Compassion in a Warrior Culture:Emotionally Supportive Leadership Among U.S. Military Veterans
Document Type
Event
Faculty Mentor
Liz Fisher-Turesky
Abstract
This qualitative phenomenological study examines how U.S. military veterans with leadership experience describe and make sense of emotionally supportive leadership within the context of a traditionally hierarchical and stoic military culture. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with veterans across service branches, the study explores how participants interpret relational leadership behaviors involving care, responsibility, and responsiveness to others’ suffering, and how these behaviors are shaped, constrained, or legitimized within a warrior-oriented institutional context. Particular attention is given to veterans who self-identify with service-connected conditions, as their experiences illuminate how leadership identity and emotional regulation evolve during and after military service. Participants consistently distinguished emotional regulation as a necessary leadership capacity from emotional suppression as a culturally reinforced practice that often limited relational connection. Findings indicate that emotionally supportive leadership is not rejected outright, but conditionally accepted when framed as mission-enhancing, responsibility-driven, and credibility-preserving, rather than overly emotionally expressive. The study reframes compassion as a disciplined relational practice aligned with military values of accountability and trust, offering insight into how emotionally supportive leadership can function as a source of strength rather than weakness in high-stakes environments. Keywords: veterans, military leadership, phenomenology, compassion, emotional regulation, emotional suppression, warrior culture
Compassion in a Warrior Culture:Emotionally Supportive Leadership Among U.S. Military Veterans
This qualitative phenomenological study examines how U.S. military veterans with leadership experience describe and make sense of emotionally supportive leadership within the context of a traditionally hierarchical and stoic military culture. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with veterans across service branches, the study explores how participants interpret relational leadership behaviors involving care, responsibility, and responsiveness to others’ suffering, and how these behaviors are shaped, constrained, or legitimized within a warrior-oriented institutional context. Particular attention is given to veterans who self-identify with service-connected conditions, as their experiences illuminate how leadership identity and emotional regulation evolve during and after military service. Participants consistently distinguished emotional regulation as a necessary leadership capacity from emotional suppression as a culturally reinforced practice that often limited relational connection. Findings indicate that emotionally supportive leadership is not rejected outright, but conditionally accepted when framed as mission-enhancing, responsibility-driven, and credibility-preserving, rather than overly emotionally expressive. The study reframes compassion as a disciplined relational practice aligned with military values of accountability and trust, offering insight into how emotionally supportive leadership can function as a source of strength rather than weakness in high-stakes environments. Keywords: veterans, military leadership, phenomenology, compassion, emotional regulation, emotional suppression, warrior culture
