interview. All were Job
Coaches. Their average employment history in the organization was seven years, the
longest being thirteen and the shortest being two. In addition to this three experts were
interviewed by Skype. The semi‐structured interviews covered questions (see App.1)
relating to perceptions of Job Coaches to work related stress, mindfulness and resilience.
The interview format with experts was less structured and was more discursive in nature.
The results are presented into two categories of Job Coach Responses and Expert
Opinions, under the headings of Work Related Stress, Mindfulness and Resilience. The data
was gathered from transcripts of these interviews and line references can be found in the
following Appendices;
Table 6. List of Appendices of Interview Transcripts
Appendix: 9 JC3 (Individual Interview)
Appendix: 10 JC4 (Group Interview)
Appendix: 10 JC6 (Group Interview)
Appendix: 11 JC2 (Individual Interview)
Appendix: 10 JC1 (Group Interview)
Appendix: 12 Juliet Adams (Expert Interview)
Appendix: 13 Derek Mowbray (Expert Interview)
Appendix: 14 Michael Carroll (Expert Interview)
4.32 Work‐Related Stress and coping mechanisms.
4.321 Job Coach Responses. (Individual and Group Interviews). (Questions 1‐5)
All respondents felt their role and work was stressful, identifying a number of sources
such as, dealing with difficult or unwell clients, unreasonable administrative demands
53
from the DSP and expectations from management. JC1 said that “the role can be stressful
because you can be dealing with people that are in a state of desperation (JC1L8)” JC3 said
that there were “a lot of potential hazards (JC3L9)” in the role but were more likely to
“come from the organization (JC3L12)” as opposed to difficult clients, because you had more
control over your interaction with clients than you had with the organisation. Related to
this, JC4 said that in his experience “not having qualified managers (JC4L90)” and not having
the appropriate structures in place to manage stress, had played “a huge part to him
developing work related stress (JC4L90)”. This was supported by JC6 who noted having
“inexperienced management style people (JC6L46‐7)” taking over supervisor positions but
“not being a good fit (JC6L50)” because of a lack of “simple basics of interpersonal skills
(JC6L50‐1)”.
In relation to how JCs (Job Coaches) cope and deal with WRS, the responses were quite
varied. However there was similarity regarding their awareness of when they were
stressed, as JC2 put it, “I find it difficult to focus and concentrate (JC2L13)”, JC1 described “a
lack of concentration” (JC1L23) affecting, as she described it, “the clarity I would normally
have (JC1L24)’. A number of JCs also noted the physical expressions of stress such as “my
breathing would go shallower (JC6L71)”, ‘physical aches and pains (JC3L21‐23 & JC4L98)’ and
“waking up in the middle of the night (JC3L18)”. Coping with stress presented a variety of
answers including both positive and negative strategies and responses. JC3 & JC6 referred
to ‘drink (JC3L28) & (JC6L308)’ as a negative past response to stress, with JC2 admitting to
‘comfort eating (JC2L39)’. JC4 mentioned an unpleasant but brief encounter with “Prozac
(JC4L100)” on the advice of a doctor. JC1 said, “You weren’t going to admit to it because that
would be perceived as weakness (JC1L138)”. JC2 observed that the right kind of stress is
“more of a buzz, it makes you sometimes more functional (JC2L19)”, however when she is
stressed, in a negative way, she tries to ‘bring herself more into the present (JC2L21)’. JC3
mentioned ‘spending time with the family (JC3L28)’, while JC1 & JC4 talked about doing
‘physical exercise, yoga and meditation (JC1L200‐1) & (JC4L357‐360)’. JC2 talked about doing a
5‐minutes breath awareness meditation, as a way of bringing her “focus back to the
moment (JC2L30)”, while JC4 & JC6 said that they recently practiced ‘mindfulness’ as a
stress reducing technique (JC4L103&357) & (JC6L173‐4). JC1 There is an EAP (Employee
Assistance Program) available to staff and only one JC made reference to using it for
‘counselling (JC3L32)’. ‘Previous management support (JC4L221)’ and ‘Peer Support (JC4L417)’
was mentioned by JC4, but more in terms of its deficiency than its availability, mainly due
to previous management styles and the dispersed nature of the offices in the region. JC1
stated she had ‘benefited from peer support (JC1L147‐148)’. Resilience was referred to by
54
both JC6 & JC4 as a way of coping with stressful situations (JC6L267‐8) & (JC4L134) with JC6
making reference to “the acronym ‘K.B.I’ (Keeping Buggering In) (JC6L162‐3)” that he was
brought up on, as a way to keep going “when the shit hits the fan (JC6L163)”. It’s interesting
to note that this JC also stated that he recently attended Yoga classes that included
‘learning about Thich Nhat Hanh’s mindfulness philosophy (JC6L173‐174)’
4.322 Expert Opinions.
In relation to WRS, all experts acknowledged that much of their work centred on reducing
its effects on individual employees as well as the organization as a whole. Adams stated
that much of her work was related to dealing with WRS, as she puts it when describing
why companies approach her; “So often it’s a very specific issue which they wish to address,
people are going off work with stress, they are burning out or people are suffering from
absenteeism and their productivity isn’t high (AdamsL28‐31)”. Both Mowbray and Carroll
talked about ‘toxic’ workplaces. Carroll said that while stress at work is inevitable, it’s
when that stress becomes “toxic (CarrollL41)”, then “that’s the issue (CarrollL43)” He added
that the workplace has become for many an unhealthy place, a ‘toxic experience
(CarrollL33)’ with numerous statistics to back this claim up. One of the reasons this happens
he suggests, is not so much the external conditions but the way people ‘deal with the mess
(CarrollL58)’ and the ‘uncertainty (CarrollL69)’. This differs from Mowbray’s view, who
referred to the ‘toxic culture (MowbrayL24)’ that can be present in some organisations,
where some individuals who may normally be able to handle stressful situations well in a
“positive environment (MowbrayL21)”, don't do so when working in a more “negative
context (MowbrayL24)”. In efforts to develop what he calls “the wellbeing and performance
agenda (MowbrayL278)”, he wants to “eliminate psycho‐presenteeism (physically present
but mentally absent at work) (MowbrayL411)”, and “achieve peak performance
(MowbrayL413)”, something which he feels is fuelled by unhealthy workplace environments,
led and at times controlled by “managers (MowbrayL419)” as opposed to more ‘adaptive
leaders (MowbrayL297&L310‐11)’. Workplaces, he says, should be “the most fabulous places
on earth to be (MowbrayL422)”.
4.33 Mindfulness.
4.331 Job Coach Responses. (Individual and Group Interviews). (Questions 6‐10)
It is evident from the previous section that all Job Coaches interviewed have some
knowledge of and/or had direct experience of mindfulness‐based or similar contemplative
55
practices. Each one was practicing stress reduction techniques and integrating them into
their daily work‐life, such as JC3 ‘going for a walk at lunchtime (JC3L38)’ and bringing
himself ‘back into the moment (JC3L30)’, to JC6 listening to CDs while driving to
appointments with clients (JC6L179‐180). When the interviewees were asked what they
understood by the term mindfulness, each respondent associated it with ‘focus’ and ‘being
present’. For JC1 it was about “being present and focussing inward on something
specifically for reflection and enjoyment (JC1L328‐9)”, which JC6 added it was about “
having every bit of me that I can, to be here right now (JC6L337‐338)”. JC4 saw mindfulness
“as a tool for resilience (JC4L331)” but found the practice “challenging (JC4L332)” in terms of
finding the space and the ‘right situation (JC4L332)’. JC3 made had an interesting
perspective on mindfulness and how he integrates its philosophy into his work with
clients by saying:
“We meet and work with very successful people who have hit a bump on the road and I think
it is because of their time perspective. These are people who probably didn’t enjoy the
moment, but dealt with stress as a payoff for their success and have probably being doing it
all their lives. When they were younger, they probably said; ‘when I get my leaving cert, that
will be it, it will be all worth it’. They get their results and there is a moment of contentment
and then it's the university place and it all starts over. So a lot of the people we meet they
have this future orientation, they focus not on the moment but on the future. So, with clients,
I really want them to be in the moment. You might find it with people who have had difficult
relationships; they’re worrying about what that means, what the repercussions are of that
conversation, rather than actively being in the moment. I don’t do mindfulness with clients,
but I do encourage them to research more themselves and to be in the moment and when
they are doing a work placement to enjoy each day, rather than worrying about what
happens at the end of the work placement.”(JC3L52‐64).
Many of the interviews had both formal and informal interpretations of mindfulness based
practices. Four mentioned ‘meditation (JC1L348, JC2L29, JC3L68, JC6L376)’ and most included
some reference to ‘body awareness (JC2L30‐31, JC1L352‐353)’, ‘walking (JC4L360, JC6L390))’ and
‘movement (JC4L358)’. What was interesting was how a number of interviewees described a
number of everyday activities as ‘mindful’, such as ‘gardening (JC6L377‐378)’ for JC6, ‘baking
(JC1L382)’ for JC1 and ‘swimming (JC4L357‐8)’ for JC4, suggesting an interpretation of
mindfulness as much of a state as a practice. When asked if they would be willing to
participate in a mindfulness‐based training program, all interviewees responded very
positively and with some enthusiasm. Interviewees were then asked what benefits they
56
would expect from such a program for themselves and their colleagues and the
organisation, JC2 responded by saying:
“So one of the benefits would be that I have permission to do it, without feeling like I am
taking time from my work, its actually part of my work.
Another benefit would be that if all the people around me are practicing mindfulness, it
makes it easier for all of us to be mindful. It has more power than an individual doing it on
their own. It’s going to be a learning experience to do that with a group. There may be other
techniques that other people use that are more beneficial and share insights they have
learned. I think that unless a person feels safe, valued and allowed to be themselves in the
workplace, then you won’t get the best out of them, so if you enhance any of those you will get
more out of people in terms of their efficiency (JC2L115‐124)”
The response of the other interviewees to this question was overwhelmingly positive.
Some of their comments included that it would ‘give rise to wellbeing (JC6L455)’, ‘reduce
health costs (JC4L462 & JC1L467‐469)’ and ‘enhance relationships (JC3L93)’, and foster an
attitude of openness (JC1L447)’. JC1 also felt it would bring ‘increased concentration, focus
and increased resilience (JC1L458‐459)’.
Other benefits to the organization included less sickness and absenteeism with JC4
suggesting, “with mindfulness … there would be an understanding and a certain style of
management … a mindful leadership type of thing (JC4L441‐4).”
The sentiment felt around this question is best displayed by one of JC6’s responses, when
he said:
“I think as individuals we would benefit remarkably (JC6L434)” and “I think it gives rise to
wellbeing, your own wellbeing, the client’s wellbeing, and the company’s wellbeing. It's a win‐
win‐win‐win. (JC6L455‐6)”
Interviewees were then asked what elements they would like to see included in this type
of program. The responses were quite varied however the one consistent thread running
through them was that they felt that mindfulness approaches should be incorporated into
workplace and work practices as stated by JC3, “Mindfulness in the things we are going to
do anyway, but maybe we could do them just a little bit better (JC399‐100).” JC6 proposed
having a ‘pick‐n‐mix’ approach where individuals could choose from a range of
mindfulness practices. The members of the Group interview (JC1, JC4 & JC6), all agreed
that there should be some formal training initially, by a suitably ‘qualified’ practitioner,
57
who would introduce and explain the benefits and practices and then lead the team in a
number of meditation sessions, with JC4 adding that ‘buy in (JC4L556)’ from everyone
would be critical to its implementation. In the individual interviews JC2 made reference to
mindful ‘communication (JC2L164)’ and having a more mindful disposition, along with
developing those skills.
4.332 Expert Opinions.
Both Adams and Carroll referred to the John Kabat‐Zinn definition of mindfulness when
asked to describe it (AdamsL187 & CarrollL11‐13). In relation to its relevance and application
to the workplace, Adams says that research is still in its early days, however participant
feedback from her own mindfulness work in organisations has yielded encouraging
results, as she says,
“One evaluation survey I did of 70 staff; 100% agreed that MT (Mindfulness Training) helped
them function better under pressure; 100% agreed that MT helped improve dealing with
strong emotions. 93% agreed that MT helped improve relationships; 93% agreed that MT
helped them focus on their work better. Some organizations do think of the employees as a
whole person and if improvements can be made in their lives outside of work from MT there
is a knock on effect in the workplace (AdamsL237‐45).”
From Carroll’s point of view, he sees the benefit of mindfulness for individuals in the
workplace as a way of seeing things (including stress) for what they really are and
attending to them rather than running from them, as he says,
“This is about recognizing that there are certain qualities of the mind that you are already
expressing that you’re overlooking, that, if you understood what you’re already doing you’ll
notice that you’ve already achieved the things you’re looking for. It’s an entirely different
approach. (CarrollL188‐91)”
He sees ‘Mindful Leadership’ as playing a pivotal role in organisations, not only in the style
of leadership but also in developing abilities to strategize from a position he calls “an
internal stance (CarrollL232) and a “mind‐set (CarrollL233)”.
Mowbray saw Mindfulness as ‘a useful tool for controlling anxiety (MowbrayL175‐6)’. He saw
this as an integral part of confidence that feeds into the ability to control oneself, which is,
as he says, “what resilience building is about (MowbrayL172‐3)”. He said he also used
58
mindfulness techniques on his training programs to demonstrate the level of difficulty in
achieving ‘concentration’ which he equated with ‘performance (MowbrayL182‐4)’.
In relation to program design, Adams offers a six to eight week course (a half day a week),
based on MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy), using the model outlined in
Williams and Pennman’s (2011) book, ‘Mindfulness, A practical guide to finding peace in a
frantic world’. She presents the rationale and science behind mindfulness, conducts
meditation sessions and offers participants the choice of a number of techniques that they
can follow both during and after the program.
4.34 Resilience.
4.341 Job Coach Responses (Individual and Group Interviews). (Question 11‐12)
All interviews were asked to articulate their understanding of resilience and what helps or
has helped them to be resilient. Responses included the ability “to absorb (JC6L287)”, “the
ability to bounce back (JC1L271 & JC4L282‐3)”, and ‘stay focussed (JC1L273)’. JC3 stated that for
him it's a case of “when something happens, you deal with it (JC3L132)”. This question
stirred some strong emotions among some interviewees, particularly the males. JC6 and
JC3 referred to unpleasant past experiences when they were trying to deal with adversity
or difficult situations. JC6 recalled a ‘bloody‐minded attitude (JC6L248)’ to life when he was
growing up and explained how in a previous job he would work long hours, drink a bottle
of wine before going to bed and then, as he put it, “back on the treadmill (JC6L311‐2)” JC3
recalled the one piece of advice his father gave him if things didn’t go his son’s way, which
was “F..k ‘em (JC3L134)”. Both acknowledged they had since changed their attitude with JC6
adopting a more ‘absorption like (JC6L287)’ approach and JC3 focussing more on developing
a ‘sense of ‘gratitude (JC3L128&141)’, which he says is connected to ‘health and wellbeing
(JC3L142)’. JC1 said that having clear ‘boundaries (JC1L275)’ has helped her to create a ‘space
(JC1L298)’ around herself so she can minimise the impact of difficult situations and people.
JC2 said that resilience was “having a resource (JC2L61)” and added, “My first port of call to
increase my resilience is to go inside myself and to be more present to myself (JC262‐3)”
At the end of the individual interviews, interviewees were asked if there was any
thing they would like to add, only JC2 make additional comments. She expressed her
desire for organisations to become more humane and there to be as much emphasis on
‘humanness” as on “professionalism”. She said:
59
“So for me, the difference between a mindful and mindless organisation is that bridge
between being human and being professional. It is an attitude, where does that attitude come
from? Is it a superficial, I must say this, I mustn’t say that, or is it, I am meeting a human
being and I am going to meet that person properly, and what does that involve (JC2L204‐207)”
4.342 Expert Opinions.
Of the three experts interviewed, Mowbray is the main expert on resilience, however both
Adams and Carroll saw mindfulness playing an important part in its development. When
asked what drew her to mindfulness training, Adams said she had attended a conference
presentation on the neuroscience behind mindfulness and thought that she could use this
technique with her coaching clients to help them “to work more efficiently while still
maintaining their wellbeing. (AdamsL290‐291)”. Carroll’s definition of resilience contrast’s
significantly with that of Mowbray’s. Carroll says that from a mindful leadership
perspective, “people get hurt at work. (CarrollL192)”, but instead of trying to avoid or rectify
it, you should experience it. He says, “That hurt is how you are touched. (CarrollL201)” and
by blaming somebody, “you’re amplifying it (CarrollL202)”. He sums it up by saying,
“So what I’m really defining right now is what you would call ‘agility’ or ‘resilience’ because
everything that touches you, you are able to understand and work with. (CarrollL203‐205).”
Mowbray equates resilience to the ability to be “in control your self (MowbrayL11)” and by
this he means one’s emotions. He says, ” I’m one of those people that feel that emotions
should actually be controlled (MowbrayL80)”. His reason for this stance is that when people
are faced with challenging situations they usually make “a knee‐jerk (MowbrayL82)”
response rather than a more measured ‘evaluation of the situation (MowbrayL88)’. He says,
“It’s more about preventing an event or someone’s behaviour from triggering stress in you
(MowbrayL246)”. Regarding resilience in the workplace, he suggests it is not so much about
developing personal resilience as it is about developing ‘culture, leadership and the
working environment (MoybrayL123)’. He supports this by proposing that resilience is a
‘decision (MowbrayL225)’, which is “contingent on the context (MowbrayL225)”. He suggests
that the more positive the context, the more likely one is to choose to be resilient, however
the focus of his work is to prevent the need for people to call on their resilience by creating
more positive environments, contexts, events and behaviours. This ties in with his
“Wellbeing and Performance Agenda (MowbrayL277)” work, which he says “focuses
attention on the culture of leadership in the working environment (MowbrayL278‐9)”. His
motivation for this approach, he says, came from his interest in leadership and its
influence on stress on other people.
60
Table 7. Summary of Individual and Group Interviews Responses
Question Categories Responses
1.Do you think your role is stressful? WRS
(Work Related Stress)
Difficult or unwell Clients.
Funder Demands.
Management Expectations.
Management Competency/Style.
Lack of appropriate
organizational
support structures.
2. How do you know you when you are
stressed?
WRS Inability to concentrate
Physical Aches and Pains
Sleep Disruption
3. How do you cope with stress?
(Good and Bad).
WRS The right amount can be good.
