Leadership and Authenticity: The case of Buurtzorg Nederland

Abstract

The research question of this chapter is to study the relationship between leadership and Yoga where Yoga is seen as an approach to view the world and a way to enhance virtuous behavior. So far leadership has been studied as style, an attribute, or trait. New models propose it as an activity. Here we 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 following pattern has emerged while studying a good practice in the community care “Buurtzorg Nederland.” There are three expressions of authentic virtues in this case: needing, rethinking, and common sensing. The Yogic intellectual capacity of Vivekam Buddhi acts as a way to enhance authenticity. It is argued that Yama and Niyama, that embody the psychological limbs of Yoga, act as the authentic virtue which creates the foundation for the Yogic Leadership. The basic Yogic principles of Abhyasa and Vairagya have been found in the role of leadership as a way to enhance authenticity as a virtue. They act like determinants along with Vivekam Buddhi (discriminative wisdom) in the proposed conceptual model of authenticity among leaders who takes a client center or customer center perspective in their organizing processes and decision-making design