Spiritual perspectives on individual, organizational and societal transformation

Abstract

The article explores issues of what matters most in individual organizational and societal transformation ± economic issues or spirit? Transformation is defined and literature on individual, organizational and societal transformation is presented. The article looks at the standard arguments that economics are the driving force in transformation and then postulates that spirituality may be as much ± if not more ± of a driving force. Evidence is provided on the growth of interest in spirituality. Then three theories of transformation are offered, one at the level of societal transformation. Each of these theories incorporates elements of spirituality in order to understand the prerequisites of transformation.Why must anyone seek for new ways of acting? The answer is that in the long run the continuity of life itself depends on the making of new experiments F F FThe continuous invention of new ways of observing is man's special secret of living (Young, 1960, quoted in Vaill, 1984.

Benevolent Leadership: Conceptualization and Construct Development

“…Moreover, increasing complexity and interdependence implies that change is becoming increasingly non-linear and unpredictable (Brejnrod, 2001). The resulting competitive and economic pressures have led to intense cost cutting, massive corporate downsizing, and increasing stress (Neal et al, 1999). In the last decade, four million jobs were cut by Fortune 500 firms, which caused severe emotional damages for affected employees and families (victims), as well as from coworkers and managers BENEVOLENT LEADERSHIP 4 (survivors) who remained in their organizations (Cash and Gray, 2000).…”

Spirituality and Ubuntu as the foundation for building African institutions, organizations and leaders

“…Spiritual traits have been argued to lead to desirable behavior; indeed, the last two decades have seen growing interest in spirituality within organizations (Karakas 2010;King 1999;Mitroff and Denton 1999a;Neal, Bergmann Lichtenstein, and Banner 1999). For example, Neal, Bergmann Lichtenstein, and Banner (1999) advocate that management scholars should incorporate spirituality into research and theory building, and their call has, to some extent, been heeded. Researchers have investigated the impact of spirituality on organizational productivity and performance, profitability and success (Delher and Welsh 1994;Konz and Ryan 1999;Mitroff and Denton 1999b).…”

“…Researchers have investigated the impact of spirituality on organizational productivity and performance, profitability and success (Delher and Welsh 1994;Konz and Ryan 1999;Mitroff and Denton 1999b). This paper adopts Banner and Gagne's (1995) and Neal, Bergmann Lichtenstein, and Banner's (1999) model of transformation to argue for a way in which African social and economic challenges can be addressed through building effective public institutions and organizations, and engendering leaders with spiritual intelligence. The model assumes that individual and society are interconnected.…”

The place of self-actualisation in workplace spirituality: Evidence from Sri Lanka

“…Some of these writers identify spirituality as a continuous development process that emphasizes meditation, introspection and therapy (Howard 2002;Delbecq 2000). Other writers focus on a series of discontinuous awakening experiences (Mitroff and Denton 1999;Neal, Lichtenstein and Banner 1999). This paper sees workplace spirituality as a process of development of the self towards higher consciousness, and reports a study of workplace spirituality in a nonWestern setting, using Maslow's concept of self-actualization.…”