(Pos.)
Excessive drinking/eating. (Neg.)
Physical exercise and Yoga.
Mindfulness and Meditation.
Management and Peer Support.
EAP (Employee Assistance
Program)
Resilience (K.B.I)
4. Do you use any ‘contemplative’
practices?
Mindfulness Mindfulness
Awareness (Breath & Nature)
Meditation
Walks
Being as well as doing
5. How do you integrate them into you
work life?
Mindfulness Listening to CDs driving to
appointments.
Going for a walk at Lunchtime.
Stopping for 5 minutes
meditation.
6. What do you understand by
mindfulness?
Mindfulness Focus.
Being present.
Present time orientation.
Resilience.
61
7. What kind of mindful
practices would you be aware of?
Mindfulness Meditation.
Body awareness
Breathing and Posture
Walking and Movement
Gardening
Baking
8. Would you be open to participating
in mindfulness based training
program?
Mindfulness All responded Yes.
9. What benefits would you see in it for
yourself and others?
Mindfulness Increased Wellbeing and
resilience
Decrease in sickness and absence
Enhance relationships
Foster Openness
More mindful leadership style
Better performance
Increased concentration
Increased resilience
More efficient
Reduced Health costs and
Potential Hazards
10. What elements would you like to
see in the program?
Mindfulness Structured Training Program
Meditation sessions
Pick‐n‐mix practices
Integrated into work practices
Permission to practice
Mindful Communication
Developing a Mindful disposition
Mindful leadership development
Buy in
11. What is your understanding of
resilience and what helps you to be
resilient?
Resilience Ability to Cope.
Ability to bounce back.
Ability to take an impact and
keep going.
To stay focussed
A positive appreciation of what’s
62
going on.
Bloody‐mindedness.
Boundaries.
Mindfulness
12. Is there anything else you would
like to add
Mindfulness as opposed to
Mindlessness
More humane workplace
Table.8. Summary of Expert Interviews responses.
Expert WRS Mindfulness Resilience
Juliet Adams Absenteeism
Burn out
Jon Kabat Zinn
Function better
Dealing with strong
Emotions
Better focus
MBCT
Meditation
Neuroscience
Work more efficiently
Maintaining wellbeing
Michael
Carroll
Toxic Workplaces
Uncertainty
Jon Kabat Zinn
Clarity of perception
A View
Mindful Leadership
Meditation
Experiencing the hurt
Being ‘touched’
Derek
Mowbray
Toxic
Negative Context
Psycho‐
presenteeism
Controlling
managers
Controlling anxiety
Concentration
Performance
Ability to control yourself
Measured Evaluations
Contingent on the context
Wellbeing & Performance
Agenda
Influence of leaders on other’s
stress
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5. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This section will discuss the results of the study in relation to the initial research questions
which will reviewed against the information gathered in the Literature Review to
determine how they relate to previous studies. The section is divided into six sub‐headings
that directly relate to the main questions of this research.
5.1 The Mindfulness connection to building resilience against WRS
Resilience was described in the staff interviews as “the ability to bounce back” (JC1 and
JC6) that has much similarity to Tuage and Frederickson’s (2004, p.302) definition, which
is “the ability bounce back from negative emotional experiences”. JC2 described resilience
as ‘a resource’ that she gets when she goes inside herself. This parallels with Rauch’s
(2013) citing of Hobfoll et al’s. (2003, p.632) definition of ‘personal resources’, which they
describe as “aspects of the self that are linked to resiliency”. In establishing its connection
to mindfulness Rauch (2013) proposes that this ability to access one’s ‘personal resources’
and resiliency, can be developed through the practice of mindfulness. When discussing
mindfulness JC1 said that it would ‘”increase resilience”, while JC4 described it as “a tool
for resilience”. This is backed up by Meiklejohn et al’s. (2012) findings from a study into
building resilience through mindfulness in a Teacher and Student sample group, where the
Teachers reported a better sense of wellbeing and self‐efficacy (bi‐products of resilience)
after a completing an MBI program. In relation to using Mindfulness to build resilience
against work‐related stress, research would suggest that it has proven benefits (Williams,
Ciarrochi and Deane, 2010, and Glomb et al., 2011). It was evident that this claim has been
accepted by all Job Coaches interviewed, with three of the five Job Coaches interviewed
actively practicing some form of mindfulness practice (JC1, JC4 and JC6) for the purposes
of reducing stress and enhancing their sense of wellbeing. It is important to note here that
JC2 did not claim to do mindfulness‐based practices, yet was doing similar practices for
the same reasons.
Of the experts interviewed, the two mindfulness experts agreed that mindfulness did build
resilience, but only when asked by the interviewer if it did. Adams focused on the stress
reduction benefits of mindfulness citing her own evaluation statistics, which she claimed
that out of 70 staff surveyed after one of her MBT programs, 100% of respondents said it
help them function better under pressure and deal with strong emotions. Carroll talked
about mindfulness in its capacity to help employees and leaders face their issues and
difficulties rather than run from them, with Mowbray saying it was “a useful tool for
64
controlling anxiety”. Theses claims would be supported by Ismail et al.’s (2013) research
into burnout rates in a South African bank and their conclusion that the more ‘mindful’
employees were less like to experience high levels of anxiety and burnout rates.
5.2 Levels of stress, dispositional mindfulness and resilience in EWC.
The results from the three self‐assessment questionnaires was quite surprising in that
they were much higher than anticipated, particularly in relation the turbulent recent
history in the organisation.
The management Standards stress test came back with results indicating an overall
healthy state for the company with just a few areas needing attention. These two areas
were under the categories of ‘Demands’ and ‘Role’. The items needing attention under
‘Demands’ referred to ‘Time Pressure’, ‘Workload’ and ‘Unachievable Deadlines’. This is an
area highlighted in EU‐OSHA (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work) (2012)
report that lists ‘Work intensification’ as one of the main psychosocial risks in the
workplace that falls under the category of ‘Content of Work’. This is refereed to by staff in
relation to what they perceived as unrealistic administrative demands, both from the DSP
and management. In relation to ‘Role’, areas such as clarity of expectation, job task and
responsibilities was also highlighted from the results as needing ‘urgent attention. JC3
commented that they were a lot of ‘potential hazards’ and also refers to not having enough
control in relation to interactions with the organization, with JC6 making reference to
pervious management styles that were ‘inexperienced’. The EU‐OSHA report (2012) again
makes reference to ‘role in the organization’ as being another psychosocial hazard, but
which comes in under their second category of ‘context of work’. This is also supported in
the literature by Chalskalson (2011) who highlighted this issue by referring to the Yerkes‐
Dodson Curve, which shows the negative relationship between high demands and good
performance. These types of pressure can lead to the creation of what both Carroll and
Mowbray refereed to a ‘toxic workplace’ for the employee, controlled by a particular
management style and culture. This indicates the effect a leader can have on the
workplace and the health of the employees and some studies show that ‘mindful’ leaders
can have beneficial effects on staff wellbeing and performance (Reb, Narayana and
Chaturvedi, 2012). From the WHO‐5 questionnaire, only one employee was highlighted as
having a low level of wellbeing and being potentially at risk.
65
Resiliency levels for all staff that completed the RASQ35 came in above average. This
indicates quite a resilient team particularly in the areas of ‘problem solving’, ‘vision’,
‘determination’ and ‘interaction’. These areas are important elements in executing their
roles as Job Coaches and show a good match between their role and skills.. This is
supported in the Job Coaches interviews, who demonstrated a good understanding of
resiliency, as it was identical to that proposed by Tugade and Fredrickson (2004), which is
‘the ability to bounce back’. JC6 and JC3 referred to a toughness of character, which George
(2013) suggests is an aspect of resilience that can help people cope more successfully with
stressful situations in the workplace. One area needing particular attention was that of
‘organization’, which would indicate a need to develop this capacity across the staff, which
may help reduce stress levels in relation to managing workloads and deadlines more
effectively
The MAAS questionnaire showed overall above average levels of ‘dispositional
mindfulness’ across the staff team, the highest being 83% and lowest being 44%, with a
mean average of 66%. This is reflected in the staff interviews by how knowledgeable and
exposed they were to existing mindfulness practices and were using them to help alleviate
stress and maintain wellbeing, such as ‘meditation’, ‘Yoga’ and ‘focussing on the present
and being present’ (JC1, JC4 and JC6). The latter practice corresponds quite closely with
Kabat‐Zinn’s definition of mindfulness which is “paying attention, on purpose, in the
present moment, non judgmentally (Kabat‐Zinn, 2012, p.1)
5.3 The potential value of an MBI training program in EWC.
In considering the potential value of implementing an MBI training program in EWC to
help build resilience against WRS, a number of factors had to be taken into consideration;
1. Is there a body of evidence to suggest that MBIs can be effective in the workplace?
2. Are there high levels of WRS and low levels of resiliency and mindfulness in EWC?
3. Would Job Coaches be open to embracing an MBI training program?
4. What potential benefits could it bring to the organization?
In relation to the first consideration, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that
there are clear positive effects of practicing mindfulness in the workplace, which have
been explored in studies by Klatt, Buckworth and Malarkey, (2008), Dolland & Bond
(2011) and, Heversedge and Halliwell (2012). The positive relationship between
mindfulness‐based practices and resiliency has been established in studies by Glomb et al.,
66
(2011), Williams, Ciarrochi & Deane, (2010) and, Ismail et al., (2013). While accepting that
research into this area is in its early day the results have been encouraging. It would
prudent to surmise that the implementation of an MBI training program into the
workplace would have more benefits than dangers, thereby minimizing the risk of
potential harm and presenting the potential for enhancing employee wellbeing and
performance. All three experts interviewed agreed that the adaptation of mindfulness
practices in the workplace would have a number of beneficial outcomes both for the staff
and the organization in these areas., with Adams in particular, citing impressive feedback
results from one of her MBT (Mindfulness‐Based Training) programs.
Regarding the need for an MBI in EWC, the quantitative data gathered from staff self‐
reported assessments would suggest that stress levels are moderately low at present and
resiliency and mindfulness levels are above average. It must be acknowledged that these
self‐assessments are a snapshot in time and only reflect the current perception by staff of
these areas. It must also be noted that the organization had just come through what could
be considered a ‘traumatic experience” and was on the road to recovery. From the
evidence in the staff interviews, it would appear that individual Job Coaches took the
responsibility for their own wellbeing upon themselves, with each person doing their own
thing. This is particularly highlighted by the staff responses to how they currently cope
with stress with the following examples from staff, ‘peer support (JC4)’, ‘breath awareness
(JC2)’ and ‘spending time with the family (JC3)’.
With respect to Job Coaches being open to participating in an MBI program, the response
was a unanimous and enthusiastic yes.
The potential benefits for staff and the organization ranged from ‘reducing health costs
(JC4 and JC1)’, to ‘increased resilience (JC1) and ‘enhance relationship (JC3) with JC2
saying they would find it easier to do mindfulness practices in work if they knew everyone
else was doing them and sharing in the experience. A number of staff suggested that it
would help reduce sickness and absenteeism and foster greater openness in the
organization., with JC4 alluding to a new style of ‘mindful leadership’ at management level.
This is supported by Carroll (expert) who said that Mindful leadership plays a pivotal role
in organisations.
5.4 Program Elements.
Adams (expert) in her interview (see Appendix 12) said she uses a variation of the MBCT
program in as outlined in Williams and Pennman book Mindfulness. Finding peace in a
67
frantic world (2011), but adopts this so as to allow a more ‘al a carte’ menu of practices
that people can choose from. JC6 also suggested a type of ‘pick n’ mix’ approach where
there would be a choice of practices on offer.
At the group interview, it was suggested that the program should at least contain sessions
of learning and practicing Mindfulness medication, preferably taught by a suitable trained
practitioner. However what was surprising from both the individual and group interviews
was the insistence that the MBI should not be just a program but integrated into the
structures and practices of the organization (JC2 & JC3) as well as the style of management
(JC6 and JC4). This is supported by Carroll’s (Expert) comments on the role of Mindful
leadership and Mowbray’s (Expert) ‘Wellbeing and Performance Agenda’ which ‘focuses
attention on the culture of leadership”.
The integration of mindfulness into management practices so as to become a more Mindful
leader is seen as one that not only helps develop greater internal and external awareness
(Bryant and Wildi 2008), but also that can a positive effect on employee performance and
wellbeing (Reb. Et al., 2012). This has also implications for coaching within the workplace
as proposed by Marques (2007) who cites Slotte’s (2004) ‘space between’ and the
cultivation of a non‐judgemental approach where greater clarity and creativity can be
found for problem solving.
5.5 Conclusion
As a result of this research, it could be established that from the review of relevant
literature and the information gathered from both EWC staff and external experts, that the
hypothesis, ‘can mindfulness based interventions help build resiliency against work
related stress? ‘ has gathered additional and supportive evidence to back this claim. The
adaptation of MBI training programs into some of the largest global organizations in the
world is testament to the underlining belief that there are potential benefits to be gained
from its integration into the workplace. As the nature, pace and execution of work is
constantly changing, so to are the increase in psychosocial risks to employees. One
approach to remedy this is to help build grater resilience among staff, particularity in
relation to coping with work related stress. Ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of
employee has become a major concern and responsibility for HR departments and
practitioners. It is hoped that this study will clarify some of the potential value and merits
in its application within the workplace setting.
68
5.7 Recommendations for EWC.
1. To implement an MBI training in EWC. Over a period of six to eight weeks.
2. To train staff and management in the practice and application of Mindfulness.
3. To explore new ways of integrating the program elements into the structure and practices of
the organization.
4. To develop a more ‘mindful leadership’ approach.
5. To provide the training by a suitably qualified instructor of mindfulness.
6. To develop more dispositional mindfulness practices in everyday working activities.
7. To maintain and develop the practice of mindfulness in EWC on an ongoing basis.
69
7. PERSONAL LEARNING
Rationale for Research Topic.
The exploration of an area for research began in December 2013. A number of areas were
considered ranging from leadership development, learning and talent development to staff
wellbeing. The reason for choosing mindfulness‐based interventions in the workplace
stemmed from my own interest in the area of mindfulness and how it could be applied
within the workplace. Although I had read about mindfulness in the past it was while
attending a seminar day in UCC on the subject, given by the monastics of Thich Nhat
Hanh’s Plum Village Monastery, that rekindled my interest. I proceeded to do a certificate
course in the Therpuetic use of mindfulness with Padraig O’Morain who authored the
book, ‘Light Mind, Mindfulness for Daily Living’, and became convinced of the merits of its
need and possible application within the workplace. I had also just started in a new
position as manager of EWC in December 2013 and became aware of the effect of work‐
related stress on certain employees in the organization and the detrimental effects it was
having on the organization as a whole. There was a need for some type of HR intervention
to tackle this issue and Mindfulness‐based interventions seemed to be the perfect fit. That
was the easy part.
Getting Started.
The next part was finding a working title and subject area that I could begin to focus the
study on. This proved to be very difficult and working title came and went, from exploring
if mindfulness could enhance employee performance and wellbeing, to mindful leadership,
building resilience in the workplace, to eventually the title of the study. After some initial
meeting with my supervisor, I became unwell and this delayed commencement of my
literature review. I spent the time researching around the topic, collecting suitable studies,
books and articles but ill health was a major factor in delaying the writing up process. I
was suffering from exhaustion and didn’t have the energy needed to knuckle down to the
hard grafting of writing it up. I was able to identify some questionnaires and send them
out to staff and as my energy began to return, I was able to conduct interviews and start
working on my literature with renewed vigor. This was not the order that was intended or
should be considered, but it was what it had to be. I also had little contact with my
supervisor and was aware that I was seriously behind schedule and may not get ii
completed before the deadline. The following are the key learning points from this section:
1. Have a clear idea what your research topic is from the start.
70
2. Have regular contact and communication with your supervisor.
3. Get your literature review and methodology done as soon as possible.
Gaining Momentum.
Conducting the interviews, face to face and over Skype, individual and group were all great
experiences. The group interview was particularly insightful and poignant, as it was my
last meeting with this working group in EWC before taking up a new position with another
organization. The level of honesty and wisdom from the staff was both humbling and
inspiring. I could see that my time there had made a difference and that the work that had
been initiated as a result of this study was beginning to turn things around, even before
the implementation of mindfulness‐based intervention. This thought me a valuable lesson,
which was that I was becoming a more mindful leader during the course of the study and
had engaged staff in a process which was by default, helping them to gain more control
over their work environment. An example of this was that at the end of the group
interview, we all went for a walk and coffee, still sharing our thoughts and insights, but off
the record. It was a moment that is unfortunately too rare in most organizations and one
that I will seek to continue in some form or another in my future work. Lessons learned:
1. Ask people their opinion and listen to it.
2. Be authentic and spend ‘quality time’ with your staff.
Nearing the end.
The literature review was nearing completion and the methodology was taking shape in
literal form. Completed questionnaires were coming in and data was been collated,
momentum at last. However time was not on my side and starting a new position in the
housing sector was not the best timing in the world, but then again, in the spirit of mindful
acceptance, it was what it was. That said, I must admit that I found the whole process quite
a stressful one, which in itself seems quite paradoxical. It gave me an appreciation of the
need to be both focused and well organized, two qualities I would not normally rank as
being in my top five. I found adhering to the structure a dissertation, at times curbing both
my enthusiasm and creativity. I am of the opinion that learning should not be an effort but
an ecstasy. If learning could be compared with work, it should be as Prof. Derek Mowbray
in this study put it, “people should be leaping out of bed and running to work because
that’s the oasis”. I did however learn much about doing a research topic from an evidence‐
based perspective and gained greater insight and understanding into the areas of work‐
related stress, resilience and mindfulness, for which I will be ever grateful.
71
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Appendix 1
Interview Questions with EWC staff. Individual and Group
1. Do you think your role is stressful?
2. How do you know when you are stressed?
3. How do you cope with stress? (Good and Bad).
4. Do you use any ‘contemplative’ practices?
5. How do you integrate them into you work life?
6. What do you understand by mindfulness?
7. What kind of mindful practices would you be aware of?
8. Would you be open to participating in mindfulness based training program?
9. What benefits would you see in it for yourself and others?
10. What elements do you think should be included in the program?
11. What is your understanding of resilience?
12. Is there anything else you would like to add?
86
Appendix 2.1 Management Standards Questionnaire
87
Appendix 2.2. Management Standards Questionnaire
88
Appendix 2.3. Management Standards Questionnaire
89
Appendix 2.4. Management Standards Questionnaire
90
Appendix 3. MAAS (Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale) Questionnaire
91
Appendix 4.1. RAS (Resilience Assessment Scale) Questionnaire
92
Appendix 4.2. RAS (Resilience Assessment Scale) Questionnaire
93
Appendix 5.1. Management Standards Questionnaire. Outcome Results.
