Internal Factors That Enable Positive Deviance to Occur in Leaders: A Phenomenological Description

While Spreitzer and Sonenshein (2003, 2004) and Lavine (2012) provided a strong conceptual foundation from the existing literature regarding positive deviance, Lavine noted that little has been done to date to build upon this initial work. The current phenomenological study explored the internal factors that enable positive deviance to occur in leaders. In-depth interviews were utilized to capture the lived experience across six leaders who were deemed positively deviant by a referent group of eight followers. Data were explicated and resulted in an articulation of the following internal factors that enable positive deviance to occur in leaders: values (prioritization and care for others, values driven, growth and reproduction mind-set, sense of meaning, courageous action, shared approach to leadership, emotional intelligence, integrity), behaviors (connection and care for others, growth and reproduction mind-set, learning and improvement mind-set, courageous action, creativity, shared approach to leadership, emotional intelligence), and attitudes (positivity, humility, abundance, visionary, courage, gratitude). Research and practitioner reflections are presented along with limitations and recommendations for future research.