Abstract

In considering what it means to lead organizations effectively and ethically, the literature comprising spirituality at work (SAW) and spiritual leadership theory (SLT) has become highly influential, especially in the USA. It has also attracted significant criticism. While in this paper, we endorse this critique, we argue that the strand of literature which purportedly takes a Christian standpoint within the wider SAW school of thought, largely misconstrues and misapplies the teaching of its founder, Jesus. As a result, in dismissing the claims and application of SAW and SLT, there is a real risk that we lose the vital contribution of Christian thought, not least some of the timeless counter-cultural wisdom of Jesus which, we contend, offers a vital foundation to the practice of ethical leadership and business ethics in organizations. In proposing a way forward, two thorny issues which face all leaders are addressed: dealing with ego and closing the gap between what we say and what we do. The more we understand about the dynamics of human nature, the more we learn about the profundity of Jesus’ teachings. We then propose a number of ways in which Jesus-centred ethical leadership can be practised. Each is radical and each implies risk: both the personal risk of inner renewal arising from repentance as a doorway to personal integrity, as well as the risk of opposing unethical practices and promoting the excellence of core practices in the workplace.

Highlights

  • By drawing on these two sources, we argue that the source teachings of Jesus provide a spiritual foundation for ethical leadership in a way that redresses some the criticisms levelled at the generic spiritual literature, those that argue that the spiritual approaches to work (SAW) writings are instrumental and ahistorical in nature

  • While Tourish, among others (Carette and King 2005; Case and Gosling 2010) is persuasive in his suspicion of SAW and associated spiritual leadership theory (SLT), we suggest that what is being addressed is a ‘straw man’ of spiritual leadership as it pertains to Christian beliefs

  • The spiritual approaches to work (SAW) literature has rightly brought to our attention a relatively neglected dimension of our working lives, the fact that we bring just our minds and bodies, and our emotions and spirits to work

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Summary

Introduction

The growing literature on spiritual approaches to work (SAW) and spiritual leadership theory (SLT) (Delbecq 1999; Eisler and Montouori 2003; Freshman 1999; Fry and Cohen 2009; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz 2003; WagnerMarsh and Conley 1999) has attracted criticism on a number of levels: its appropriation of spiritual approaches for instrumental purposes (Casey 2002; Bell and Taylor 2003; Zhuravleva and Jones 2006), its reduction to what Jacques Ellul calls ‘technique’, a limited form of economic rationality (Driscoll and Wiebe 2007), its attempt to theorize and operationalize workplace spiritually from a hypothetico-deductive standpoint (Case and Gosling 2010; Case et al 2012), the failure of leadership development to engage with non-functionalist ontologies (Lips-Wiersma and Mills 2014; Mabey 2013) and its treatment of spirituality devoid of historical and political context (Nash 2003a, b; Porth et al 2003). We propose a model that links personal spirituality to ethical leadership in business, drawing on Trevino et al.’s (2003) distinction between the moral person and moral manager and Moore’s (2008) ideas around re-imagining the morality of the manager By drawing on these two sources, we argue that the source teachings of Jesus provide a spiritual foundation for ethical leadership in a way that redresses some the criticisms levelled at the generic spiritual literature, those that argue that the SAW writings are instrumental and ahistorical in nature. We take several of the arguments put forward by Tourish and offer an alternative rendering of how a Christian spiritual approach might further ethical leadership in the workplace

Burning the Straw Man of Christian Spiritual Leadership
Dealing with Ego
Reducing the Credibility Gap
Practical Implications
Questioning Dubious Practice Rather than Staying Silent
Embracing Work as Calling Rather than a Job
Thinking Theologically Rather than Materially
An Example
Being Transformed Internally Rather than Regulated Externally
Conclusion

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