94
Appendix 5.2 . Management Standards Questionnaire. Outcome Results.
95
Appendix 5.3. Management Standards Questionnaire. Outcome Results.
96
Appendix 5.4 Management Standards Questionnaire. Outcome Results.
97
Appendix 6.1. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
98
Appendix 6.2. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
99
Appendix 6.3 Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
100
Appendix 6.4 Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
101
Appendix 6.5. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
102
Appendix 6.6. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
103
Appendix 6.7. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
104
Appendix 6.8. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
105
Appendix 6.9. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
106
Appendix 6.10. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
107
Appendix 6.11 Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
108
Appendix 6.12. Breakdown of group response to each RAQ35 questions
109
Appendix 7.1. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC1
Section Scores
Vision Q1
4
Q8
5
Q15
5
Q22
5
Q29
4
23
Determination Q2
4
Q9
3
Q16
5
Q23
4
Q30
5
21
Interaction Q3
4
Q10
4
Q17
5
Q24
5
Q31
2
20
Relationships Q4
3
Q11
3
Q18
3
Q25
3
Q32
4
16
Problem Solving Q5
4
Q12
4
Q19
3
Q26
5
Q33
5
21
Organisation Q6
3
Q13
2
Q20
2
Q27
2
Q34
2
11
Self Confidence Q7
4
Q14
5
Q21
4
Q28
4
Q35
5
22
Overall Score Total Score 134
110
Appendix 7.2. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC2
Section Scores
Vision Q1
4
Q8
4
Q15
5
Q22
4
Q29
3
20
Determination Q2
4
Q9
3
Q16
4
Q23
4
Q30
4
19
Interaction Q3
3
Q10
3
Q17
4
Q24
5
Q31
5
20
Relationships Q4
4
Q11
2
Q18
4
Q25
3
Q32
4
17
Problem Solving Q5
4
Q12
4
Q19
5
Q26
4
Q33
5
22
Organisation Q6
3
Q13
3
Q20
4
Q27
3
Q34
2
15
Self Confidence Q7
4
Q14
3
Q21
3
Q28
3
Q35
4
17
Overall Score Total Score 130
111
Appendix 7.3. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC3
Section Scores
Vision Q1
3
Q8
4
Q15
5
Q22
4
Q29
3
19
Determination Q2
4
Q9
2
Q16
4
Q23
3
Q30
4
17
Interaction Q3
4
Q10
3
Q17
3
Q24
3
Q31
5
18
Relationships Q4
2
Q11
2
Q18
2
Q25
4
Q32
2
12
Problem Solving Q5
4
Q12
3
Q19
2
Q26
4
Q33
5
18
Organisation Q6
2
Q13
4
Q20
4
Q27
2
Q34
2
14
Self Confidence Q7
3
Q14
3
Q21
4
Q28
2
Q35
3
15
Overall Score Total Score 113
112
Appendix 7.4. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC4
Section Scores
Vision Q1
3
Q8
3
Q15
3
Q22
3
Q29
2
14
Determination Q2
3
Q9
2
Q16
4
Q23
3
Q30
3
15
Interaction Q3
3
Q10
4
Q17
4
Q24
4
Q31
4
19
Relationships Q4
2
Q11
4
Q18
3
Q25
3
Q32
4
16
Problem Solving Q5
4
Q12
3
Q19
3
Q26
3
Q33
4
17
Organisation Q6
3
Q13
5
Q20
3
Q27
2
Q34
2
15
Self Confidence Q7
3
Q14
3
Q21
2
Q28
4
Q35
3
15
Overall Score Total Score 111
113
Appendix 7.5. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC5
Section Scores
Vision Q1
4
Q8
4
Q15
4
Q22
2
Q29
4
18
Determination Q2
4
Q9
3
Q16
5
Q23
3
Q30
4
19
Interaction Q3
3
Q10
3
Q17
4
Q24
3
Q31
2
15
Relationships Q4
4
Q11
3
Q18
4
Q25
4
Q32
3
18
Problem Solving Q5
5
Q12
4
Q19
3
Q26
3
Q33
4
19
Organisation Q6
1
Q13
2
Q20
4
Q27
1
Q34
1
9
Self Confidence Q7
4
Q14
3
Q21
3
Q28
3
Q35
4
17
Overall Score Total Score 115
114
Appendix 7.6. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC6
Section Scores
Vision Q1
4
Q8
4
Q15
4
Q22
4
Q29
3
19
Determination Q2
4
Q9
3
Q16
4
Q23
4
Q30
3
18
Interaction Q3
3
Q10
4
Q17
3
Q24
3
Q31
4
17
Relationships Q4
3
Q11
3
Q18
3
Q25
4
Q32
4
17
Problem Solving Q5
4
Q12
4
Q19
3
Q26
4
Q33
4
19
Organisation Q6
4
Q13
3
Q20
4
Q27
3
Q34
3
20
Self Confidence Q7
3
Q14
3
Q21
3
Q28
3
Q35
3
15
Overall Score Total Score 125
115
Appendix 7.7. Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). Individual Job Coach Scores
JC7
Section Scores
Vision Q1
3
Q8
4
Q15
4
Q22
4
Q29
3
18
Determination Q2
4
Q9
3
Q16
4
Q23
4
Q30
4
19
Interaction Q3
4
Q10
3
Q17
4
Q24
4
Q31
4
19
Relationships Q4
4
Q11
4
Q18
5
Q25
4
Q32
4
21
Problem Solving Q5
4
Q12
3
Q19
5
Q26
4
Q33
5
21
Organisation Q6
4
Q13
3
Q20
4
Q27
4
Q34
4
19
Self Confidence Q7
4
Q14
3
Q21
3
Q28
3
Q35
3
16
Overall Score Total Score 133
116
Appendix 8.1. Breakdown of group response to each MAAS questions
117
Appendix 8.2. Breakdown of group response to each MAAS questions
118
Appendix 8.3. Breakdown of group response to each MAAS questions
119
Appendix 8.4. Breakdown of group response to each MAAS questions
120
Appendix 8.5. Breakdown of group response to each MAAS questions
Appendix 9. Transcript JC3 (Individual Interview) P.120
1
Individual Interview with Job Coach JC3 2
3
Introduction. Context of study and confidentiality. 4
5
N: Do you think your role as a Job Coach is stressful? 6
7
JC3: I think there are a lot of potential hazards. People would think that these potential 8
hazards would come from the ‘vulnerable people’ we work with and certainly there is that, but 9
you do have control over that and you can manage that. The things I find most stressful are the 10
stresses that come from the organisation, sometimes from management, a lot from third party 11
organisations like the DSP. It's the things you don’t have control over that stress me most and 12
you should leave them, put them to one side. 13
14
N: How do you know when you are stressed? 15
16
JC3: When I am very stressed, it would be waking up in the middle of the night and thinking 17
about something., immediately awake and thinking about it instantly. That's the worst, but I 18
haven’t experienced that in this job. 19
In this job, it would creep up on you more. It can be a mood or a sense of dread. It can be a 20
physical thing as well, I have old problems with me neck and I would become more aware of 21
them when I get stressed. But it is more a creeping chronic as opposed to an acute thing in this 22
role. 23
24
N: How do you cope with stress and what things do you do, positive and negative? 25
26
JC3: Well I don’t drink anymore and tend to try and spend more time with family and away 27
from work. I do find myself thinking about stressful things when I’m driving with my family, but 28
I do try to bring myself back into the moment and try to be more present with my family. I talk 29
things through with my wife which is helpful. I have used the EAP (Employee Assistance 30
Program) in EWC which was good and I actually saw a counselor from their service, which was 31
good. Comedy is good, I don’t listen to serious radio programs. 32
So I have tried to use the resources available to me but still figuring out a way to deal with it. 33
34
N: Have you or do you any contemplative practices? 35
36
JC3: I’m very aware of mindfulness, I do like the idea. On a nice day I go for walks during lunch 37
hour. But finding the time, even ten minutes, that's my problem, I let it slide. 38
39
N: When you go out for a walk, how do you use that as a de‐stressor? 40
41
JC3: I try to use the mindfulness thing, by becoming more aware of what’s around me, looking 42
at the various shades of green, the environment, being aware of my own body, how the 43
footsteps feel on the soles of my feet. I’m not very good at it but I am trying to incorporate it 44
into my walks. 45
46
N: You spoke of mindfulness there, what your understanding of it? 47
48
JC3: Being in the moment. I always encourage clients to be involved with mindfulness, to go to 49
free classes or get some books. 50
We meet and work with very successful people who have hit a bump on the road and I think it 51
is because of their time perspective. These are people who probably didn’t enjoy the moment, 52
but dealt with stress as a payoff for their success and have probably being doing it all their 53
lives. When they were younger, they probably said; ‘when I get my leaving cert, that will be it, 54
it will be all worth it. They get their results and there is a moment of contentment and then it's 55
the university place and it all starts over. So a lot of the people we meet they have this future 56
orientation, they focus not on the moment but on the future. So, with clients, I really want 57
them to be in the moment. You might find it with people who have had difficult relationships, 58
they’re worrying about what that means, what the repercussions are of that conversation, 59
rather than actively being in the moment. I don’t do mindfulness with clients, but I do 60
encourage them to research more themselves and to be in the moment and when they are 61
doing a work placement to enjoy each day, rather than worrying about what happens at the 62
end of the work placement. 63
64
N: What kind of mindfulness‐based practices would you be aware of? 65
66
123
JC3: Mostly the meditation, the body awareness thing. Being aware of your breathing. I know 67
there is a lot of stuff about ‘we don’t breath properly’. Being in the moment. 68
69
N: If there was a mindfulness based training available or offered to you, would you be open to 70
participating in it? 71
72
JC3: Very much so yes. 73
74
N: What you would see as the benefits of that program for you? 75
76
JC3: Its finding the time. I’ve always wanted to do Tai Chi (Eastern Martial Art), because, it is 77
very much, in the moment and great body awareness. If it was offered as a program, giving 78
myself permission to spend time on it. Doing it with other people would be a very good 79
support as well. In our job, it would be very good for the way we work with people. What I 80
preach and what I do are different. When I’m with people I try to be very nonjudgemental and 81
in the present moment and positive appreciation. Risks come when you are listening to 82
someone because judgments come about what happened with them. I think being more in the 83
moment, would make us better at our jobs. 84
85
N: What would you see as the benefits for other people that you work with? 86
87
JC3: Even in conflicts with colleagues, its a lot about what we think the other person is 88
thinking, we’re not in that moment when we are with each other. We’re thinking about what 89
was said or what could be going to happen. I think if we were much more in that moment with 90
each other and really pay attention, not only to what they say but also to their physicality, I 91
think that would enhance relationships a great deal. 92
93
N: So if there was going to be a Mindfulness‐based training program, what kind of elements 94
would you like to see in it, or would you expect to see in it? 95
96
JC3: Meditation. I’d like if it brought mindfulness into the things we do, like our work practices. 97
Mindfulness eating, loose a bit of weight, exercise. Mindfulness in the things we are going to 98
do anyway, but maybe we could do just a little bit better. 99
100
124
N: Within the context of work, you talked about a mindful attitude in your work or a mindful 101
disposition when you are with people. Would you see elements of the program helping to have 102
that disposition, to be with people nonjudgmentally? 103
104
JC3: You could do other things and not call it mindfulness and it would do mindful things. If you 105
were doing coaching and it was ‘Gestalt’ and you were very much in the dialogue, the 106
conversation, there would be a sense of mindfulness with that. I don’t think you would have to 107
call it mindfulness, I think you could do things like types or techniques in coaching like active 108
listening, NLP, being aware of what people say and the language they use. Those would 109
actually feed in. You wouldn’t need to call it mindfulness, especially if people buy into it and 110
meditation. You would always have to have a sense of this is a mindfulness approach. 111
112
N: What would you see as the benefits from the organisations point of view? 113
114
JC3: It could lead to happier workers, better relationships, a protection against litigation 115
because you’d be making steps to reducing potential hazards. 116
The dangers of it are with any technique that teach people how to combat stress, is that you 117
may neglect to address stressors in the environment. So if people are stressed, the 118
organisation could say; ‘Well, we did the mindfulness program didn’t we?’. And then it 119
becomes a way to put all the emphasis on individuals to deal with the stressful environment. 120
121
N: That brings me on to another area, which is building resilience, what would be your 122
understanding of it? 123
124
JC3: I used to think it was, ‘what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’, but I think its more like 125
a positive appreciation of what going on, what’s around you, resources. I think its tied in with 126
positive psychology and the whole gratitude thing, which is a big part of happiness. 127
128
N: What helps you to be more resilient? 129
130
JC3: For me personally, it none of the things I’ve said. It when something happens and you deal 131
with it, and that can be very stressful. My Dad only ever gave me one piece of advice and was 132
‘Fuck ‘em’. It goes back to the control thing, if I can’t control that, I have to let it go, and that's 133
how I feel when I build my resilience. 134
125
135
N: Would you see mindfulness‐based practices as a method of helping to build greater 136
resilience? 137
138
JC3: Yes, because of that connection with seeing the positive, opens up more options for you. 139
The research is very clear on this. Also that sense of gratitude is beneficial for your health and 140
wellbeing. 141
I do this all the time with clients, but I need a job coach like me, we all need that. 142
143
N: Would you see the need to have more ongoing support after the program is completed, or 144
would you see it as training in a particular method and then you take it and use it whenever 145
you want? 146
147
JC3: I think it needs to be continuous and it needs to be built into the performance 148
management professional, i.e. self awareness. The danger with a program is that it can seem 149
like yet another training course, while you’re covering your arse. In relation to time 150
management, it would work for future orientated people. Most people would use the 151
techniques for two weeks and go back to what they always done because that's their time 152
perspective. 153
If you did mindfulness, for most people, you’re overcoming years of negative thinking and you 154
really need to change habits, its that neuroplasticity to help people develop new connections 155
in their brains. 156
157
N: How long would see this training program being? 158
159
JC3: A training program can be any length, as long as the tenants of that training program are 160
built into the performance management and professional development program and the way 161
you do things as an organisation. However, my wife has said, the more a company talks about 162
something, the less they actually do it. So if they have an ethical mission statement, they may 163
operate in the exact opposite. 164
Its not so much the training program, its being authentic and building it into the way you do 165
everything. 166
167
N: How could you see an organisation like EWC building in mindfulness‐based practices? 168
126
169
JC3: Buddy systems, your own coach, if we were counselors we would have to talk to 170
someone, and having that confidentiality with what you are talking about. It could be the EAP 171
(Employee Assistance Program). It could be a bought in service. With professional 172
development, it should come in to that as well. A lot of the goals we set for ourselves should 173
be based around our own sense of wellbeing, our colleagues and organisation. We should be 174
paid on how happy we make our colleagues. 175
176
N: Its interesting that most organisations don't have a matrix on their employee’s wellbeing. 177
178
JC3: David Cameron talked a lot about it, that the country should not only have a GDP measure 179
but a happiness measure. Its difficult to measure isn’t it? 180
181
N: How would you measure it? 182
183
JC3: It could only be a self‐appraisal. I don’t think anyone could measure it for you. But that’s 184
the good thing about the performance development program, self assessment. You could use 185
this as a way of setting goals to make things better and make you happier. 186
187
N: Have you anything else you like to say? 188
189
JC3: The Nottingham University and the Management standards look at how organisations can 190
build resilience from the bottom up through performance development, but also from the top 191
down. Management has to be careful you don’t put the entire onus on to the workers to be 192
happier. 193
194
N: So how can leadership be involved? 195
196
JC3: Build in the elements in to leadership development and practice. We all know of 197
organisations who are good in their relationships with the community but then are ‘buggers’ 198
to their staff. You can’t have that hypocrisy. 199
200
N: Have you hear of mindful leadership? 201
127
202
JC3: I think it might be similar to ‘transformational leadership’. So your mindfulness would be 203
about what you contribute to the advancement of the people you work with. Make them the 204
future leaders. 205
206
N: Thank you JC3. 207
Appendix 10. Transcript JC4, JC6 and JC1 (Group Interview) P.127
1
Focus Group Interview. Interviews JC1, JC6 & JC4. 2
3
N: Would you see the role as a job coach as a stressful role/ what areas would you see that add 4
to stress? 5
6
JC1: The role can be stressful because you can be dealing with people that are in a state of 7
desperation at points, you could be dealing with people that are mentally unwell and to be 8
able to keep you own ‘wellness’ when you’re dealing with someone else that is unwell, it 9
makes it more difficult. 10
11
N: Does that cause you stress? 12
13
JC1:I think it can cause you stress. I think I’m conscious that it’s stressful and if I felt stressed, 14
for example I had a gentleman who came in yesterday who was unwell, I was conscious that 15
after he left I needed to take time for my self so that I was in a good place again to come back 16
and do what I needed to do. It would have been difficult to just go back to what I was doing 17
and have the same focus that I had previous to him coming in. 18
19
N: How did you know you were stressed? 20
21
JC1: I suppose a lack of concentration after the meeting, what he had said was still with me 22
and didn’t have the clarity that I would normally have. 23
24
N: JC6, your thoughts on stress within the orginisation? 25
129
26
27
28
29
JC6: This is the first time I have been in the same job in aversive commerce over a number of 30
years in all of my life. I’m nearer 60 than I am 50. Yes, I think the job itself is stressful or can be 31
stressful. I think that has a lot to do with some of the clients that we have. One of the things 32
certainly that's helped me in the early days was talking about boundary management and what 33
is our job and what isn’t our job and in the initial stages of meeting clients knowing what else 34
constructs the safety net (is it family, is it another service, is it someone they can talk to as a 35
psychotherapist or a psychologist or something like that) that there are other areas where 36
stuff can be dealt with things come up because quite often, with the clients we’ve had 37
certainly in the B… area, whatever presents itself the first day, 4 or 5 meetings down the line 38
can be quite different. There are underlying conditions, issues, problems that clients have and 39
it’s maybe not knowing or feeling that you have to deal with it yourself but feeling that there is 40
somebody else in the equation who can help deal with things if necessary. But I am also aware 41
of the stresses that can be created inside an organisation itself not necessarily with clients but 42
just within a team of people. I think there have been times in the last 11 years that I have been 43
here there has been quite serious pressure internally and there were no escape valves, no 44
release valves, there was no mechanism in place to actually deal with the tension and the 45
pressure properly. We have a board of directors who are volunteers who are unpaid, who have 46
there own jibs there own families and there own lives to go to. I think in some instances we’ve 47
some inexperienced management style people within the organisation who have been in 48
supervisorial, potentially management positions an as an organisation, I think, we have found 49
that difficult. I think that has a lot to do with the profile of the people who have been 50
potentially selected in the past, not being a good fit for this organisitaion and whether that's 51
the simple basics of interpersonal skills not being as prevalent as they should be in terms of 52
selection. I know there’s been a lot of focus in the last few years on administration within this 53
organisation, I don’t that's a very mindful way of going about running this orginisation. I think 54
w as job coaches have fought a bit to keep the balance towards our clients and the people and 55
the humans that they are rather just ticking boxes and spending time filling in sheets to do 56
various bits and pieces that don’t add to my wellness particularly or necessarily the 57
130
orginisations unless someone wanted to catch me out for fraud. I understand those things 58
have to be checked and balanced but I do think some of the things that we’ve talked about 59
recently are vital, otherwise parts of the organistion ossify or act like a rabbit in headlights and 60
I have found myself there once or twice in the past. Even to have somewhere to talk or how to 61
do something: “what is the pressure, how does it make you feel?” Is it that you just get angry 62
and you can’t talk to anybody and you talk away for 10 minutes and if you do that and come 63
back and you carry on regardless, where have you parked what it is you had? Has it been dealt 64
with or is it just building up on one of the shoulders which eventually will out off sick with a 65
chest infection for a few weeks or something like that. 66
67
N: How do you know when you’re stressed? 68
69
JC6: I sometimes notice myself not listening, wanting to say something, wanting to express an 70
opinion and potentially cross over whatever is being discussed at the table at the time. 71
Certainly, my breathing would go shallower. I’ve been asthmatic part of my life and would be 72
fairly good at knowing what to do and how to do it but I would notice my breathing that’s 73
something that I would be mindful of myself a little bit. I also tend to charge into things and try 74
