The relationship of mindfulness and self-compassion to desired wildland fire leadership

Abstract

A quantitative approach was adopted to explore facets of mindfulness and self-compassion in relation to their ability to predict crewmembers’ perceptions of their supervisors’ leadership capabilities. The sample comprised 43 wildland fire crews consisting of their primary supervisors (n = 43) and crewmembers (n = 246). A partial least-squares path modelling approach was employed to test hypotheses regarding the relationships among mindfulness, self-compassion and leadership. Findings revealed that supervisor scores on mindfulness were significant predictors of crewmember-rated scores of supervisor leadership. Although not as strong, aspects of self-compassion were also significant predictors of perceived supervisor leadership. Unlike mindfulness, the aspects of self-compassion that predicted supervisor leadership were more varied between desirable self-compassion scores and undesirable self-compassion scores. Overall, the results indicate that mindfulness and self-compassion were predictors of desired wildland fire leadership by crewmembers; these results suggest potential functions that mindfulness and self-compassion could serve in the development of leaders in wildland firefighting.