SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

While spiritual leadership involves many of the same principles as general leadership,
spiritual leadership has certain distinctive qualities that must be understood and practiced if
spirit-ual leaders are to be successful.

1. The spiritual leader's task is to move people from where they are to where God wants
them to be. This is influence. Once spiritual leaders understand God's will, they make
every effort to move their followers from following their own agendas to pursuing
God's purposes. People who fail to move people to God's agenda have not led. They
may have exhorted, cajoled, pleaded, or bullied, but they will not have led until their
people have adjusted their lives to God's will.
2. Spiritual leaders depend on the Holy Spirit. Spiritual leaders work within a paradox,
for God calls them to do something that, in fact, only God can do. Ultimately,
spiritual leaders cannot produce spiritual change in people; only the Holy Spirit can
accomplish this. Yet the Spirit often uses people to bring about spiritual growth in
others.

Spiritual leadership involves intrinsically motivating and inspiring workers through

hope/faith in a vision of service to key stakeholders and a corporate culture based on the
values of altruistic love to produce a highly motivated, committed and productive workforce.
The purpose of spiritual leadership is to tap into the fundamental needs of both leaders and
followers for spiritual well-being through calling (life has meaning and makes a difference)
and membership (belonging); to create vision and value congruence across the individual,
empowered team, and organization levels; and, ultimately, to foster higher levels of employee
well-being, organizational commitment, financial performance, and social responsibility – the
Triple Bottom Line.

What is a Learning Organization?

Spiritual leadership is a model for organizational development/transformation designed to
create an intrinsically motivated learning organization that maximizes the triple bottom line.
A learning organization has the skills to create, acquire, and transfer knowledge, while
modifying behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. In learning organizations
employees are empowered to achieve a clearly articulated organizational vision. Quality
products and services that exceed expectations also characterize learning organizations. This
new learning organizational paradigm is radically different from what has gone before: it is
customer/client-obsessed, team-based, flat (in structure), flexible (in capabilities), diverse (in
personnel make-up) and networked (working with many other organizations in a symbiotic
relationship) in alliances with suppliers, customers/clients and even competitors.

The employees of learning organizations are characterized by being open and generous risk-
takers who are capable of thinking in teams and motivating others to succeed. Furthermore,
they must be able to abandon old alliances and establish new ones, viewing honest mistakes

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as necessary to learning and celebrating the noble effort, while exhibiting a “do-what-it-
takes” attitude versus a “not-my-job” attitude. Committed leaders at all levels act as coaches
who constantly strive to listen, experiment, improve, innovate, and create new leaders. The
major challenge for the learning organization is developing, leading, motivating, organizing,
and retaining people to be committed to the organization’s vision, goals, and culture.

Take a minute and see if your company is a learning organization by answering the following
questions:

1. Do you have an emotional bond with your stakeholders? Companies that prosper
over the long term exude genuine affection for their customers and employees by
providing a feeling of membership so that individuals feel understood and
appreciated.
2. Are you a fun place to work? The most productive companies tend to be the most
playful. You don’t have to be downbeat to be disciplined. People are committed to an
organization where they feel like part of the family and are highly regarded by
leadership.
3. Are you built to change? The only certainty in business today is that change must
become a core capability in organizations that prosper over the long term. The best
organizations may look to the past as a source of inspiration, but they don’t allow it to
become an excuse for a lack of change. Instead, they pursue future productivity
through the implementation of innovative strategies.
4. Do you embrace the value of values? Today, more than ever, stakeholders demand
to know; What values do you stand for? The company with the clearest sense of
purpose wins. The heart of an organization’s success must include altruistic love – a
sense of wholeness, harmony, and well being embraced through care, concern, and
appreciation of both self and others.
5. Are you as disciplined as you are creative? In successful organizations there is no
contradiction between creativity and execution. Indeed, the most innovative
companies tend to be the most disciplined through a clear and compelling vision.
6. Do you use technology to change expectations and reshape your business? The
Internet has become the most powerful tool for business experimentation ever. It
transforms the learning organization – how people work together and how
organizations interact with customers. There is no hope/faith in the economics of an
organization disrupted by the fear-led, bureaucratic, hierarchy that can’t keep pace in
this chaotic Internet-driven environment.
7. Have you built a company of leaders? The organizations with the most confident
and committed leaders, deepest in the ranks – Win! A learning organizations creates
empowered teams and gives them the resources and freedom to maneuver outside the
established hierarchy. It pushes decision-making authority deep into the ranks,
providing employees with a sense of purpose and belonging. In doing so everyone has
the opportunity to lead to the point that the distinction between leader and follower
becomes blurred.