to get things done, possibly, leaving other people to one side or ignoring them just so I feel like 75
I’m trying to be productive and I could be going down a completely blind alley. So that has to 76
do with maybe not telling people that I’m stressed or feeling that way under pressure. 77
78
JC4: I concur with JC1 and JC6, particularly about the client issues. I feel it’s very important to 79
have some form of supervision that we can relay back how we’re feeling and how we’re 80
interacting with clients, for me anyway I feel I need that. That’s one aspect of it and I go along 81
completely with JC6’s thing about the whole structure of an organisation really does influence, 82
well I feel in my experience, would hugely influence how I manage my work related stress and 83
the systems that should be there or could be there, I know there’s legal requirements of what 84
should or shouldn't be in place but there’s definitely things that, particularly the recruitment 85
process and maybe there should be a requirement with regard to a professional qualification 86
‘somebody has to be a manager’. Why do we have an academic system unless we use it? I feel 87
that should be part of any recruitment process as well that somebody has that relevant skill to 88
deal with work related stress. In my experience, not having qualified managers has been a 89
131
huge part of me developing work related stress. People that weren’t in tune, with regard to 90
supervision, they didn’t know what it was and didn’t know how to listen or how to deal with an 91
issue. Now, maybe that went further up the line, that the structures weren’t in place with the 92
board of directors. So, definitely the structure of an organisation/company/business is very 93
relevant to how to manage our work related stress. That has happened for me, having had 94
work related stress. The interesting thing for me is I didn’t relies I was stressed. I didn’t know 95
what I had actually or what I was feeling. What I was feeling was anxiety, lack of clarity, 96
physical pains and wanting to get away from most people really (very shallow conversations 97
and not wanting to be with people at all) and how have I dealt with that? I initially dealt with 98
doctors and was on medication (Prozac). I didn’t like it, it wasn’t what I wanted to do so then I 99
went to a dentist about grinding my teeth and trying to deal with that. It was he who 100
introduced mindfulness to me as a tool to try and deal with that. So, I found mindfulness very 101
helpful. I’ve also used ‘Che Gong’ yoga and then over time recognizing that I was stressed 102
(because I didn’t want to say I was stressed because for me it felt very weak. To say that ‘ I am 103
stressed’ it was something I didn’t want to go near for a long time but then acknowledging it 104
helped. I am even finding since I was quite stressed that (which I would put myself up on a very 105
high level) I’m still not back to where I was previously, it’s like there’s something opened and 106
I’m trying to close it. I am definitely managing things much better. 107
108
N: Good and bad ways of dealing/coping with stress? 109
110
JC6: There used to be a series of support meetings that job coaches would have with the 111
coordinator and those support meetings were basically to go throw a list of clients, what the 112
clients’ issues were and what the job coach was doing or thinking of doing with the clients but 113
it was never a support meeting for the job coach, it was a support meeting for the clients. So, 114
the window to actually say “I’m pissed off today” or “I’ve had an argument at home and I’ve 115
come in and I’ve had two bad meetings with clients”, for example, was never ever discussed, 116
certainly in my window or view or of the colleagues that I’ve talked to about stuff like that. 117
There was no space, almost like there was no space for the job coach to keep going. It wasn’t 118
mindfully handled by me, initially, personally. I’ve tried to say it a various meetings, there has 119
to be space to say “I fucked up, I made a mistake. This is what I did wrong. This is why I think I 120
did it wrong. This is what I’m going to do to put it right in the future. What do you guys think?” 121
132
And just in terms of ‘learnings’, and I’m not talking necessarily about big stuff but just anything 122
to with the job or the way we operate. We are 5 separate offices and there has been 123
management by division or by keeping people in areas and almost competitively keeping 124
people in areas: “How are you doing?” “Oh I feel that over here that this or this or this is 125
happening” So it’s all being remotely managed in a way. I’m not talking about “Oh let’s all hold 126
hands and be cooperative and we’ll all do this together” necessarily but there is a lot to be said 127
for the amount of skills that are in this orginisation being put together and people trying to 128
battle out a few things. 129
130
JC4: JC6, you were just saying about the support meetings and my memory of them would be 131
“JC6 has 6 jobs this month, how are you getting on?” and you would be trying to be calm and 132
resilient etc. 133
134
JC1: I think there wasn’t a safe space to admit to any weakness because if something was going 135
on you weren’t going to admit to it because that would be perceived as weakness and with 136
weakness then it wouldn’t be perceived well. 137
138
JC6: Yes, it would be pretty much, putting the armor on to come to come to work. 139
140
JC4: And we all did it. 141
142
N: And that was stressful? 143
144
JC1: I think I was lucky in a way because I was removed from the geographical location and I 145
had peer support. I found that peer support to me was essential in dealing with anything. So, 146
shortly after I started in the organisation Isabel moved into my office in the first 6 weeks. So if I 147
had a client issue, if I had an idea, over tea, over coffee. If something happened in a client 148
meeting either in mine or in hers, there was someone there immediately to back it up. So 149
there was no having to deal with things on your own. There was someone to help you suss it 150
133
and sort it out so you could move on to the next part of your day which to me was crucial. 151
When I came back to work then and Isabel was in her own office, I worked a lot with Anna, I 152
was probably talking to Anna every day and if I had had a bad client meeting it would be about 153
sharing that information but it would be about more than that, it would be as a support. 154
155
N: What about yourself, personally? Any individual techniques? Or what kinds of things might 156
people do to deal with it in that area? 157
158
JC6: I think historically, potentially this is a generational thing, I was brought up with the 159
acronym of ‘K.B.I’ (Keep Buggering In) which is when the shit hits the fan, you keep going, to 160
the point where, potentially, I would get sick. I think I’ve noticed certainly a couple of times 161
where maybe there has been stress, pressure (and I’m talking about work not necessarily 162
personal life) I can identify probably 2 times in the last 5 years where I’ve hit a point where I’ve 163
ended up 1) with pneumonia and the other with a chest infection that needed enough 164
antibiotics to keep me out of work for a couple weeks. Yes, as I’ve mentioned before I have 165
been asthmatic and therefor my chest and breathing, health‐wise, would be an area that 166
would get targeted somehow or another, probably first. But it was around stressful work times 167
or a combination of stressful work times. Digging with it since, personally, initially it was yoga 168
but it was yoga with a few other things put in to do with breathing. Certainly, there was a 169
Dutch lady around B.. who I used to go to once a week to do yoga classes and learn about 170
Thich Nhat Hhan and what went on out there and to do with the breathing and listening to 171
yourself and various things like that. 172
173
N: Mindfulness really? 174
175
JC6: Well yes, for me that’s where it started, my interest in bits of that started and getting a 176
couple of his C.D.s and listening to them on the way to and from work which is a 45 minute 177
drive for me. And that was my “my time”. 178
179
N: And did you find that helpful? 180
134
181
JC6: Very. Immensely. 182
183
N: Do you still do it? 184
185
JC6: Yes, I do bits. I’ve a couple of C.D.s with funny little stories about a green dragon and 186
things. Just make me think every time that I listen to the story there is something else in it. I 187
must have heard it 50, 60, 65 times. It’s only 5 minutes long but it’s an amazing little mental 188
journey. It makes me feel grounded not like I’m flying at something at a million miles an hour, 189
it’s very useful. 190
191
JC1: I remember coming back to work and doing a course on mental health. Part of that course 192
was that I created a wellness plan for myself and what I was going to do to maintain wellness 193
in encountering a big change because my family had grown I was coming back to work so I had 194
more stress and more pressure and more responsibility than I had previously. So, part of that 195
was that I committed to a few things that I would do for myself and being consciously aware of 196
that was important. That was going to the gym, that was practicing yoga and meditation, that 197
was giving me my own space, separate from the kids, which most people that have children I 198
think would say that when you’re not working you immediately fill the role of the parent, so to 199
be conscious to make time for yourself, for me, was definitely important. That made a 200
difference when I came back to work and I found that in committing to implement that plan 201
and stay committed to it I had clarity, I had focus and it definitely contributed to my wellness 202
and the job. 203
204
JC4: I feel I’m on that road. I have an ongoing psychotherapy counselor; I’ve use CBT and more 205
recently, about a year ago or so, for 6 months. I feel myself coming back, but again, I’m 206
thinking about changes in the orginisation and for me, I came from a background of being 207
involved in family business. There were many issues and we could shout and roar about it with 208
each other but the issues would be resolved, it was very different. I worked 17/18‐hour days 209
for many years, I never got sick, I never hated the work. I can honestly say that in all my life 210
135
growing up through that, being involved in family things. You’d get sick of the family and sick 211
of working, there were different things but never the work part, work related stress didn’t 212
happen. Even, you could work 90 hours and be exhausted physically but mentally strong so 213
this was something very different. It was the weakness thing about stress, I’ve never explained 214
anything about the work related stress to my friends and I’ve great friends but I was very 215
conscious of the weakness thing. But I’ve been more open now with colleagues. But then the 216
new manager facilitated that openness as well, whereas the previous two managers, I felt, 217
didn’t help me. I can only speak for myself but I felt very isolated until more recently and it 218
think that's down to whatever systems have been put in place. 219
So what have I done; counseling, mindfulness, family and more recently my colleagues at work 220
because at the time I didn’t know how to go about it. I felt embarrassed and weak and all that 221
but definitely this yea I can say I’ve changed my tack as well but I would say that that's been 222
facilitated by the change in the orginisation. 223
224
JC6: Looking from the outside in on what you were just talking about, you did appear to have a 225
suit of armor on and you wanted it to be impregnable and I always saw it as you minding 226
yourself or trying to, like a protection thing even when people tried talking to you. And you get 227
to a point where you can’t trust anybody. It’s like, fine if the boss thinks this or my colleagues 228
said that or I’ve heard this through, it just like… right ok! 229
230
JC4: I remember one day last year we had a team meeting and I left the meeting and JC1 came 231
with me and that meeting was fantastic, we talked and JC1 really listened and I let loose. 232
233
JC1: My concern at that point was your safety because things kind of went into a ‘firework’ at 234
the meeting and I don’t think anyone should be driving feeling that way and we talked about 235
that and I said I had a concern for you. 236
Things can manifest too if there’s no light to get in, if there’s no growth. I think if you get an 237
idea when you’re unwell it could probably influence your behavior so if you don't have an 238
outlet . . . 239
240
136
N: What is your understanding of resilience? What do you think helps build resilience? 241
242
JC6: Personally my early experiences of resilience were built on ‘bloodey‐mindedness’, physical 243
fitness and knowing or feeling that it could be done. Trouble is, when you get into your 40s 244
and 50s doing that sort of stuff and maybe certain aspects of your physicality aren’t the same 245
as they used to be, you can’t be the ‘tough bullshitter’. What I’ve ended up personally realizing 246
is my resilience comes from being here in the now, at this moment in time understanding what 247
I’m doing not thinking “I’ve got a meeting at 4:30, and it’s with Bridget, and I’ve got to get that 248
ready” whilst trying to talk to you at the same time about this. In other words my focus (when I 249
can do it) is right here, right now. What I do, what I say, how I react is the best I can be at that 250
moment. If there are so many other chats going on in my head, it doesn’t work. I had 3 clients 251
back‐to‐back today, my mistake because 2 of them were awkward and I was going from 1 to 252
the other and I didn’t take 10 minutes to go and shower my brain and I had that luggage with 253
me when I was coming into the next 1. And that wasn’t me being a good job coach and I knew 254
that and I was kicking myself for it. So, I had a little break and sorted that out. So the idea that 255
I’m feeling grounded enough and relaxed enough to be able to listen to and hear everything 256
that's coming at me and at the same time manage my boundaries with it, I think makes me a 257
better job coach. 258
259
N: When you hear the word resilience, what does that mean to you? 260
261
JC6: I think it would be to do with being able to cope with, on an ongoing and regular basis, 262
what’s going on in the job. So, protect myself, protect my client and be able to manage that 263
situation. 264
265
JC1: I look it as the ability to bounce back from things that are outside your control, ‘stressers’, 266
events that could potentially if you weren’t aware of it push you off track and being able to 267
stay on the path or on your goal or your day or whatever it is that you are setting out to do. I 268
think to me, to achieve that, is to be conscious of what you are doing, what things you control, 269
what things are outside your control. Again the boundaries is very important because will have 270
a lot of people in this role that will be coming to you with a lot more things than their job 271
137
search; their baggage, their histories. To know that they want space where they are safe and 272
you want to facilitate that but also you can only do so much from what your role is and then 273
being able to have the clarity to meet with somebody else and to be able to focus and give 274
them the attention that they deserve. 275
276
JC4: I’d go along with the “bounce‐back” idea. I like the idea of being able to deal with what I 277
can deal with and let what’s outside my control move past me. 278
279
JC6: I think I avoided the bounce‐back bit in the sense that if you’re bouncing back, you’ve 280
taken a hit, you’ve fallen over or you’ve been tripped or something. I think it has to do more 281
with being able to absorb what’s coming your way ‘ let go, let through’ that that can’t deal 282
with. Take enough in that you can redouble, refocus also see if what you’re doing is enough to 283
change the situation, if you think that is what is needed but that you keep the presence of 284
mind that you see the bigger picture and it’s not “shit I’ve just been hit in the face with 285
something! Christ it’s a woman!” It’s not the quick reaction thing it’s the “cool, well if I move 286
her this way a bit is it going to go past me? Do I want it to go past me? What do I need?” 287
288
JC4: I also think it goes back to what JC1 was saying about the wellness strategy, I don’t 289
formally have one in place but I do feel that I have the tools to almost stay present, so that 290
things will happen but they won’t impact personally. 291
292
JC1: When I was talking about it I could visually see that there was a space around me, not an 293
armor but there was space between me and things that were happening and I can keep on 294
going. You can influence situations because some people may be very pessimistic and you say 295
to them “had you ever thought about..?” or “have you looked at it this way?” and sometimes 296
you can make a positive impact because somebody just hasn’t looked at the other side of the 297
coin. And then other times they’ll be determined that that's what they want to see today and 298
you have to let them at it. 299
300
138
JC6: Looking back, one of my ways of always dealing with it in the past was definitely alcohol. 301
12/13 years go I had spent nearly 20 years in a corporate environment and there were 302
evenings when I was coming home, drinking enough to go to bed and getting up the next 303
morning to go out and do it again. I wasn’t processing what was going on I wasn’t thinking 304
about it or trying to rationalize it or manage it, it was purely jump on the treadmill, run for 18 305
hours jump off the treadmill, half a bottle to a bottle of wine, bed, back on the treadmill. 306
307
JC1: It sounds like the alcohol was an escape? 308
309
JC6: Completely, because it made you to forget or allowed you to forget or not think about it 310
consciously. 311
312
JC1: Yes I think it depends on the amount, obviously if you have an alcohol problem or you’re 313
binge drinking it could lead to that. When you should be on your natural highs, that depressant 314
is still in your system o it’s adding to more stress. You can’t see the shiny side of the coin when 315
you want to then. 316
317
N: What is your understanding of the term mindfulness and it’s application? 318
319
JC1: I think of mindfulness as being your time, an inward focus for yourself, being present and 320
if you are going to have a focus that it is limited. It might be limited to your immediate 321
surroundings, it might be limited to an emotion or to sensory. It’s about being present and 322
focusing inward on something specifically for reflection and enjoyment. 323
324
JC4: I see mindfulness as a tool for being resilient. I’ve been practicing it for two years but I still 325
find it challenging to be grounded and to find that space and to get the right situation and sit 326
and be still and notice my breath (that’s what I focus on really is my breath) and I’ve gone to 327
beautiful places and sometimes I can be very tranquil and calm but more times I just… find it 328
difficult. 329
139
330
JC6: I think of it as being present, actually being here right now. Having every bit of me that I 331
can to be here right now, not thinking about the drive home, not thinking about the clients this 332
morning, not thinking about going to B… house for a cup of tea on the way home but being 333
right here, right now. And with all that that brings, using that in a client meeting, in a 334
presentation, on writing notes. The breathing side of it is so important for me too. To be able 335
to get as near an empty head and stillness inside yourself to feel present, mindfully there, 336
consciously there. Then being able to use whatever it is you have inside you to fire on all 337
cylinders and use that for that moment for that thought process or that discussion. 338
339
N: What kind of practices would you use to cultivate mindfulness in your day? 340
341
JC1: I do meditation. For example also, today it was a beautiful sunny day so I didn’t to sit 342
inside I’d sit outside and just enjoy my surroundings and be present for 10 minutes. I decided 343
then to walk back instead of drive for the same reason. Even when your sitting, being 344
conscious of the way you’re sitting. Some people will be sitting and have an ache in their leg 345
and will continue to sit that way. So it’s a lot about consciousness about surroundings and 346
physical being. Yoga would be part of that because when you’re doing yoga it’s being in the 347
physical, in the present, you’re conscious of your breath with your movement. 348
349
JC4: Yoga and mindfulness together, I feel I need to have movement. I practice mindfulness 350
while I swim, I swim mindfully. I love it, I feel so at peace and I know that there is a lot of 351
movement in it but I feel there’s a great serenity in it. So I can notice my breathing and the 352
stroke and the sound of the water. Walking and being with animals I find very therapeutic. I’ll 353
sit with my cattle and lie down on the grass and have my dog there and just listen to them 354
chewing the grass and notice. It’s really wonderful feeling starting the music. 355
356
JC1: In the morning, often I would listen to feel‐good music and it’s all either instrumental or 357
chanting and I love in the quite of the morning, putting that on, nothing else on in the house, 358
140
putting on the kettle, having a nice warm water or herbal tea and having the peace and quite 359
of enjoying the vibration of the music the sound. Just a nice, quite start to the day. 360
361
JC6: For me it’s a bit of all of the above. When I first stated working in B…, 25 miles to work. 362
Compared to what I used to do driving wise, it’s a walk in the park and very early on I 363
recognized that I could get resentful of maybe coming to work and having to drive the 25 364
miles, except for on a Monday morning when my brother phones me from Manchester having 365
been stuck in the same spot for 25 minutes and I’ve just passed a tractor and 2 sheep and 366
literally every Monday at 8:40 he rings me and tells me to fuck off and we both have a laugh 367
