Although it is an increasingly popular assumption that leader mindfulness may positively affect leader behaviors and, in turn, employee outcomes, to date, little empirical evidence supports this view. Against this backdrop, the present research seeks to develop and test a serial mediation model of leader mindfulness. Specifically, we propose that leader mindfulness enhances employee performance and that this relationship is explained by increased leader procedural justice enactment and, subsequently, reduced employees’ emotional exhaustion. We conducted three studies to test this model. (...) Study 1 involved employees from a wide range of organizations in the USA. Study 2 used a sample of leaders and employees from China and measured our model variables at three different points in time. Both studies provide consistent support for our hypotheses. Finally, Study 3 involved a laboratory experiment in which 62 senior executives were assigned to either a mindfulness induction or to a control condition. Again, results revealed a significant and positive link between leader mindfulness and leader procedural justice enactment. In sum, these findings expand our understanding of mindfulness to the domain of leadership, a key area of organizational research. Moreover, they complement prior studies by showing that mindfulness dynamics go beyond intrapersonal effects but also influence the attitudes and behaviors of others. We discuss our findings in light of their contributions to the mindfulness, ethics, and leadership literatures and point out implications for practice. (shrink)

Many activities in organizations benefit from informal networks, in which individuals help each other without an obligation to do so. Helping can take time and effort and expert helpers may find themselves in high demand not being able to help every requester. In this research, we examine the impact of prior help in the decision to help the same person again versus help someone new. We propose that feelings of partnership created by an initial act of help encourage helpers to (...) stick to the same person, but a sense of fairness pushes helpers toward those who have not received help before. Thus, oftentimes people prefer to help someone with whom they have a weaker bond. Furthermore, we argue that repeated helping strengthens the feeling of partnership and increases preference for helping the same person over another. In contrast, knowing that the helped party has similar relationships with other helpers dampen this feeling and reduces future help. Helpers consider not only the help they have given, but more broadly the help that was received by all the parties involved. We also distinguish two aspects of fairness: even/equal distribution of help and helping who is in greater need. (shrink)