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What is Workplace Spiritualty and how does it fit in with
religion?
A person’s spirit is the vital principle or animating force traditionally believed to be the
intangible, life-affirming force within all human beings. It is a state of intimate relationship
with the inner self of higher values and morality as well as recognition of the truth of the
inner nature of others. Today many individuals are struggling with what their spirituality
means for their work since this is where they spend vast majority of their waking hours. The
office is now where more and more people eat, exercise, date, drop their kids, and even nap.
Many naturally look to their organizations as a communal center because they lack the
continuity and connection found in other settings. Moreover, recent polls have found that
American managers and leaders want a deeper sense of meaning and fulfillment on the job –
even more than they want money and time off.

A Call for Workplace Spirituality

Because of this, a major change is taking place in the personal and professional lives of
leaders as many of them more deeply integrate their spirituality and their work. Many agree
that this integration is leading to very positive changes in their relationships and their
effectiveness. There is also evidence that workplace spirituality programs not only lead to
beneficial personal outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, and commitment, but that
they also deliver improved productivity and reduce absenteeism and turnover. Employees
who work for organizations they consider to be spiritual are less fearful, more ethical, and
more committed. And, there is mounting evidence that a more humane workplace is more
productive, flexible and creative. Most importantly for organizational effectiveness is the
emerging research that that workplace spirituality could be the ultimate competitive
advantage. Because of this, there is an emerging and accelerating call for spirituality in the
workplace.

Workplace spirituality is not about religion or conversion, or about accepting a specific belief
system. Spirituality at work is about leaders and followers who understand themselves as
spiritual beings who have a sense of calling that provides meaning and purpose for their lives.
It is also about membership where people experience a sense of belonging, connectedness to
one another and their workplace community. It begins with the acknowledgement that people
have both an inner and an outer life and that the nourishment of the inner life can produce a
more meaningful and productive outer life that can have beneficial consequences for
employee well-being, corporate responsibility and sustainability, as well as financial
performance – The triple bottom line.

Religion and Spirituality

The respected Dalai Lama, in Ethics for the New Millennium, speaks to the relationship
between spirituality and religion.

Religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims of one faith tradition or another, an
aspect of which is the acceptance of some form of heaven or nirvana. Connected with this
are religious teachings or dogma, ritual prayer, and so on. Spirituality I take to be

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concerned with those qualities of the human spirit—such as love and compassion, patience
tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony—which
brings happiness to both self and others.

Spirituality as manifested through these qualities provides the foundation for most, if not all,
of the world’s spiritual and religious traditions. Both non-denominational spiritual practices
and world religions all are fundamentally based on hope/faith in a vision of love and service
of others. This explains what some people and organizations (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous)
mean when they claim to be spiritual and not religious. Consequently, spiritual leadership can
be implemented and practiced with or without religious theory, beliefs, and practices. In our
work on leadership we have chosen to use the term spirituality to allow for its application to
any organization interested in implementing workplace spirituality. However, this is in no
way meant to imply that nondenominational or nontheistic spiritual practices are superior to
the religious traditions and their beliefs and practices.

How does the Spiritual Leadership Model work?

Spiritual leadership is an emerging paradigm within the broader context of workplace
spirituality designed to create an intrinsically motivated, learning organization. Spiritual
leadership comprises the values, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to intrinsically motivate
one’s self and satisfy fundamental needs for spiritual well-being through calling and
membership, which positively influences employee well-being, sustainability and corporate
social responsibility, and financial performance – the Triple Bottom Line.

Essential to spiritual leadership is:

1. Creating a vision wherein leaders and followers experience a sense of calling so that
their lives have purpose, meaning and makes a difference, and
2. Establishing a organizational culture based on the values of altruistic love whereby
leaders and followers have a sense of membership, feel understood and appreciated,
and have genuine care, concern, and appreciation for BOTH self and others.