about it. I realized how precious that time and that drive was and I used it for my meditation. I 368
actually shout in the car, a lot. Just to let something go a little bit. For 45 years of my life, 369
gardening was a chore but not any more. I really enjoy getting my hands dirty and sorting 370
something out and seeing it grow and minding it and keeping an eye on it and pruning it or 371
doing whatever and I’m not “green‐fingered” but I do get an awful lot of pleasure from doing 372
stuff like that. 373
374
JC1: Ya, baking for me. 375
376
JC4: Just having something that you can do where you can safely reflect and process stuff 377
without pressure, you know, room to think. 378
379
N: A lot of that seems to happen outside of work, are there any practices that you could do 380
during a working day? 381
382
JC6: If I have time in a day, I would walk out of here and walk around the block a couple of 383
times, quite quickly, raise the heart rate, begin to feel the breathing. Also, I had a period of 384
illness just after Christmas, came back and the boss said come on lets go for a walk. I hadn’t 385
done that with somebody for a very long time but that meant more to me than most things in 386
the last 3 or 4 years. To be able to physically walk, keep my feet on the ground, say what had 387
141
happened, what was going on with me, where I was about it and possibly what support or help 388
I needed going forward. That I found very helpful. 389
390
JC1: It doesn’t have to be walking for me I just take a few minutes to reflect on my posture and 391
breathing. If I was doing something and I thought I needed a break in order to switch on again I 392
might switch on that kind of music again to get back into my space. 393
394
JC6: One thing that I neglected to say was peer support. When I started in this organisation 395
there was shed loads of that around and it think with changes in the management, 396
regionalisation, competitiveness that that precluded some of that from going on and I think 397
that's beginning to change and that helps too, to be able to talk to someone who know what 398
you do because they do it too. Maybe a bit differently but at least they understand what 399
you’re doing. It isn’t easy to go home sometimes and say “Oh I had a crap day because of Z”. 400
That’s like “Oh, really?” that's like nothing. So having that kind of communication can be 401
significant. 402
403
JC1: I had a conversation recently with Brian about stress and depression and how he 404
identified those words were so different to my interpretation because he hasn’t worked with 405
people with mental health issues and I thought that if I were to say that to JC6 and got your 406
interpretation, because of the work that we do, would be completely different. To have that 407
understanding is really important. 408
409
JC4: I stretch because I find my body gets a bit constricted. Peer support is something that up 410
until this year I saw as a weakness but I’m now allowing myself to do. As a family we would 411
have done a lot of it, every day, it was continuous but I never really understood that that is 412
what it was. The style of management has been really helpful. Also the ‘sub‐committees’, 413
there’s a purpose to them but yet there nearly like peer support too and I’ve found I’ve started 414
to look forward to them. The daily banter, having a cup of tea or a chat also helps. 415
416
N: Do you think the orginisation would benefit from a mindfulness based training program? 417
142
418
JC1: I think so because how much we know will vary and I think we would all benefit from it. 419
So, even if we thought we knew a lot there is probably still more to learn and then for others 420
that don’t know a lot, there is a lot that could be learnt. Each of us does our jobs differently so 421
how each of us would want to be mindful and we could decide how we want to implement 422
mindfulness into our day. We would then have the skill and be equipped to do that. 423
424
JC6: I think as individuals we would benefit from it remarkably because I do think it's a nicer 425
way to live. I think if it’s a nicer way to live, it can be a nicer way to work so I think yes the 426
orginisation would benefit greatly from it. It would be interesting to see how it could be 427
implemented. Personally I think it could be invaluable. 428
429
JC4: I think so too because as job coaches we have clients, when we go home we have our 430
families but then we’re dealing with the managers so I hope with mindfulness that there would 431
be an understanding and a certain style of management would come from that as well. I feel 432
that the entire set up, including managers, coordinators and directors, should all be part of 433
that as well. 434
A mindful leadership type of thing, maybe if they didn’t have time for the full training but even 435
had some awareness of it. 436
437
JC1: I think even the openness that comes with being mindful would help. To be open to ideas 438
instead of a kind of attitude that says “ I don't think that we should be allowing the staff on 439
work time to be looking after themselves! They have tasks to be done! They have to tick 440
boxes!” 441
442
N: What kind of benefits do ye think it would bring to yourselves, personally and to the 443
orginisation? 444
445
143
JC6: I think it gives rise to well‐being: your own well‐being, the clients’ well‐being, the 446
company’s well‐being. It’s a win‐win‐win‐win! 447
448
JC1: I think it would bring, increased concentration, focus, concentration, increased resilience, 449
less time off from being sick. When you’re well, you’re not just physically well it’s mentally well 450
also. The wellness comes as the whole person. 451
452
JC4: Financially well also, when I was seeing the specialist dentist it was costing me €120 a trip 453
and going to physio too. The financial cost was in the thousands. 454
455
JC1: In some of the American research I’ve seen, it talks about the health care cost and the 456
reason it’s included in that is because most of the companies provide health care benefit as 457
part of their compensation package. The way they were looking at it is when the person is well 458
they will need less consultants, less appointments and therefor the overall cost of the 459
insurance policy would be less. 460
461
JC4: But, the cost to the organisation, interestingly in my case (I was off for 16 weeks), because 462
they not allowed take on extra people while I was away, when I came back some of the clients 463
didn’t really ever want to re‐engage because they had lost faith in me or in the company. It 464
was a huge loss to both the clients and the company. 465
466
JC6: Also the loss to you, maybe through wages or . . . 467
468
JC4: Physically. 469
470
JC1: There’s many ways that stress can manifest in the body. Particularly in certain points in 471
the body and sure one thing leads to another and if it’s over time, things can go to the point of 472
no turning back. 473
144
474
JC4: For me, at the start of this, I was thinking of making a change or having to give up or 475
taking this year out because it wasn’t worth it. I mean, the wage is important but the 476
management style is key to wellness at work, for me. It’s just a bit of kindness and support, 477
nothing huge. 478
479
N: If there were to be a mindfulness‐based training program what kind of elements would you 480
like to see in it? 481
482
JC4: I think consistency is key for me. So, for example, that it’s not “Oh we’ll do our 483
mindfulness or resilience now in January!” So it needs to be incorporated into the work 484
properly. 485
486
JC1: I think that whatever you do take from it that you do then implement it into your work 487
day, so that it wouldn’t be “Oh here he goes again, he’s off doing his meditation with his 488
music!” Acceptance is important. 489
490
JC4: The regularity of it is key also. For example if I’m practicing yoga, I have to be doing it 491
weekly etc. 492
493
JC6: There also has to be an element of ‘pick‐n‐mix’ about it. If it’s about ‘head, heart and 494
body’ no two people, sitting at the same table, will get off on mindfulness on the same thing. It 495
will be a cocktail of what works for them to some degree. So I think if we were going to start 496
talking about mindfulness as a practice in work, it’s more than that, it’s almost a way of life. 497
Therefor you have to be able to translate it into the home without going home and having 498
your wife think that you’ve ended up being some psychotherapist who’s going to sort out the 499
world. So there has to be an element of balance about it but to suit the person and that person 500
wherever they are in the journey at that moment. 501
502
145
N: Sort of an ‘al a cartre’ mindfulness? 503
504
JC6: Well like a pick‐n‐mix so that there’s enough in front of you so that recognize things that 505
you either want to do or feel comfortable doing and can use those yourself without finding 506
something that you detest and it’s the only thing on offer to try and achieve this goal. 507
508
N: What would you expect from a mindfulness training program? 509
510
JC6: I’d start talking about what mindfulness is practically, listing a few things out, describing 511
the positive effects of mindfulness. I mean, I’ve never heard anyone say “I am happy at work”, 512
they might be saying “I’m well at work so I feel happy”. So it’s about being able to show “here 513
is what’s on offer. This is why we think it works. What bits suit you?” Personally I’d love to do 514
some yoga in the middle of the day or have a walk‐in‐meeting. I think that type of thing would 515
be useful. 516
517
JC1: I think guided meditation is nice. 518
519
JC4: I think also to talk about being in touch with our feelings as well as our head. To have 520
somebody demonstrate to us how important it is to feel what we’re feeling as opposed to 521
thinking it: to learn the difference and accept it. There are elements of the mindfulness that 522
need to be learned. 523
524
JC1: Yes, you want to build up an understanding of it because if you tell someone that has 525
never done it before: “You have to sit here for 20 minutes” They’re going to detest it, they’re 526
going to have racing thoughts and be looking around at everyone else, potentially distracting 527
them. So to get people on board, as JC6 said, at the start tell them why the should do it, what 528
the benefit is and if you are going to do something like mindful meditation maybe the first 529
week you sit for 5 minutes the next week you do 10 and the week after 20 and you build it up 530
146
over time. So you want to get people on board and see what people expect so that their 531
expectations can be achieved. 532
533
JC6: I was talking about yoga and things like that but also simple things like the environment 534
we work in. Is there place to eat other than your desk?! Even to the point where it’s like: ‘ Oh 535
ya, there is a table in the kitchen or I’ll open the back door and there’s sun streaming in and I’ll 536
sit there and have my sandwich for 5 minutes and read the paper. Instead of, surfing the net, 537
eating something that 2 minutes later I can’t even remember what I ate. So it permeates things 538
like where and how you work. Personally in the last 4 or 5 months I think I’ve been given a 539
view of the ‘sweetie jar’, I don’t want to lose that view. I feel healthier for it and more resilient 540
for it and in that sense it’s a process I’d like to see continued if possible and would work 541
internally to try and do that. I was just thinking about who might be listening to this recording 542
in the future and I think it might be something that I might want my new boss to listen to. 543
544
JC4: The buy in thing, for me, that everybody buys into it is so crucial. 545
546
JC1: One of the things that we would do too, would be to bring in natural energy to uplift your 547
day. If you’ve been travelling also, if you can do that in a natural way, that is something that I 548
would encourage, healthy nutrition. 549
550
N: Thank551
Appendix 11. Transcript JC2 (Individual Interview) P.146
1
Individual Interview with JC2 2
3
N: Do you think the role of a job coach is a stressful one? 4
5
JC2: I think it can be. The stresses comes in waves depending on whats happening with the 6
clients, the Funding body and the internal management style. They would be the three main 7
areas of stress. 8
9
N: How do you know when you are stressed? 10
11
JC2: When I find it difficult to focus and concentrate, not wanting to be here, letting the back 12
log of work undone play on my mind. If I find myself not being able to be present to people, as 13
part of being focused. If I am missing things, emails that have been sent. 14
15
N: How do you cope with stress? 16
17
JC2: Good stress is more of a buzz, it makes you sometimes more functional, makes you sets 18
some deadlines for yourself, you feel like you have achieved something in a way. (Prompt) My 19
own way of coping with stress is to try to bring myself more present. The problem with stress 20
is that it is a bit of a vicious circle, it makes you absent, your absence makes you more stressed, 21
etc, etc. The first way to break the cycle is to be more present to what I am doing in the 22
moment. 23
24
N: How do you do that? 25
26
JC2: There are a number of ways of doing it. The first way is to using my breath, by doing a 27
short meditation by using my breath, sitting for even five minutes, trying to breath and bring 28
myself back to ground level and my focus back to the moment and open my senses so that I 29
can feel whats around me, whats in the environment, feel whats going on inside me. See if 30
there is something going on inside me and deal with that first and get that out of the way and 31
148
then that brings with it a sense of calmness, a sense of peace which brings with it a sense of 32
trust and the trust allows things to flow in a natural rhythm and then the stress is subdued. 33
34
N: Are there ‘bad’ ways you cope with stress? 35
36
JC2: I might eat, comfort eat. Coffee or chocolate or something. Coffee is a bit of an emotional 37
blocker. When I am stressed at work, there is a tendency I don’t want to face things, even 38
though each thing in itself may not be a big deal, so I eat foods that are emotional blockers like 39
coffee and chocolate. 40
Procrastination is another lovely way of not dealing with stress. 41
Other ways of dealing with stress are just to talk to someone about it. For example, I can talk 42
to my current boss if there is something out of my sphere of influence. If my colleague is here, 43
we can talk about clients that we are having issues with, even if we haven’t solved something, 44
just talking can reduce the stress. 45
46
N: You mentioned earlier, as one of your responses to stress is a contemplative practice, like 47
meditation. 48
49
JC2: I think its essential. In my life, in my work. 50
51
N: So you use contemplative practices in you work. 52
53
JC2: Absolutely. And I think that stress levels for me, would very much impact my ability to 54
function, if I didn't. 55
56
N: Do you think these practice help build and maintain your resilience to stress? 57
58
JC2: For me resilience is having a resource, and there resource that has helped me going in my 59
life, whether its work or personal, is my inner resource. My first port of call to increase my 60
resilience is to go inside myself and to be more present to myself, that's a norm for me. So if I 61
couldn’t do that or that was taken away from me, I would find that itself very stressful. 62
63
149
N: How do you do a contemplative practice when you are in a stressful situation at work? 64
65
JC2: I remembering saying to one of my former bosses, that you can get caught up with getting 66
all the paperwork in on time, having all the deadlines met and doing, doing, doing, but for me, 67
I would be much more effective in my doing if I had a time of ‘being’, I call it ‘think time’, which 68
is more like meditation time and the ‘clear thinking’ happens as a result of the meditation. So 69
ideally, like this morning, I had a shock a couple of days ago and I am feeling that emotional 70
trauma of it, so in order to focus on my work I need time to actually stop for five minutes to 71
breath and ground, and reassure myself that everything is OK. 72
73
N: Would you call that I mindfulness practice? 74
75
JC2: Yes, because for me you cannot be ‘mindful’ if you are empty, if you are not present. 76
77
N: Whats your understanding of mindfulness? 78
79
F: I believe that we are not only our physical being so if we are not just our physical being 80
including our brain, then we are something else, we can put a distance between who we are 81
and the physical sense of it. 82
So mindfulness to me is functioning optimally on this physical plane, doing our job, having our 83
relationships etc., we can’t actually do this unless we are fully present. To build a castle and 84
not pick up a stone is not possible, it is the force behind the matter, this for me is my spirit, it is 85
who I am. I have to be present. 86
So mindfulness to me is being present in my matter to be affecting. 87
88
N: What mindfulness practices would be aware of? 89
90
JC2: I haven’t read anything about mindfulness, I am not aware of any of the definitions of it, I 91
just have my own perception of it. I have heard of the meditative practices, so the practice I 92
would use is the meditative practice, to bring myself to groundedness and presence, as 93
opposed to go off into a journey. 94
The simplest one I would use is just to breath into my body, right down to my toes, to bring my 95
essence down into my cells. I would use whatever imagery that made that more effective for 96
me. 97
150
When I become ‘unpresent’ (absent), is because I am not feeling safe in the space, I need to 98
tell my mind that this space is safe, so I might choose an image that helps me feel that, so that 99
me spirit is coming in more easily, because its being told it's a safe space to come into. 100
For me, if work does not feel like a safe space, you won’t be functioning at our optimal and 101
wasting huge amounts of time. 102
103
N: Would be open to participating in a mindfulness‐training program? 104
105
JC2: Absolutely. 106
107
N: What would you see as the potential benefits of that kind of program for yourself? 108
109
JC2: If I practice mindfulness here at work, I am aware that I have an activity log to fill in at 110
work and its not going to be really acceptable if I put, “I did ten minutes meditation because 111
my head was fried from my client loosing the job I got them”. There isn’t a space for that, 112
where it would be accepted. So one of the benefits would be that I have permission to do it, 113
without feeling like I am taking time from my work, its actually part of my work. 114
Another benefit would be that if all the people around me are practicing mindfulness, it makes 115
it easier for all of us to be mindful. It has more power than an individual doing it on their own. 116
Its going to be a learning experience to do that with a group. There may be other techniques 117
that other people use that are more beneficial and share insights they have learned. 118
I think that unless a person feels safe, valued and allowed to be themselves in the workplace, 119
then you won’t get the best out of them, so if you enhance any of those you will get more out 120
of people in terms of their efficiency 121
122
N: What elements should be in such a program? 123
124
JC2: Whoever is running the program needs to know about mindfulness and is ‘able’ and know 125
what they are doing. 126
The program should address the issues of dealing with clients, the funding body and the 127
management style. 128
With clients, its about seeing it as ‘an honor’ to be with another person, who ever comes in the 129
door, so we should be giving them our full attention and presence, so we can pick up on whats 130
really needed, as opposed to what our heads might think, rather than pushing my own agenda. 131
151
If you are in a feeling and mentally aware state, then you pick up where the client is at more. 132
Then you reduce the stress for the client, you reduce the stress for yourself and the employer. 133
134
N: What would your expectations be of such a program? 135
136
JC2: We are meant to be coaches and I don’t know if everyone has coaching qualifications and 137
if everyone has the capacity for deep listening and active questioning and being non‐138
judgmental. We’re not really encouraged to use the coaching much and its more about getting 139
the job quickly, getting the numbers through, where as if you spend the time at the beginning 140
coaching someone, you’re more likely to get them longer term, good, solid and correct 141
employment for them. So, one of the aspects might be around coaching and looking at what 142
coaching skills do we have in the organisation. 143
144
N: Would that be something like ‘mindful coaching’? 145
146
JC2: I don’t think you can have coaching without mindfulness. I wouldn’t call it coaching. I 147
would call it managing or advising or something. 148
149
N: From a stress reduction and resilience building perspective, what elements would you like 150
to see in that program? 151
152
JC2: Looking at the way communication happens. I think communication can be a start of 153
eroding people’s wellbeing sometimes, if the communication is not right. So if things are fired 154
at us, as opposed to delivered and presented. 155
In terms of stress and resilience, if I am in an environment where know I will be hurt, that 156
produces stress, e.g. if I am going to a team meeting and feel particularly weak on that day, I 157
may think the team are going to ride over me, or not hear me, or put me down, then that 158
makes me more stressed and want to go and I would not be able to give my energy to the 159
group. So the environment of how we communicate, how we make decisions, consider 160
eachother, consider the effect of our decisions. That is a mindfulness practice because it is 161
minding ourselves, it is minding people, the organisation, the clients. 162
The buffer zone of the organisation is a bit ‘mindless’, it has been without a correct steering, 163
holding, communication and everything that goes with that. 164
If I was to take the organisation as a body, I would say it was on drugs at times, because it was 165
