Mapping the Discussion on Leadership Spirituality: With a Critical Evaluation of References to Christian Spirituality

The emergence in the last two and a half decades of the concept of leadership spirituality is a further indication of the increasing need for a more critical, inspired, and ethically responsible leadership. In order to illuminate this most striking new focal point in contemporary leadership theory and literature, this work aims to critically map the contemporary scientific literature on the subject, with a special focus on the valuation of Christian spirituality. Three key issues engage our attention: the emergence of spirituality in the leadership discourse; the inclusion or exclusion of spirituality from the Christian tradition(s) in that discourse; and the valuation of the particular contribution Christian spirituality can make in this context. In this regard our focus will be on the Catholic tradition. The final objective is to clarify in the perspective of scholars belonging to the Catholic tradition how the practice of Christian spirituality contributes to taking moral responsibility and to moral integrity. As such this work is a case and a building stone for a broader investigation on the link between ethics and spirituality in business.
Answering fundamental questions about spirituality in leadership, the work establishes a link between spirituality and self-assessment. As such, it establishes that the reasons spirituality is valued in Leadership are more fundamental and not merely utilitarian (references to more efficient work or better economic results). Drawing critical insights from scholars the work does an indepth examination of the Catholic traditions (focusing on the Benedictine, Ignatian, and Opus Dei orders) and makes a case for how the practice of spirituality help with taking moral responsibility and for moral integrity. It shows how the Christian traditions represent not a static but transformative vision. This way the work becomes, therefore, a case and a building stone for a broader investigation on the link between ethics and spirituality in business. Spirituality takes us beyond that which we see. It, therefore, tells us that something lies beyond the usefulness of what we value; and that gaining rational control over all things is not all there is to being „good". Drawing on the huge insights and power of the language of scriptures and insights from moral imagination and contemplation, the work shows how we can move from being personally positively affected (from "being good") to becoming "good leaders". That implies, above all, understanding not only our lives but also leadership as an experience of transcendence; and that Christian spirituality is a transformative experience.