As shown in the figure below, the source of spiritual leadership is an inner life or spiritual
practice, such as spending time in nature, prayer, religious practice, meditation, reading,
yoga, or writing in a journal. An inner life practice positively influences spiritual leadership
through the development of hope and faith in a transcendent vision of service to key
stakeholders that keeps followers looking forward to the future. Hope/faith in a clear,
compelling vision produces a sense of calling – that part of spiritual well-being that gives one
a sense of making a difference and, therefore, that one’s life has meaning. Spiritual leadership
also requires that the organization’s culture be based on the values of altruistic love. Leaders
must model these values through their attitudes and behavior, which creates a sense of
membership – that part of spiritual well-being that gives one a sense of being understood and
appreciated. The dimensions of spiritual leadership and the process of satisfying spiritual
needs then positively influence the key individual and organizational outcomes that comprise
the Triple Bottom Line.

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The Organizational Spiritual Leadership Model

Personal vs. Organizational Spiritual Leadership

An important distinction we make in spiritual leadership is between leading (personal
spiritual leadership) and leadership (organizational spiritual leadership). Leading is concerned
with leader development of personal spiritual leadership (PSL) where the emphasis is
typically on individual knowledge, and skills and abilities associated with a formal leadership
role, as well as the directional influence of leaders on followers.

Leadership is concerned with organizational spiritual leadership development (OSL) where

the focus is on the collective social influence process that engages everyone and enables
groups of people to work together in meaningful ways. Organizational Spiritual Leadership
emphasizes a less leader-centric approach, focusing on engaging all group members to meet
spiritual needs and enhance organizational commitment and performance. In this way, each
person exercising positive influence enhancing the group’s calling, membership, and
performance is considered a leader. Spiritual leadership is thus both a cause and effect as
group members interact and various formal and informal leaders in the group emerge.

The Components of the Spiritual Leadership Model

Spiritual leadership, with inner life as its source, emerges from the interaction of, hope/faith,
vision, and altruistic love.

The Qualities of Spiritual Leadership

Vision

 Broad Appeal to Key Stakeholders

 Defines the Destination and Journey
 Reflects High Ideals
 Encourages Hope/Faith
 Establishes Standard of Excellence

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Altruistic Love

 Trust/Loyalty
 Forgiveness/Acceptance/ Gratitude
 Integrity
 Honesty
 Courage
 Humility
 Kindness
 Compassion
 Patience/Meekness/Endurance
 Excellence
 Fun

Hope/Faith

 Endurance
 Perseverance
 Do What it Takes
 Stretch Goals
 Expectation of reward/victory
 Excellence

Inner Life
An inner life or spiritual practice is important in the process of enabling personal spiritual
leadership and facilitating work that is meaningful and takes place in the context of a
community. Many companies are beginning to recognize the importance of supporting an
employees’ inner life. Cordon Bleu-Tomasso Corporation has established a room for inner
silence. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd’s (ANZ) have developed training
programs focusing on “High Performance” mind techniques and “quiet rooms” for individual
spiritual practice. Missouri’s Ascension Health is committed to a workplace that deepens
personal spirituality through the adoption of an ethical discernment process that fosters self-
reflection. These organizations and many others recognize that employees have spiritual
needs (i.e., an inner life) just as they have physical, mental, and emotional needs, and none of
these needs are left at the door when they arrive at work.

Spiritual Leadership
Hope/Faith. Hope is a desire with expectation of fulfillment. Faith adds certainty to hope.
Taken together, Hope/Faith is a firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. It is
based on values, attitudes, and behaviors that demonstrate absolute certainty and trust that
what is desired and expected will come to pass. Individuals with Hope/Faith have a vision of
where they are going, and how to get there. They are willing to face opposition and endure
hardships and suffering in order to achieve their goals. Hope/Faith is also the source for the
conviction that the vision, either personal or organizational, will be fulfilled. In action
Hope/Faith is like a race that has two essential components–the victory (vision) and the joy

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preparing for the race itself. Both components are necessary and essential elements of
Hope/Faith to generate the necessary effort to pursue the vision.

