Date of Paper/Work
6-2021
Type of Paper/Work
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership
Department
Organizational Leadership
First Advisor
Sharon Radd
Department/School
Organizational Leadership, Strategic Management
Abstract
We live in a time of constant change and challenging conditions for business leaders (Benson, 2005). Leaders must develop behaviors and skills to adapt and respond in healthy ways to stressful environments and ongoing change in order to lead others toward positive change effectively. This study examines how leaders in corporate America feel a regular Yoga practice has influenced their leadership, in essence taking Yoga "off the mat" and into the workplace. Heifetz's adaptive leadership theory was used to identify ways that leaders take Yoga off the mat and demonstrate adaptive leadership. The findings highlight that a regular Yoga practice led to the self-transformation of participants in the form of better relationships, increased intentionality, and improved skills to manage stress. This study argues that this transformation allowed them to become more effective and adaptive leaders with behaviors and skills to manage their stress, pause and observe, build accountability with others, and create space for transformative change to happen.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Pamela Kay. (2021). Off the Mat, Into the Office: How a Regular Yoga Practice Transformed Eight Corporate Leaders and their Leadership. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/maol_theses/43