Spirituality and leadership: An empirical review of definitions, distinctions, and embedded assumptions

Abstract

Spirituality and its relationship to workplace leadership is a compelling issue for management practitioners and researchers. The field of study is still in its infancy and as such is marked by differences in definitions and other basic characteristics. Much of what has been written on this subject has appeared in general, rather than academic publications and consequently may lack rigor. The purpose of this study is to analyze known academic articles for how they characterize workplace spirituality, explore the nexus between spirituality and leadership, and discover essential factors and conditions for promoting a theory of spiritual leadership within the context of the workplace. An emergent process was used to identify and validate eight areas of difference and/or distinction in the workplace spirituality literature: 1.) definition, 2.) connected to religion, 3.) marked by epiphany, 4.) teachable, 5.) individual development, 6.) measurable, 7.) profitable/productive, and 8.) nature of the phenomenon. Eighty-seven scholarly articles were coded for each of these areas. Findings conclude that most researchers couple spirituality and religion and that most either have found, or hypothesize a correlation between spirituality and productivity. The emergent categories offer provocative new avenues for the development of leadership theory. D

Spirituality and Performance in Organizations: A Literature Review

“…Dent, Higgins, and Wharff (2005) 9 and Lund Dean, 2001; Mitroff and Denton, 1999;Palmer, 1994;Fornaciari, Lund Dean, and McGee, 2003;Gibbons, 2000, Lips-Wiersma, 2003. These researchers argue that the antimaterialist characteristic of spirituality may pose important challenges in the scientific investigation of its links to financial performance (Fornaciari and Lund Dean, 2001;Dent et. al, 2005;Fornaciari, Lund Dean, and McGee, 2003).…”

“…al, 2005;Fornaciari, Lund Dean, and McGee, 2003). Some researchers supporting this position point out to the fact that there may indeed be ethical pitfalls and moral concerns in the research question of whether enabling or incorporating spirituality at work results in better organizational performance or profitability (Dent, Higgins and Wharff, 2005;Fernando, 2005). Other researchers also mention their concerns about spirituality being used as an administrative tool to manipulate employees (Brown, 2003;Fernando, 2005;Mirvis, 1997; Cavanagh and Bandsuch, 2002).…”

Efficient Spiritual Leadership Related to an Appreciative Inquiry-Style of Leadership in a Sample of Mexican Family Firms Owners

“…Dent, E. Higgins, A. and Wharff, D. (2005) talk about spirituality distinction in the workplace. Spiritual literature: 1.)…”

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

“…Spirituality is an inherent characteristic of all humans, which encompasses the sacredness of everything, is nondenominational, broadly inclusive and embracing everyone, and involves experiencing or achieving a godlike self through connection (Fernando, 2007a;Smith and Rayment 2007;Dent, Higgins and Wharff 2005;Giacalone and Jurkiewicz 2003;Mitroff and Denton 1999). Some identify workplace spirituality with religion (Fernando and Jackson 2006;Kriger and Seng 2005) while others view spirituality as being unconnected to religion, but personal growth based.…”

“…The literature emphasizing personal growth (Dent, Higgins and Wharff 2005), highlight the role of self in conceptualising spirituality-an internal process involving the evolution of self. For example, the spirit is a distinct state, with cognitive and mystical dimensions (Kinjerski and Skrypnek 2004).…”