Vision. Vision refers to a picture of the future with some implicit or explicit commentary on
why people should strive to create that future. Tomasso Corporation’s vision of “Joyful and
Passionate People Serving Enthusiastic Customers is an example. In motivating change,
vision serves three important functions by clarifying the general direction of change,
simplifying hundreds or thousands of more detailed decisions, and helping to quickly and
efficiently coordinate the actions of group members. Moreover, a compelling vision energizes
workers, gives meaning to work, and garners commitment, and establishes a standard of
excellence. In mobilizing people a vision must have broad appeal, define the organizations
destination and journey, reflect high ideals, and encourage hope and faith.

Altruistic Love. For spiritual leadership, altruistic love is defined as a sense of wholeness,
harmony, and well-being produced through care, concern, and appreciation for both self and
others. There are great emotional and psychological benefits from separating love, or care
and concern for others, from need, which is the essence of giving and receiving
unconditionally. Both medicine and the field of positive psychology have begun to study and
confirm that love has the power to overcome the negative influence of destructive emotions
such as resentment, anger, worry, and fear. Altruistic love defines the set of key values,
assumptions, understandings and ways of thinking considered to be morally right that are
shared by group members and taught to new members (See Table 1). Spiritual leaders
embody and abide in these values through their everyday attitudes and behavior. (Keep
reading for more on the values of altruistic love.)

Spiritual Well-Being
Calling. Calling refers to the experience of transcendence or how one makes a difference
through service to others and, in doing so, finds meaning and purpose in life. Many people
seek not only competence and mastery to realize their full potential through their work but
also a sense that work has some social meaning or value. The term calling has long been used
as one of the defining characteristics of a professional. Professionals in general have expertise
in a specialized body of knowledge, ethics centered on selfless service to clients/customers,
an obligation to maintain quality standards within the profession, a commitment or calling to
their vocational field, a dedication to their work, and a strong commitment to their careers.
They believe their chosen profession is valuable, even essential to society, and they are proud
to be a member of it. The challenge for organizational leaders, which is addressed through the
spiritual leadership model, is how to develop this same sense of calling in its workers through
task involvement and goal identification.

Membership. Membership encompasses a sense of belonging and community; The cultural

and social structures we are immersed in and through which we seek, what William James,
the founder of modern psychology called man’s most fundamental need – to be understood
and appreciated. Having a sense of being understood and appreciated is largely a matter of
interrelationships and connection through social interaction and thus membership. At work,
people value their affiliations and being interconnected to feel part of a larger community. As
we devote ourselves to social groups, membership extends the meaning of our personality by
enmeshing it in a network of social connections that goes out as far as the group has influence
and power, and backwards and forwards in relations to its history. Ultimately, we grow

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greater, longer lived, more meaningful in proportion as we identify ourselves with the larger
social life that surrounds us.

Cultivating Personal Spiritual Leadership

There is an old saying that you can’t lead others if you can’t lead yourself. It is therefore
difficult, if not impossible, to implement organizational spiritual leadership without strong
personal spiritual leadership. As shown below, personal spiritual leadership requires an
inner life practice that is the source of hope/faith in a vision of service of others through
personal values based on altruistic love. By committing to a vision of service to our key
stakeholders, we discover a calling to make a difference in other peoples’ lives and, therefore,
have a sense that our life has meaning and purpose. In living the values of altruistic love
through the care, concern, and appreciation of both one’s self and others, we experience
membership and a sense of belonging and being understood and appreciated. The combined
experiences of calling and membership are the essence of spiritual well-being, which is the
source of the individual outcomes of personal spiritual leadership – personal commitment and
productivity, positive human health, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction.

The Personal Spiritual Leadership Model

Exploring Your Personal Spiritual Leadership

Chapters three and six in, Maximizing the Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual Leadership,
are dedicated to exploring the essence of the spiritual journey and developing the qualities of
personal spiritual leadership. Personal spiritual leadership is a developmental process that
follow the process of the Personal Spiritual Leadership Model. This approach assumes that all
people are naturally creative, resourceful and whole. As such,cultivating personal spiritual
leadership practice requires a discernment process of powerful questioning, co-creation, and
visioning to deepen spirituality and connect that deepening to daily action in your
organization.

