Exploring the Noble Eightfold Path as a Catalyst for Awakened Leadership Development
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Issue Date
2025
Editor
Authors
Gonzalez Lunden, Luis
License
Subject
College of interdisciplinary studies
Abstract
This study explored the experiences of 20 Canadian leaders who participated in a 6-month virtual learning journey focused on the noble eightfold path, a pillar of Buddhist thought and practice, tentatively positioned as a secular social science. This research aimed to ascertain the suitability of the noble eightfold path as a framework for awakened leadership development and plausible strategies for integration in the corporate world. Over the past two decades, mindfulness, a subset of Buddhist meditative practice, has gradually blended into the corporate landscape, propelled by its secularization and scientific validation. However, mindfulness is only one of the eight interdependent components of the eightfold path, raising the question of the feasible integration of the remaining seven elements. Through a qualitative methodology, integrating phenomenology and grounded theory as two distinct phases of research, the results revealed the eightfold path as a valuable conduit for leadership development due to its transformative impact on participants. Findings exposed the expansion of intra- and interpersonal skills, reconnecting to values, and enhancing leadership presence. Results from this research expanded the existing awakened leadership conceptual framework and introduced a practical pathway for its development by adopting the eightfold path as its guiding catalyst. However, the findings also suggested limitations for its corporate integration and recommended modernizing the eightfold path to appeal to a contemporary leadership audience. This research contributes to a broader discourse blending ancient wisdom with contemporary organizational needs. By blending spiritual wisdom with secular practices, this research advances a broader discourse blending traditional wisdom with contemporary organizational needs.
Description
2025