Purpose In recent years, mindfulness has garnered more attention from experts than many other subjects and fields. Numerous courses, meetings, and workshops have been organized by universities, with a focus on encouraging managers to adopt more mindful leadership practices. Given the challenging and tension-filled nature of military environments in Iran, understanding the experiences of managers in these organizations regarding mindful leadership can offer valuable insights for policymakers. Design/methodology/approach Consequently, this research seeks to explore mindfulness among academic leaders across different cultural contexts (military context), using a grounded theory approach informed by Charmaz’s constructivist theory. The research focused on Iran’s military universities, specifically targeting the managers of Shahid Sattari Aeronautical University. Fifteen managers were purposefully selected and invited to participate using a semi-structured interview protocol. Findings The results identified four strategies related to mindful leadership in university management, categorized as reflective practice, cognitive practice, organizational practice, and social practice. Despite the diversity of experiences, attention to skillful action combined with presence and intentionality has proven effective for leaders, fostering a more active differentiation and openness to new information. Participants also highlighted strategies such as coping with failure and a reluctance to oversimplification, which they deem essential for implementing broader strategies at the level of socialpractices. These strategies include self-other agreement, interdependence and egolessness. Research limitations/implications This research was conducted in a specific organizational context, a military university, where finding and contacting the leaders were much more difficult than other context so genializing it to other academic contexts is problematic. Originality/value By focusing on the experiences of managers, the study bridges the gap between military leadership and mindfulness practices, offering fresh insights into how mindful leadership can be applied in a rigid, hierarchical context. Additionally, the identification of strategies like reflective practice and coping with failure in military university leadership underscores the value of mindfulness for fostering resilience, adaptability, and social consciousness in leaders.