just ‘absent’. It has been absent in terms of it knowing its own self, its own boundaries, its 166
152
been pushed around by outside influences, inside influences, it hasn’t had a strong core or 167
center. The communication has been difficult, so in terms of bringing something different to 168
the organisation, all of that could change with a certain amount of conscious overseeing and 169
communication. 170
171
N: Do you think mindfulness based practices are going to help the organisation achieve all 172
these things? 173
174
JC2: If the whole organisation is practicing mindfulness, they will become aware of when the 175
boundaries are being crossed, become aware of the identity of the organisation, become 176
aware of what the impact is on themselves and on others. 177
If we are not mindful in ourselves, then we can be receiving and giving chaos the whole time 178
and not even notice it, just because of something simple like a boundary, or a communication 179
method. 180
One ex‐boss, used to send out emails at night, so when you came in to work in the morning, 181
there would be a number of lacerating emails waiting for you. You don’t want to come into 182
that. My way of dealing with that, was that if this continues, I’m going to block her emails, and 183
make her talk to me in person. So for me, a method of communication was an issue there. If I 184
wasn’t being mindful, that would have bothered me a lot, but I ignored it and just got on with 185
my work. However for other members of the team, some of them were quite affected by that. 186
So, if the Boss at the time had been more mindful of those emails, she may have adjusted 187
things. 188
189
N: Is there anything else you would like to say? 190
191
JC2: Yes. There is a certain element of mindfulness that is about respect. I am a human being 192
working in an organisation. If the organisation is functioning as a machine instead of as an 193
organisation of people working together, that's the difference for me between the mindfulness 194
and mindlessness. I can’t be a machine, I can fit into that model to some degree, but I would 195
be popping in and out of it. 196
So anything that brings in more humanness. I was thinking recently about professionalism and 197
what does professionalism mean and so often it is associated with nonhuman traits, but being 198
mechanical and I think that is completely wrong. 199
200
So for me, the difference between a mindful and mindless organisation is that bridge between 201
being human and being professional. It is an attitude, where does that attitude come from? Is 202
153
it a superficial, I must say this, I mustn’t say that, or is it, I am meeting a human being and I am 203
going to meet that person properly, and what does that involve. 204
Appendix 12. Transcript of Juliet Adams (Expert Interview) P.153
1
Expert Interview with Juliet Adams. Interviewee J. 2
3
N: To begin I think its interesting to that mindfulness has come into the business and corporate 4
sector and I suppose there has been quite a bit of work done with Google and Apple adopting 5
it as well. Some Multinational companies in Ireland are doing this but I don't think that thee 6
are too many smaller companies. Some colleges are but its more tokenistic with their staff its 7
not really integrated. 8
9
J: An awful lot of leadership colleges now offer it, either as optional or compulsory part of their 10
leadership programs. 11
12
N: And what do they offer, mindfulness based leadership? 13
14
J: Yes generally, for example Crownfield who I am working with, Harvard do too. 15
16
N: O.K. there is a big focus on development towards leadership programs, what about with 17
general staff, is there a movement towards that as well? 18
19
J: I wouldn’t say universally but certainly some organisations are doing that. 20
Effectively there are 3 normal routes for mindfulness in the workplace and I tend to split it 21
into performance and effectiveness, creativity and innovation and balance and wellbeing. So 22
usually it’s one of those areas that a person contacts me in relation to with the workplace 23
intervention and often it’s quite specific. In reality of course we know from the view of 24
the science that underpins that it doesn’t matter which route you take in, your often going to 25
come to the same common mindfulness ground. The point is, it starts the conversation. So 26
155
often it’s a very specific issue, which they wish to address, people are going off work with 27
stress, they are burning out or people are suffering from absenteeism and their productivity 28
isn’t high, or they just need a more creative edge, they need to step back and see the bigger 29
picture. In effect most of what goes behind that, from a teaching perspective, is virtually 30
identical, it’s just the route in for the discussion. 31
32
N: Do you approach organisations or do they approach you? 33
34
J: They approach me. I found the whole thing, over many years of doing all sorts of leadership 35
stuff, the whole cult calling to me doesn’t work at all. Generally people find me. 36
37
N: Do they already know when they approach you that you will be implementing a 38
mindfulness‐based program? 39
40
J: At the moment, I’ve got dominance on the mindfulness‐based stuff so a lot of my more 41
traditional stuff has fallen by the wayside. I’d say 3\4s of the time they have a vague 42
understanding of mindfulness or they are a mindfulness fan an they want some help to 43
convince others in their orginisation. 44
45
N: What interpretations/definitions of mindfulness have you come across from these people 46
that call you etc? 47
48
J: That’s a difficult question to answer because most of them wouldn’t even try to define it, I 49
don’t think. They just have a fairly abstract, loose concept in their head. If they’re coming at it 50
from a wellbeing side of things, they might know how it helps with anxiety or how it helps with 51
stress or how it reduces the risk of burnout. Those are the more common areas of knowledge. 52
To a lesser extent, on the productivity side of it, they kind of have a loose idea that it might 53
help but they don’t quite understand why. So, it’s a bit like the debate you may have come 54
across with leadership and management training that people often come to you and say: “give 55
156
me some leadership training” and when you drill down, actually, what they’re talking about is 56
management and there is a similar wooliness often with people who come and have an issue 57
and want it addressed but they’re often not quite sure how mindfulness will address it but 58
they aren’t sure what else to do because they’ve tried just about everything else and it hasn’t 59
worked. 60
61
N: Have you found that the use of mindfulness in orginisations could be seen just as a box 62
ticking exercise to say: “Oh we’ve covered ourselves” or that the problem isn’t at an 63
organizational level it’s at an individual level where it’s just the person that can’t deal with 64
stress. Is that an undercurrent you’ve witnessed? 65
66
J: Personally, not yet. Maybe I’m just lucky. I’ve been lucky enough that most people who’ve 67
come on these things have come on voluntarily. So, I guess you could split the activities I do 68
into two, one will be more the ‘taster’ session and the other is more a full training be it a full 6 69
or 8 week. So on the introduction to taster type things you work with who you’re given but on 70
the actual training I do try to insist that nobody just gets ‘sheet‐dipped’ onto the course 71
because you have to want to do this, you’re, in effect, changing the structure of your brain, it 72
takes effort you can’t just sheet‐dip somebody through this and expect something out of it. 73
They have to actually be curious and want to find out more and want to give it a fair go. I 74
wouldn’t expect a massive amount of outcomes after something like a half‐day introduction. 75
I’d expect them to peak interest and possibly give them food for thought and hopefully then go 76
on and do something else but the courses, I would be expecting to achieve some tangible 77
outcome and I would be (if they’d let me) trying to gather pre and post data. 78
79
N: How do you then approach businesses and show them the benefit to the workers 80
wellbeing? Obviously it’s difficult to measure wellbeing over a short space of time. 81
82
J: Well I think you can see the short‐term effects in 8 weeks. If I had the luxury to be able to 83
work closely and follow‐up, I’m sure you’d it continued. You’d see a certain level of dropout 84
and you’d see some greater benefits. Unfortunately from an economic perspective, none to 85
date, have being willing to pay me to come every fortnight or once a month doing drop‐in 86
157
sessions and continue evaluating, so my evaluation tends to be directly pre and directly post 87
which is something I tend to throw in as a ‘value‐add’, so I don't charge them for that extra 88
activity. I do it for two reasons, firstly it contribute to the overall business case for mindfulness, 89
so, as long as you can share it anonymously with other orginisations, it encourages other 90
orginisations to have a go at it, it adds to the research bases and it also then demonstrates to 91
them what they are getting from an RLI retained investment perspective which then in turn 92
encourages them to do a bit more or at least support the people who have gone through it to 93
build on it. 94
95
N: Do you go with a menu of programs from which the company picks? How do you present 96
that to them? 97
98
J: I always, attempt (if at all possible) to lead somebody towards an 8 week course because it’s 99
the most robustly researched and I think it gives people longer to imbed and form a habit of 100
mindfulness so it creates nice robust neuro‐pathways in the head connected with the activity 101
of the attention wandering, noticing, bringing it back, inspecting your own inner landscape. 102
The problem with the shorter ones is, often it doesn’t give enough time to make it sufficiently 103
a habit. So I try to go in and tell them that: “this is the gold standard we should be working 104
with.” But sometimes they either can’t forward it or it’s just too risky for them and then 105
obviously the next down would be a 6 week and I know that Mark’s been getting some quite 106
good evaluation results on those 6 weeks but again some companies will only want a 4 week. A 107
4 week I will only ever “an introduction to . . .”; it’s not a full mindfulness course. I try to equip 108
people as best I can, I also try to have them have a book to accompany a course and to further 109
read it and then go back to it and back to it, so that they’ve got something to hold them, if you 110
like, during and afterwards if I’m not there. With some companies I’ve managed to retain a 111
longer relationship, in which case there are all orts of things I can do. Yes I go in with a menu 112
but my default position is 8 weeks but if I’m too rigid on that and say that’s all I can give you 113
then they might end up with nothing at all and rather they had something rather than nothing 114
not just from an economic perspective but actually from the perspective of actually having the 115
flavor of this and starting to understand for themselves how it works. 116
117
N: Is that based on the MBSR or the MBCT program? 118
158
119
J: MBCT. 120
121
N: Why more MBCT than MBSR? 122
123
J: I think there’s more of an emphasis on the MBCT program working with your mind, your own 124
mental landscape. That, to me, is more relevant to the workplace. If you strip back both 125
programs, they are 80% similar anyway, but there’s just a bit of CBT in the MBCT program and 126
its actually quite useful. 127
128
N: Is that an adapted or amended MBCT program? 129
130
J: If I am doing an eight week , I use the program from the book, ‘Mindfulness, finding Peace in 131
a Frantic world’, because that is one of the few syllabus that set up for ‘well’ people, whereas 132
the other version of MBCT is set up for a population that is “unwell”. There are some small 133
differences. 134
135
N: Is there much research on the effectiveness of the MBCT program within the workplace 136
setting? 137
138
J: MBCT is based on lots of research, but research on its application within the workplace is 139
only just beginning and are showing good results, but obviously its going to take a lot more 140
research before that can be validated. Also it depends on what you accept as research, 141
because if you are taking the gold standard of the control trial, then you are in a minefield 142
from a workplace perspective. Research is coming through on productivity and mindfulness. 143
144
N: Is that because of the changing nature of the work environment? 145
159
146
J: There’s that but also its hard enough to get organisations to agree to get their staff on a 147
mindfulness program without saying could I have another group of staff experimental in work 148
time, which may or may not help. There’s also the issues of company’s not wanting to wash 149
their dirty laundry in public, like problems with sickness, absenteeism or stress and admit they 150
have a problem. So they don’t want to be the subject of a research study that may be publicly 151
highlighted. 152
153
N: Have you come across employees who make excuses as to why they can’t do mindfulness, 154
e.g. finding the time to do it? 155
156
J: Its one of the commonest things that comes up, employees ask, how am I going to find the 157
time to do this? I reply be telling they will actually save more time, because it will help the 158
mind stop wondering which some suggests is over 40% of the time. There other way of 159
approaching it as by telling them that they don’t have to necessarily have to sit down at their 160
desk. Why would you want to do that, is it the right environment? My argument would be is 161
that if you could do a little mindfulness either first thing in the morning as part of your daily 162
routine, or last thing at night, or the space between leaving work and arriving home or vice 163
versa, then that can set up for the day. 164
The comer techniques that I would suggest in the workplace would be things like the breathing 165
space or just doing a few things mindfully to ground yourself and to bring yourself back into 166
the present. It could be a few mouth fulls of coffee drunken mindfully, it could be eating your 167
sandwich mindfully, a portion of your walking down the corridor conducted mindfully, it could 168
be just becoming aware of your breath just for a few minutes, it could be staring at your 169
computer as it boots up and focusing inwards. So it doesn’t have to be like ‘oh, I’ve got to do 170
10 minutes mindfulness but theres people around me and its going to be distracting. This is a 171
fallacy. Mindfulness at work is no different to any other form of mindfulness, it just the way 172
you teach it, the examples you use. So you wouldn’t suggest to anyone to practice it at a time 173
that’s completely inappropriate or unhelpful. 174
175
160
N: So you’re suggesting adopting small practices that can be easily integrated into your daily 176
activities, that are grounding and being in the present moment. Which leads me to the 177
question, what is your definition of mindfulness? 178
179
J: If I got asked in a lift, my short version would be, ‘awareness of thoughts, emotions and 180
physiological responses, in the present moment, without judgment, on purpose’. But basically 181
its about be aware of that interplay of what is actually going on in the present moment for you 182
and being able to make wiser decisions based on that. 183
184
N: In reference to Ellen Langer’ and Jon Kabat Zinn’s definition, which one would you support? 185
186
J: I would tend to go more for the Zinn’s definition, because with Langer’s definition I think 187
looking for newness could take you away from the present moment, but I can also understand 188
what Langer is saying. If you are judging each moment by referring either to the past or the 189
future you miss seeing things as they are and therefore may see them afresh. But the other 190
side of that is by trying to find something new you might actually miss the moment and focus 191
on trying to find something new. 192
Mindfulness is about developing the ability to direct your attention to where you want it be. 193
That's what we’re trying to achieve. 194
195
N: Michael Carroll suggested that in order to develop that type of awareness, you need to 196
practice mindfulness meditation, do you agree with him and would you teach this in your 197
program? 198
199
J: Definitely. Sitting down doing the formal practice gives you the underpinning ability to focus 200
your attention on these shorter moments. I also suggest to people t use whatever technique 201
they want to try to clear their minds for two minutes, which most people find impossible, but 202
after a half day program and some mindfulness techniques they came achieve this. 203
204
161
N: How do people know they have benefitted in relation to work? 205
206
J: I give some self‐assessment questionnaires at the end of a 6 of 8 week course which ask 207
rating questions, that are productivity measure, like; 208
To what extent to you agree that mindfulness training has helped you function better under 209
pressure? 210
Helped me to improve dealing with string emotions? 211
Helped me to improve relationships with colleagues and clients? 212
Helped me to focus on my work better? 213
They are good work outcomes for people. 214
215
One evaluation survey I did of 70 staff; 216
100% agreed that Mindfulness training helped them function better under pressure. 217
100% agreed that MT helped improve dealing with strong emotions. 218
93% agreed that MT helped improve relationships. 219
93% agreed that MT helped them focus on their work better. 220
Some organisations do think of the employees as a whole person and if improvements can be 221
made in their lives outside of work from MT there is a knock on effect in the workplace. 222
An example of the effectiveness of mindfulness in the workplace was a CEO, who kept loosing 223
his temper with staff at meetings and after MT began to recognize the cues for frustration 224
arising before he would loose his temper and was able to just take a few moments to focus on 225
his breath. His colleagues began to notice this change and said it to him that they had noticed 226
a change in his behavior at meetings. 227
228
N: Do you encounter resistance or skepticism from employees while introducing the training? 229
230
162
J: Very rarely. The vast majority are open to giving it a go. I always give people a choice and 231
option if they want to do a practice or not. I don’t force people. I give introductions, I explain 232
the context, I do myth busting, I do a little bit of the research basis, the neurological evidence 233
and then we usually have a practice. Its important to get the buy in at the beginning, if you 234
don’t and start straight in with a practice, people won’t be open to the experience. 235
236
N: What are the main barriers to the introduction and maintenance of the practice of 237
mindfulness in the workplace going forward? 238
239
J: I think there could be a real problem with people (trainers) doing (teaching) their own 240
versions and then we’ll get all different results. I think a new standard will have to be 241
developed for mindfulness at work, because the main research has been around MBSR and 242
MBCT medical models for people who are unwell. It is different in the workplace, the 243
outcomes are similar, but different. 244
The second thing is the void after a six or eight week course. We’ve started training 245
‘champions’ who will continue to offer drop in sessions to staff, but for many organisations, 246
people are trained, but then they are left on their own and its difficult to find convenient drop 247
in sessions. 248
One way of addressing it, which is done at BT (British Telecom) is something like an audio. Paul 249
Richards does some drop in sessions through audio conferencing, for about 100 employees, 250
which happens during work time and he tackles a mindfulness theme each week, then there is 251
a mindfulness practice. This last about an hour. 252
253
N: What initially drew you into mindfulness? 254
255
J: I was doing a lot of one to one coaching with senior people and developing leadership 256
programs for organisations and was using all the usual theories you’d expect in those kinds of 257
programs, but during the economic downturn when people were expected to do more with 258
less, so there had to be a new way of working. I then heard Patricia Pollard and Linda 259
McMahan at a conference talking about the neuroscience underpinning mindfulness and how 260
163
it was been used and how it worked. That really set me off on my mindfulness journey and I 261
thought maybe this is something that can help my clients and other people to work more 262
efficiently while still maintaining their wellbeing. 263
I then set up mindfulnet.org and the ‘mindfulness at work conference’. 264
265
N: Do you think mindfulness can build resilience? 266
267
J: Definitely. As time goes on, there are more and more people researching resilience, 268
attention, productivity who are now merging and blending management theories with 269
mindfulness. 270
271
N: Thank you J. 272
Appendix 13. Transcript Prof. Derek Mowbray (Expert Interview) P.163
Appendix……. 1
2
Expert Interview. Professor Derek Mowbray Interviewee D. 3
4
N: Intro. Where you are coming from with regards to your work with resilience, how you came 5
to see it as such an important factor in the workplace. Your thoughts on the evolution of the 6
definition of it, what made you focus on particular aspects in training and focus on ways to 7
build resilience? What do you see as the overall benefits to resilience to employees and to the 8
organisation as a whole? 9
D: Resilience, for me, is about forming attitudes towards events and behaviors. So, it’s about 10
being in control of yourself to such an extent that you can formulate an attitude to a 11
challenging situation, whatever that might be but ultimately it is an attitude and it’s also a 12
choice. You can chose to be resilient or not, depending on the circumstances that you find 13
yourself and depending on what you think the outcome might be for yourself when faced with 14
