This year at SAMIBC2021 we are pleased to announce another of our presenters, Stephanie Gapud from Spring Hill College. Dr. Gapud will be presenting, Mindful, Doubting, Mindless, Trusting: PLS-SEM and Clustering Analysis to Predict the Mindset of Wildland Firefighting Teams.

Presentation Abstract: We found evidence of a paradoxical type of leadership-one that is shared, yet the 96-year old organization maintains a bureaucratic and hierarchical organizational structure. In this study, we argue that the managerial mindset that drives excellence in team performance is driven by sharing (delegating) responsibility to those who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities; thereby allowing the authority to migrate down the chain of command. Adopting “Mindful Leadership” that incorporates a higher level of collective mindfulness and shared leadership positively influences a firm’s performance and reliability to manage the unexpected. We demonstrated this paradoxical type of leadership as the individual’s perception of shared leadership working in a high reliability organization. It is referred to as Mindful Leadership. Results are discussed and future research direction was presented.The Structural Equation Model presented was analyzed using Smart-PLS 3.3.3. Moreover, we used clustering analysis to determine if the initially proposed model of the mindset of wildland firefighters are similar across the organization. This study advances the empirical validation of the construct and related measures. Several directions for future studies are proposed.

Join us online to see this great paper and many more March 18 – 20, 2021. For registration information visit www.samnational.org/conference.