The authors explain the relationship between leadership and yoga in the contributing chapter. Yoga
is seen as a worldview and a way to enhance virtuous behaviour.
So far, leadership has been studied as a style, an attribute, or trait. New models propose it as an
activity. The authors propose leadership as a cognition and a virtue. The virtues of people are fueled
by their authentic nature. Leadership and authenticity have been looked upon from various
philosophical perspectives. The ‘authenticity’ virtue emerged while studying a good practice in the
community care at Buurtzorg Nederland.
The authors identified three expressions of authentic virtues: needing, rethinking, and common
sensing. The yogic intellectual capacity of vivekam buddhi (intellectual discrimination) acts as a way
to enhance authenticity. It is argued that yama and niyama, which embody the psychological limbs
of yoga, act as the authentic virtue which creates the foundation for Yogic Leadership. The basic
yogic principles of abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment) have been found in the role of
leadership as a way to enhance authenticity as a virtue.
Key Practices at Buurtzorg Nederland
- Work on community building and common goals
- Acknowledge and respect each individual’s professional expertise
- Focus on the clients’ needs
- Share responsibility among employees
- Self motivated employees
- Serve clients by focusing on prevention, caring, and curing to achieve healthy economic outcomes
- Humaneness as a foundation for all activities
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