a particular challenge. So, to me it’s not a buffer, to me it’s actually about being in control and 15
therefore everything that I do in developing resilience is about strengthening the individuals 16
capacity to remain in control for as long as possible on order to formulate some attitude 17
towards whatever it is that they are focused on. And so, resilience, being hugely idiosyncratic, 18
then the attitude is dependent upon the context in which the challenge takes place because if 19
you work in a very positive environment for example, and someone says something to you 20
which, in ordinary speak, might be a bit challenging you might just brush it off because the 21
context is very positive but if the same challenge occurred in a negative context, a sort of toxic 22
culture, you might then say “Oh well, this is typical of the culture and bugger off I’m not 23
interested in you, I’m going to make a mess about this” and your attitude would be completely 24
different. And so, resilience is about the capacity to call your various elements that you have 25
inside you, as it were, in order to be able to form an attitude towards something and then 26
formulate some sort of action that you can take. So, the sort of actions you can take are either 27
to take some action or decide not to do anything or to defer action until such time as you 28
judge the time to be right or if the challenge is too great, you might just allow it to float over 29
165
your head in a sort of ‘learned‐helplessness’ sort of way and one of the actions might be, you 30
might be forced to do something because there’s no real choice but nevertheless there are 31
choices all the time. 32
33
N: Can you acquire resilience? What it sounds like you’re saying is that you are utilising a lot of 34
already learned behavior and existing resources. 35
36
D: You acquire it all the time, because, if you have been through a challenging experience in 37
the past that you have successfully overcome, then you know that you can overcome the same 38
thing in the future and therefor your attitude towards it will be in that sort of direction, 39
conversely, if you have failed to overcome something in the past and you come up with 40
something in the future which is similar you know you’ll need some help. And that’s where 41
resilience and phobias for example relate, that if you’ve got a, as I have, a fear of heights 42
(Vertigo) I know that I haven’t overcome something in the past and I know that if in the future, 43
I’m in a similar situation I’m going to need some help. So my attitude towards it might change 44
depending on how I feel at the time and whether I think I‘m robust enough to tackle that 45
particular problem. So my resilience is built up from whether I feel in control of myself, so, in 46
order to get over to get over the vertigo, for example, I will probably some days when I’m 47
feeling great stretch myself further than on days when I’ll feel bad. So if im feeling good and I 48
can overcome something, which I haven’t overcome before, then I know that I can overcome it 49
again in the future so that helps me to overcome the fear of heights. 50
51
N: The effect of financial difficulties on the mental health of would‐be resilient business 52
owners seems to show that they have been overcome by the stress of it and they’re resilience 53
has waned/collapsed/imploded …? 54
55
D: Absolutely, that happens, I mean, you can never really tell. The drip‐drip effect of all sorts 56
of different things may not have an impact on you for a very long period of time but it may 57
ultimately be one really small event which ultimately makes you collapse, the whole of the 58
previous experiences and you cant cope with it. So, the drip‐drip‐drip effect and the fact that 59
you’ve put so much energy into your business and you've overcome so many things in the past 60
166
and so on, may well get so knocked by just one small event that you may think is completely 61
unfair and unreasonable because the context is not sympathetic towards you for some reason. 62
It’s not surprising that when people are under a constant pressure, if you like, that at some 63
stage something quite small will actually tip them over because when you use your resilience 64
you are, of course, expending massive amounts of mental energy and so, it has to come to an 65
end end because you cant constantly use your resilience, you cant constantly deal with loads 66
and loads of different challenges because you just become overloaded. 67
68
N: So you have a finite resource of resilience and if you don't keep replenishing it, it runs out? 69
70
D: Yes, ultimately. And that’s why, interestingly, people who growing older accumulate more 71
resilience for certain things they’ve experienced through their lives, but then, at a certain age, 72
it’s different for everybody, people jut give up and cant tolerate things anymore and just 73
collapse under those circumstances, so, hugely attitudinal. 74
75
N: What part does emotion play in it? 76
77
D: Well, I’m one of these people that feel that emotions should actually be controlled. So, if 78
you are evaluating a challenging situation for example, one of the elements of the evaluation 79
of the situation is your emotion because that's a ‘knee‐jerk’ response to whatever has actually 80
happened to you. Emotions, generally speaking, get in the way of formulating robust attitudes 81
because they tend to divert your attention towards the emotion, so I try to encourage people 82
to really control their emotion, if they can, until such time as they feel better in control of 83
themselves then they can let their emotion come out because it has to come out at some stage 84
you can’t block your emotion forever. So they do actually have to come out but at the time of 85
evaluating a challenge they need to be held in check. 86
87
N: What ways do you suggest then for people to vent those emotions at a later date? 88
89
167
D: Well, that's entirely up to them as to how they do that. 90
91
N: So it’s kind of like a delayed stress relief? 92
93
D: Well it may not be “stressful” but people who are feeling instantly angered, by the fact that 94
they have just been made redundant for example, might well block their attempt to really 95
think through what redundancy actually means, for example redundancy generally speaking 96
means the best opportunity in ones life, but if you’re actually angry you block that potential of 97
actually being resilient against the challenge of being mad redundant. So, containing your 98
anger is really important under those circumstances to allow you to think through: actually 99
redundancy has given me an opportunity to do exactly what I really really want to do. But, at 100
some stage you may then come back to the experience of being made redundant and then 101
vent your anger it’s preferable on a walk in the countryside with no one around you. 102
103
N: But there may not be such a great sense of satisfaction from doing that… 104
105
D: Well then whoever it is will need to get some help from a psychologist! 106
107
N: would you agree that resilience is different from a leadership point of view to resilience 108
from an employee’s point of? Would you concur with that or do you think it's the same thing? 109
110
D: Oh no, that’s why I asked you your meaning of resilience. People have hugely differing as to 111
what it means. Quite a lot of managers that I come across think that it’s an elastic concept that 112
you can kind of train people up to be so resilient that they can take anything and that's what a 113
lot of managers appear to try and do but the reality of it is that you can’t and that essentially 114
resilient people if they’re in a bad situation actually won’t chose to be resilient they’ll chose 115
not to be resilient. So, it's a misguided concept from a managers point of view to think that 116
resilience is the answer to their problems, the answer to their problems are culture, leadership 117
and working environment, that’s the answer to their problems. 118
168
The answer to the personal problem is to equip yourself to be capable of dealing with most 119
situations that you confront in every day life, basically. 120
121
N: So do you think the nature and expectation of that is changing because the demands and 122
expectations on people in the workplace are changing? 123
124
D: I don't know about Ireland but the mood‐music on the U.K. is beginning to shift, beginning 125
to understand that people need to feel well in order to perform and I am at the center of that 126
movement of trying to persuade people to understand that and I think the mood is actually 127
beginning to shift but only t the margins. Obviously the most successful orginisations around 128
the world understand this extremely well and therefor it’s not an issue but for those that 129
aren’t really optimising their potential there is still the sort of general approach that it doesn’t 130
matter how the employee feels as long as they just get on and work, which of course is crazy. 131
132
N: Who do you think is promoting this kind of attitude? 133
134
D: Well, I think it’s prevalent; it’s all over the place. 135
136
N: And if you sink your seen as weak… 137
138
D: Yes, it’s your fault if you aren’t resilient. 139
140
N: A lot of the talent management programs suggest, for developing new talent that putting 141
young graduates in very difficult situations and seeing how they cope with it… 142
143
D: Well, I mean, there are benefits of putting young people into different experiences. I think 144
that helps to develop your resilience because as I explained before, the more experiences you 145
169
have and you get through, the more resilient you become. So, it's a very good idea for students 146
to take a gap year for example before thy go to university because that really tests people, 147
generally and it's a very good idea for management trainees to be exposed to every part of the 148
business and to be given responsibility because once they get through that they’ll know they 149
can do it and therefor it wont be a problem to them in the future. 150
151
N: Would you say attitude and choice are the two main fundamental elements of building 152
resilience? 153
154
D: Attitude, mental control and choice. 155
156
N: Mental control is different to both attitude and control in what way? 157
158
D: Well you need to be in control of yourself mentally in order to form an attitude and the 159
choice is dependent on what your attitude has found. 160
161
N: Is resilience building the capacity in all three areas then? 162
163
D: It's basically providing you with the ability to control yourself, that's what resilience building 164
is about. And that's where mindfulness comes in. My model of development, for example, one 165
of the elements is confidence and confidence is based on the ability to control your anxiety. If 166
you can control your anxiety you can do anything and mindfulness is a useful tool, if you like, in 167
order to enable people to maintain mental control in potentially difficult situations. 168
169
N: Is mindfulness something that you would be promoting in your own program around 170
developing resilience? 171
172
170
D: I don’t specifically, it’s just one of the tools around controlling anxiety, that's all. I do use 173
some mindfulness techniques to demonstrate how difficult it is to concentrate because 174
concentration equates to performance in my work. If you can’t concentrate you’re not going to 175
perform so the ability to concentrate is what everything leads up to, essentially. So I do use 176
some mindfulness techniques to enable people to understand how complicated it is to be able 177
to concentrate. 178
179
N: Is that “anxiety” internal (from self) or is it is caused by external situations? Or both? 180
181
D: Well, I mean, there isn’t a distinction, is there? Everything is about our ability to respond to 182
things, so, it’s possible to think in some context it’s about the imagination rather than reality 183
and so its about imagining things that might cause you to feel anxious; can create anxiety. 184
More frequently in fact than actual events but you will have experience something like the 185
events in order to have the imagination, so, they’re all reactive. It’s quite easy to imagine 186
yourself into anxiety. 187
188
N: Can you observe resilience in somebody? 189
190
D: The only way you can tell whether anyone’s resilient or not is indeed in their behavior and 191
in what they say so clearly, yes. 192
193
N: So is it possible to measure resilience eg. with a questionnaire “I felt like this in a particular 194
situation”. 195
196
D: We are all very good at masking our behavior in order to survive. The approach, which I 197
have adopted, is to ask people questions, so it’s a questionnaire. 198
199
N: How reliable is that? 200
171
201
D: The resilience questionnaire, the RAQ40, which I developed, which has been widely used, 202
cannot be tested for reliability because resilience is situational, it’s contextually driven therefor 203
because you’re resilient in one situation doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be resilient 204
in another similar one because the context might be different and your mood might different 205
and your assessment of potential outcome might be different and therefor your attitude 206
towards it might be different. So you can’t really test a resilience questionnaire for reliability in 207
that respect but the RAQ40 has got very strong case for reliability, people recognize 208
themselves in it almost universally. There is certainly about less than 0.5% of respondents who 209
don’t recognize themselves. So that’s part of resilience to, is being self aware, so the 210
questionnaire itself helps with self‐awareness. 211
212
N: Is resilience transferrable from one situation to another or is it, as you say always 213
contextually based? 214
215
D: Well it’s clearly transferable, in the sense that you've prescribed that, but then your 216
decision to be resilient or not is contingent on the context, your evaluation of the context and 217
what you think the outcome is going to be. 218
219
N: Hence “the choice”. So you’re looking at the context? 220
221
D: All the time. We are forever, really. 222
223
N: In the development of your program do you take in to account those contextual factors of 224
age, gender, and race? 225
226
D: No is the answer. 227
228
172
N: Do you suggest to people to take them into account? 229
230
D: Well they will do when they’re evaluating what’s going on, so clearly context is one of the 231
elements of the formulation of choice as well as clearly one of the elements of the evaluation 232
of the event. 233
234
N: Returning to the idea of the definition of the idea of resilience, is it about coping with 235
stressful situations in a more positive way or what? 236
237
D: It’s more about preventing an event or someone’s behavior from triggering stress in you. 238
239
N: But you can’t stop stressful situations from happening can you? That's life? 240
241
D: No you can’t. 242
I don’t quite follow you, what we are trying to do is enable people to maintain mental control 243
of themselves regardless of the event. What one wants is for everyone to maintain as much 244
control over themselves for as long as possible in order for them to formulate an attitude. Now 245
clearly there are going to be some events over which you can do nothing so you’ve got 246
helplessness and you may succumb to a car accident or whatever it happens to be, but you 247
don't know and I don't know how long the person will retain mental control under those 248
circumstances in order to prevent the event from having an impact. We just don't know but 249
the aim is to try and ensure that people can keep control for as long as they possibly can in 250
order to formulate an attitude that will enable them to survive basically because ultimately it’s 251
all about survival. 252
253
254
N: What do you think then about the positive psychology movement and the idea that the 255
workplace should not just be a place of surviving but of thriving? 256
173
257
258
D: Oh I think that is the basis of all our work, is to make the workplace a fabulous place to 259
work. There’s no question about that. 260
261
N: You would see resilience as being a pillar of that becoming possible? 262
D: It is a pillar but emphasis which we place on, it is trying to prevent individuals from needing 263
to call on their resilience. So we are trying to prevent the events and behaviors from occurring 264
in the first place. 265
266
N: And how would you do that? 267
268
D: Well the ‘Wellbeing and Performance Agenda’, which is something which I have developed 269
and being is applied now in a lot of different places, focuses attention on the culture of 270
leadership in the working environment and has got specific ingredients inside it which provoke 271
people to feel well. 272
273
N: So that's very leadership based in the sense that the individual does not have much control 274
around that situation, they’re very dependent on the organisation in that case? 275
276
D: They have as much control as they have in any situation all they have to do is evaluate what 277
that context is about, interpret it, get some meaning and determine their attitude towards it. 278
279
N: So would you be targeting the leadership of organisations in establishing that type of 280
culture? 281
282
174
D: Oh, yes. 283
284
N: Is that what you mean by adaptive leadership? 285
286
D: Adaptive leadership is a process whereby you share the responsibility for the success of the 287
organisation amongst everyone and so that triggers off psychological wellbeing if done 288
correctly because that implies ownership of the organisation amongst everyone therefore that 289
strengthens trust, commitments and engagements and also kinship, all of which are principle 290
ingredients of psychological wellbeing, so, you end up with a much higher performing 291
organisation as a result of adaptive leadership being in place but that process alone is 292
sometimes quite difficult for leaders to adopt because it means a change of attitude. It means 293
that they are no longer heroic leaders riding out in front on their big white horse but they’re 294
actually genuinely having to share the responsibility for success among everyone and that's 295
particularly relevant for organisations which have got cognitive jobs of course, those that are 296
much more technical may be more suited to a more conventional way that people lead. 297
Although, ‘Generation‐Y’ indicates that that’s not universally going to be the case, that even 298
people with technical jobs are actually interested in owning the organisation. So adaptive 299
leadership is the type of leadership that helps to implement adaptive culture and the adaptive 300
working environment. 301
302
N: Is resilience a part of the adaptive leadership culture? 303
304
D: There a 4 elements of the ‘Wellbeing Performance Agenda”: Adaptive Culture, Adaptive 305
Leadership, Adaptive Working Environment and the Adaptive and Resilient Person. So, there 306
are all four but the first three influences the last one. 307
N: What is the purpose of the ‘Wellbeing Performance Agenda’? 308
309
175
D: To achieve peak performance. “Peak performance” being the capacity to concentrate. It 310
doesn't matter what the person is doing as long as they have the capacity to feel 311
psychologically well, well enough to be able to concentrate. 312
313
N: N talked about his understanding of resilience now and Mowbray says “that's it, in a 314
nutshell, you've got it”. 315
316
317
N: Was it resilience that brought you to that area of wellbeing and performance or was it the 318
other way around? 319
320
D: The other way around. The first three elements of the Wellbeing Agenda (Culture, 321
Leadership and the Working Environment) together, develop “Corporate Resilience” and I’ve 322
always been particularly interested in leadership and the leadership influence on stress on 323
other people so I’ve been much more interested in the context in which people work as 324
opposed to the individual and how they respond, so, I came to it from the organisational 325
perspective rather than the individual perspective. 326
327
N: A lot of literature would differentiate between organizational and individual resilience… 328
329
D: The principles are the same. You want the organisation to have a corporate attitude 330
towards events and challenges on the outside. 331
332
N: The principles are the same but the outcomes are sometimes different. You could have a 333
very resilient organisation that may not practice a culture of well‐being and performance. 334
335
176
D: It’s unlikely really. I mean, if you look at the collapses of some of the major organisations 336
during times of the recession, it just demonstrates that they may have thought that they were 337
resilient, pursuing certain policies and strategies but actually have collapsed. Likewise for some 338
of the self‐employed people who may have thought they were actually being resilient by being 339
really personally resilient their business has collapsed because they haven’t been properly 340
resilient. 341
342
N: Is there a way of preventing that from happening? Is that a constant process of self‐343
assessment? 344
345
D: Yes. I mean, being positive and preventing things from occurring, which may sort of knock 346
you sideways, you have to be constantly vigilant about that. It’s an active process, constantly 347
active, whereas, most organisations tend to be reactive rather than active and that's where 348
they fall down. 349
350
351
N: How do you suggest one continuously looks at continuously developing the environment? 352
353
D: If you adopt the basic principle of sharing responsibility for the future success of the 354
organisation you've got the whole work‐force constantly thinking of that as being part of their 355
responsibility, if you like and therefore they are clearly going to be critical of any managers 356
who don't share that responsibility because the workforce focus is on the organisation, not on 357
the managers. The managers are merely people who take technical decisions rather than 358
adaptive ones and therefor, sure you need to train people but once the culture is inside, it runs 359
