Mindfulness, which we can define as giving nonjudgmental attentiveness to each experience as it occurs, has begun to receive a great deal of attention in academic circles. The health benefits of mindfulness are well established. Studies have demonstrated that it can alleviate chronic pain (Wong, Chan, Wong, Chu, Kitty, Mercer, and Ma, 2011), decrease the urge to smoke (Brewer, Mallik, Babuscio, Nich, Johnson, Deleone, Minnix-Cotton, and Rounsaville, 2011), and help people cope with stress (Schreiner and Malcolm, 2008). Leadership strategies based on mindfulness are increasingly taken seriously in the corporate world (see, for example, Karakas, 2011, and Veil, 2011), and a number of training programs either specialize in mindfulness-based leadership or offer it among their other workshops. See, for example, the Authentic Leadership in Action Institute (www.aliainstitute.org), the Institute for Mindful Leadership (www.instituteformindfulleadership.org), the Bradford Clark Group (www.satiguru.com/index.html), and ATLAS Leadership Training (www.atlasleadership.com).
Character (Still) Counts: Moral Injury and the Case for Character Education
Many academic leaders remember the Character Counts! initiative from the 1990s and early 2000s. It was visible in schools and youth programs nationwide, emphasizing as core values the Six Pillars
Teresa Maggard Stephens
June 15, 2026