itself. 360
361
N: So within that would you see the focus being on the task rather than anything else? 362
363
177
D: Oh no, it’s on the corporate success of the organisation. So, in reality, if you adopt the 364
Wellbeing Performance Agenda any person in the organisation can have a critical observation 365
of any other part of the organisation as to whether it is performing sufficiently well in order to 366
ensure the success of the whole venture. So everyone’s looking at everything. 367
368
N: You’ve said in the past that you have seen a shift in how businesses use this? 369
370
D: Yes. Well I think people are becoming more interested in the issue of the human factors in 371
work. 372
373
N: Would it be cynical to suggest that that is all profit driven? 374
375
D: I imagine it’s profit driven. If it is a private sector company, they have a legal obligation to 376
be profit driven. Therefor it would be strange if it wasn’t. From a public sector point of view, 377
it’s harder to drive the change because of the political interference within public sector 378
orginisaions, all of which have completely contrasting agendas of one form or another. So it’s 379
difficult to say what drives the change other than people, I suppose, public service mentality 380
which is still around with some people who want to make sure that public service is properly 381
provided and so on to the best possible benefit and me telling them that there is an ethical 382
issue here; that orginisations should be set up to succeed and succeed at the best possible 383
level, otherwise why have them? 384
385
N: Do private orginisations not also have an ethical obligation to their employees in the same 386
way? Not just to be profit driven? 387
388
D: Yes, I would argue that and I do argue that, I make the same point in the private sector. But 389
in answer to your previous question, there is a legal obligation to do the best for shareholders. 390
391
178
N: Doing well and doing good aren’t mutually exclusive. Some might describe that as a social 392
entrepreneurial type of model? 393
394
D: They might but its hugely business focused. What we haven’t talked about is psycho‐395
presenteeism; the number of people who are present at work in body but not in mind which is 396
a huge expense. And of course, the Wellbeing and Performance Agenda is set up to eliminate 397
psycho‐presenteeism because are so enormous that that is a good economic target to virtually 398
any match. So that's mainly why I’m interested in the wok that I do, it’s to help organisation 399
achieve peak performance by ensuring that work force feels well because if it doesn't it under‐400
performs and if people under‐perform under certain circumstances the can be absolutely 401
miserable and that I can’t really tolerate personally. 402
403
N: There can be lots of contextual and external reasons why somebody why be less present 404
than someone else at a particular time. 405
406
D: well there might be but if you have in your mind that organisations are controlled 407
communities, they’re controlled by people we call ‘managers’ therefore it’s in our gift to make 408
them the most fabulous places on earth to be therefor if you’ve got problems outside of the 409
workplace, as everybody does, then people should be leaping out of bed and running to work 410
because that’s the oasis. There’s so much evidence to support that if people are successful at 411
what they do it feeds their wellbeing but if you create the environment that actually provokes 412
people to feel well then it feeds itself. They succeed, feel better, succeed again, feel better and 413
so on. So, the idea is to ensure that people understand that organisations are constructed and 414
controlled communities, there’s no reason on earth why they shouldn't be the most fabulous 415
places to work. There’s nothing stopping anyone! Whereas family life you can’t really control. 416
417
N: What do you think is the resistance to the wellbeing and performance agenda? 418
419
D: People find it very difficult to manage people. If you look at the agenda of boards of 420
directors you won’t find anything about measuring the wellbeing of the employees. You’ll find 421
179
everything about measuring, everything else but not actually the most important resource that 422
organisations have. And it is difficult to measure, it’s not impossible, it’s no more difficult than 423
anything else but it’s just that people don’t bother. I think the other thing is that role models 424
become important for all managers therefore, in the absence of any training. 425
Appendix 14. Transcript of Michael Carroll (Expert Interview) P.179
1
Expert Interview with Michael Carroll. Interviewee M. 2
3
4
N: There is a lot of Zen Buddhism influence in mindfulness, don’t you think? 5
6
M: Well I think if you define mindfulness as the non‐meditative traditions or the more 7
evidence based traditions, mindfulness really is the training and the attention to attend to the 8
task at hand in the present moment. 9
10
N: Is that the John kabat‐Zinn type of definition? 11
12
M: Yes, I would think that the MBSR tends to go in that direction. I genuinely have tremendous 13
respect for MBSR and a lot of people who do it but it’s still inclined towards an evidence‐based 14
approach to mindfulness, which is trying to determine from a dualistic view; “If Bobby does X, 15
what then happens? Can I measure it?” Evidence‐based view, from the point of view of the 16
tradition of mindfulness, is far more confusing the issue than clarifying it. It’s not bad but you 17
don’t practice mindfulness meditation to achieve anything, you practice I thing order to 18
recognize qualities of the mind that you have overlooked. 19
20
N: What do you think is the reason for corporate interest in the idea of mindfulness, in the last 21
couple of years? 22
23
M: I think a few things. One is: there are a lot of people who are practicing mindfulness and 24
going to work and they’re saying: “Hmm, this is interesting. This has an impact.” One of the 25
very first things you discover is a contrast; when I’m meditating, I’m meditating. I’m engaging 26
181
my world from a place where I’m having a deep appreciation of my experience and when 27
you’re at work, you’re almost inclined to speed past your experience rather than have it. So, 28
there’s this contrast which for meditators is kind of disconcerting or edgy. So I think that’s one 29
of the things; is that, you have meditators going to work and going: “What the hell is going on 30
here?” I think the second thing is (this is where John Kabat‐Zinn comes in) is that for so many 31
people the workplace is a toxic experience. You can look up all kinds of statistics online and the 32
bottom line is that going to work is a very unhealthy thing to do and that’s not necessary. I 33
think part of the mindfulness insight is: “Wait a minute, isn’t there a way that we can engage 34
one of the more creative parts of our lives in a way that isn’t so toxic and filled with conflict, 35
unnecessary neurotic conflict?” 36
37
For me, I love construction people, I make them coffee and stuff and they all go: “Hey this is 38
fun here!” 39
So for me I think the second issue is this ‘toxic’ thing and you can use the word stress or 40
whatever you want but there’s a sense of toxicity and emotional toxicity. I make a distinction 41
that stress at work, that’s the name of the game but toxicity, that’s the issue. You don’t need 42
toxicity at work, work is stressful, life is stressful for God’s sake. It’s where it blends into this 43
toxic issue and I think mindfulness not only sees it for what it is because you’re actually 44
attending to the experience rather than running away from it, you’re fitting it. So, I think that's 45
a very healthy thing. 46
47
N: Do you think that the toxic nature of the work environment is accidental or intentional or a 48
mixture of both? 49
50
M: The reason why things go toxic in the workplace is actually a very profound principle. We 51
work really hard to give ourselves the impression that everything is seamlessly workable. It’s a 52
beautiful part of the human mind actually, you can turn on electricity, it’s pretty cool, even this 53
computer, the phone etc. We work very hard to make it appear seamless but the reality is that 54
it’s not seamless at all, it’s constantly going wrong. We work really hard to create this 55
impression that: “Hey! This is perfect! Look at this!”. Where we come face to face with what I 56
call ‘the gap’ is at work. When you go to work you’re always dealing with a mess, have you 57
182
noticed? Something’s wrong and you’re trying to make it behave itself, which is a beautiful 58
thing, by definition, which is how we are as human beings; we make things into beautiful stuff. 59
But, at work, because what we are dealing with is this ‘gap’ all the time there is a risk there, 60
there’s always a risk. At work, the risk creates a sense of panic or fear, like: “It might fail” or “It 61
won’t work out” or “I won’t make my bonus” or “I won’t close the deal” or “I won’t finish the 62
project. There’s always this hesitation and sort of panic, frankly. And because of that, 63
underlying the normal stuff of work (engineering, healing people, writing stuff) underneath is 64
emotional content, based on fear. 65
66
My third book “Fearless at Work” is about this. It’s a fear‐based relationship with uncertainty. 67
Because of that, we’re constantly bringing emotional dynamics to the situation that 68
exaggerates our experience. So if I say: “Niall I don’t like you, you’re a dick” That’s now 69
exaggerated into “You’re an enemy.” But I’m not an enemy; I’m just a jerk, a guy that insulted 70
you. I’m probably a nice guy but because we’re so edgy and panicky at work because we are 71
investigating uncertainty all the time we over amplify threats we are paranoid and constantly 72
trying to check politically our position to give ourselves false reassurances and that emotional 73
underpinning to work is where the toxicity comes from. The meditation makes you 74
comfortable with your emotions over time, you come to respect your own emotions, you don’t 75
have to chase these things. That takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. You begin to have a 76
sense of kindness or respect towards your world rather than trying to make it behave itself so 77
that you can get a false sense of assurance. 78
79
N: I get the sense that you’re saying that it’s the responsibility of the individual? 80
81
M: First and foremost, absolutely. 82
83
N: Don’t you think the organisation or leadership has a responsibility as well? Leaders can 84
create toxic work places too? 85
86
183
M: The degree to which you want to hold a leader responsible to the toxicity in the workplace 87
(and you haven’t properly tamed your own mind) is the degree to which you will probably 88
amplify that toxicity and create a bigger problem. So from the Buddhist point of view, you start 89
first taming your own mind so that you can be, what we call a ‘toxic handler’, how you handle 90
toxicity in ways that you don’t actually make it worse. It’s really easy to catalogue the fact that 91
there’s a bunch of jerks out there, that's the easy part, the hard part is how do you work with 92
it? It has to start with first taming your own mind, taming your own fear. 93
94
N: So you take the responsibility for your part in whatever the situation is? 95
96
M: That’s correct, that’s the first move. You take the responsibility first and foremost for the 97
mess and you clean up your own version of it and you work your ass off to be a decent, 98
authentic, genuine, open human being. First move. Being a genuine authentic human being is 99
not something you to postpone. 100
101
N: The corporate sector, which your background is in, Wall Str. etc. is a highly competitive, 102
cutthroat, political, backstabbing etc. It's a jungle and going kindly into the jungle might not be 103
effective. 104
105
M: Do I strike you as a nice as ‘nice guy’? 106
107
N: Yes. Not a meek guy but yes. 108
109
M: Ya well I’m a decent fellow. As you can tell, we’re all ‘busy’ and I will be there for you if you 110
need my help but you don’t fuck with me. 111
112
N: Yaa o.k. 113
184
114
M: So the point is, Buddhists aren’t pussies. We’re not like: “Oh we’re gentle” and “Would you 115
like to beat me over the head with your company?” No! That’s not how it works. 116
117
N: So how does it work? 118
119
M: Well the mindfulness, this is where the work that I like to do comes in, is that the 120
meditation clearly teaches you that first you have to become a decent human being, you have 121
to recognize your own decency and you have to offer that to the world. 122
123
N: What do you mean by decency? 124
125
M: Well for example you don’t inflict your version on other people to give yourself a false 126
sense that you’re dominant, winning or succeeding. So you have an authentic. Like, I’m trying 127
to do a deal here, I need to make a profit and I’m collaborative and people pick that energy up, 128
there’s a resonance in business. They know that you’re here to be ‘business guy’ but you’re 129
open and you’re genuinely curious about the other human being. These basic human gestures 130
in work are very real and very important and very decent and good. So that’s great but there’s 131
a whole other situation here which is about being skillful. How do we conduct ourselves 132
skillfully at work? There’s a whole range of issues: working with toxicity but there’s all kinds of 133
neutral things like how do you deal with a paradox, how do you deal with a mixed triumph or 134
victory, how do you deal with complex messages that have various levels to them, how do you 135
negotiate out of difficult conflicts. So it isn’t always just dealing with the idea that it’s 136
“cutthroat” and everything. I don’t necessarily see business as cutthroat, I see I as a much 137
more complex situation than that. There’s a lot of health, a lot of creativity, a lot of wisdom, a 138
lot of very fascinating capability and marvelous insight and creative genius. 139
140
N: Would mindfulness help you survive in business? 141
142
185
M: Well there are a couple of things there. 143
One is, if you’re trying to merely survive in business then we’ve already got a problem, this is 144
about thriving, this is about excelling. Secondly, at least in the Buddhism that I come from and 145
the type of mindfulness/awareness meditation that I’ve been trained in, there is a particular 146
model called the view, conduct and meditation. Those three things are what your view, how 147
you conduct yourself and how you practice. The single most important of those three is the 148
view. How do you see the situation? What is your view and how clear is it? It’s not what you do 149
for a living that’s important, it’s what you see for a living that’s more important (mindful 150
leaders). What do we mean when by ‘what we see for a living’? We’re not just talking about 151
being able to quantify the situation, have a strategic plan, being able to have you’re 152
spreadsheets straight. It has to do with being able to recognize the situation clearly as it is. 153
Now, certain scientists will say: “Oh! What is that? It’s all subjective isn’t it?” From my vantage 154
point, dualistic science was developed in Greece in Europe. Phenomenology was developed by 155
the Buddhists, it’s a whole school of science it’s not religion. It isn’t about trying to measure 156
anything, it’s trying to get very clear about: “What is your actual experience?” So for example, 157
I’ve asked this question to probably 10,000 people, I say to them: “How many people have a 158
broken heart? How many people do not have a broken heart?” Nobody ever raises they’re 159
hands. Every human being’s heart is broken for some reason. I don’t need a scientist to give 160
me a statistical measurement on that, it’s a phenomenological fact. It’s the same thing at 161
work, there are dynamics there that we all can see clearly and that’s what the key to the 162
meditation is; to be able to see the situation clearly. So for example, here’s a little metaphor 163
that I use with executives all the time and they love it and it works and you’ll see why it works 164
in a moment. The statement is “politics is just table manners”. We all have ideas and we all 165
want other people to digest them and appreciate them and give us resources and say: “I get 166
your idea, let me get on board”. Everybody has to present their ideas to people and it’s how 167
you want to serve your idea out. If you have good table manners, your idea will be presented 168
very nicely and people will want to eat it. If you have bad table manners you won’t want to sit 169
at the person’s meal, it’s that simple. So, when you see people running around being ‘one‐ups‐170
manship’ or ‘who am I associated with’ or they sloppily present their idea, they have bad table 171
manners, that’s all. You’ve got nothing to lose, you might feel like you’re being insulted but 172
your not, they’ve got bad table manners! 173
174
186
N: If the broken heart idea is like an ‘absolute truth’, then it’s certainly true in the workplace 175
to. Can mindfulness give us the tools to be able to cope better with the cut and thrust of work 176
life, with the disappointments, challenges and stresses because that then makes it useful, 177
otherwise it’s useless . . . 178
179
M: Two things, 180
One is; to really the mindfulness from this book’s point of view, not from other people who are 181
talking about it, is that this is not about achieving anything, it’s not about becoming more 182
useful, business people are great at that, they are all kinds of things you can do to become 183
more useful, this is not about that. This is about recognizing that there are certain qualities of 184
the mind that you are already expressing that you’re overlooking, that, if you understood what 185
you’re already doing you’ll notice that you’ve already achieved the things you’re looking for. 186
It’s an entirely different approach. 187
So lets look at this ‘suffering’. You say: “You know . . . people get hurt at work. Everybody 188
knows you get hurt at work, well is there some way that you can kind of fix that or get help 189
with that?” From this mindful leadership point of view, before you try to fix the experience 190
why don’t you have it fully first? And when you do have it fully first, you’ll notice that it’s far 191
less of a problem than you though it was. Being hurt is not a problem; in fact, it’s the nature of 192
being human. This sense of openness and tenderness and being touched, either through 193
disappointment or even love, falling in love or holding your child, this sense of tenderness from 194
the mindful leadership point of view is actually power but it takes courage to lean into it. You 195
don’t have to be afraid of being hurt; you’re going to be hurt, you’re supposed to be hurt. That 196
hurt is how you’re touched, that hurt is how you’re alert to your world. As soon as you pull 197
back and you blame somebody, you’re amplifying it into something that it’s not. So this is a 198
different approach here. So what I’m really defining right now is what you would call ‘agility’ or 199
‘resilience’ because everything that touches you, you are able to understand and work with. If 200
you are the one who screwed up, you get it. If the other person I misunderstanding what 201
you’re doing, which happens every day, I’m a HR guy, I have solved more problems than you 202
can imagine and 99.99% of time it’s because the person who has been offended has 203
misunderstood what the other person did to some degree. So the issue of serving up your 204
meal is how do you create an environment where people can have an authentic relationship 205
with ideas, give and take, digest one another’s ideas in a gracious way, that’s good politics. Bad 206
187
politics is sloppiness, insults, jealousy, toxicity. You can’t taste each other’s meals. So one of 207
the things about mindfulness/awareness meditation in mindful leadership is a sense of 208
elegance. You can create an elegant world where people can all sit at the table, they can be 209
themselves, share in each other’s ideas. They don’t have to be afraid of being hurt because 210
they know it hurts. Everybody can’t be the CEO, everybody can’t have their projects financed, 211
everybody can’t get promoted and that’s the way it is, we’ll work with it. 212
213
N: Is mindfulness an attitude then? 214
215
M: I think so, it’s a stance, it’s a seat that you take. It’s a natural seat though; you don’t 216
necessarily have to trump this up. It comes from sitting with yourself for hours and hours and 217
hours and hours, where you relax into who you are and you’re comfortable with who you are. 218
219
N: So you’re kind of getting yourself out of the way. 220
221
M: Let me give you an example of the practical benefits. 222
There are many of these, here is one and this is key to mental agility; strategy in organisations, 223
and there’s two pieces, obviously there’s an external element; you’re exchanging resources, 224
competitive markets and you’re arranging stuff to make stuff happen. Strategy also is an 225
internal stance, from a leadership point of view, it’s how you actually sort out you’re world and 226
you work with it. It’s a mind‐set. There is a tendency and has been pretty much ‘business 101’; 227
you want to stabilise strategy as soon as possible for efficiency’s sake. So, if you want to make 228
smaller cars and you know that the market is going that way, you want to be able to stabilize 229
that strategy with a process that produces those cars and stable market that keeps wanting 230
those cars and you want to stabilize it. Because of that you have to stabilise a mindset as well. 231
That no longer works in modern day 21st century business. Everything is constantly getting 232
disrupted, one minute you’re making a small car and someone else down the street can scale 233
his business and make a car that’s two times lighter because they were working with the 234
graphite guys down near Pennsylvania and you couldn’t, so now your car’s no good. So the 235
188
ability to have creative disruption is everywhere, that’s the name of the game from now on 236
because you can scale your business just like that. 237
238
Than you M. 239
189