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Personal spiritual leadership is a process built on specific practices and is also fluid and
uniquely individual. It is a path of both spiritual deepening as you explore the meaning and
practical daily application of both personal and organizational spiritual leadership. Personal
spiritual leadership however is not a form of psychoanalysis, although it is a path to self
discovery. It specifically focuses on the inner life and spiritual leadership components of the
personal spiritual leadership model that, in combination, creates hope/faith in a transcendent
vision of service to others through altruistic love.

Step One: Cultivating One’s Inner Life Through Mindfulness

Cultivating one’s inner life is a process of understanding and tapping into, a power greater
than ourselves along with how to draw on that power to live a more satisfying and full outer
life. It speaks to the feelings individuals have about the fundamental meaning of who they
are, what they are doing, and the contributions they are making. Inner life is the source of
both Personal Spiritual Leadership which includes individual practices (e.g., meditation,
prayer, yoga, journaling, and walking in nature) and Organizational Spiritual Leadership
which supports contexts (e.g., rooms for inner silence and reflection) that help individuals to
be more mindful or self-aware and conscious from moment-to-moment.

In this phase of the personal spiritual leadership process you discover or reinforce your
current inner life practice and its importance for the spiritual journey within the framework of
the Personal Spiritual Leadership Model. This includes, as is covered in Maximizing the
Triple bottom Line Through Spiritual leadership, exploring the spiritual journey as a
pilgrimage through five Levels of Knowing and Being and the Three-fold Path of Spiritual
Transformation. Essential to this journey is cultivating mindfulness and mindful awareness
Mindful awareness is a process of waking up and becoming the “Watcher”; of being present
in the now. This Watcher is your true Essence or Being. One cannot see clearly nor have an
accurate view of reality if their emotional programs for happiness and cultural conditioning
are clouding their awareness. Being mindfully aware is to discover new insights and
possibilities, to awaken one’s capacity to live more wisely, more lovingly, and more fully.
One way that is used to begin this journey is through the use of the Enneagram. To get a feel
for how this works you may want to explore the Enneagram web site as well as take one of
the free Enneagram self-assessments.

Step Two: The Personal Mission Statement: Spiritual Leadership in Daily Action

As we draw more and more strength from our inner life practice, we experience an inner
resurrection that is manifested through the qualities of personal spiritual leadership. However,
this manifestation cannot take place without a vision or destination and a compass (a set of
values and moral principles). Mindful awareness as a result of our inner life practice gives us
the hope/faith to re-script ourselves so the paradigms from which our attitudes and behavior
flow are in harmony with our vision, purpose, and mission in life and congruent with our
deepest values. The most effective way to begin this re-scripting process is through a
personal mission statement, which provides both a foundation and guidance for developing
the qualities of personal spiritual leadership.

An effective personal mission statement requires vision, purpose, mission and value
statements that form the basis for our ethical system and the personal values based in
altruistic love underlying it. It identifies our key stakeholders and their expectations, issues
related to unmet stakeholder expectations, and a set of integrated goals and strategies to
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resolve these issues. Taken together, a spiritual program and personal mission statement
provide a deep sense of peace and security from knowing that our vision and values are
timeless, circumstance free, and do not change. They transcend people and circumstances
encouraging us to validate them through the practice of personal and organizational spiritual
leadership.

Example of worksheets that can be used as an aid in this process are given in chapter 6 of
Maximizing The Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual Leadership and are also available as
part of our product/workshop offerings.

Values of Altruistic Love

These values define altruistic love provide the foundation for the Spiritual Leadership Model
and IISL’s culture as we work to exceed the expectations of our key stakeholders.

Honesty – we seek the truth, rejoice in it, and base our actions on it.

Integrity – we walk the walk as well as talk the talk. We say what we do and do what we say
and, if for some reason we can’t do this, we let you know as soon as possible

Humility – we are modest, courteous, and without false pride. We are not jealous, rude or
arrogant and do not brag.

Courage – we have the firmness of mind and will as well as the mental and moral strength to
maintain our morale and prevail in the face of extreme difficulty, opposition, threat, danger,
hardship, and fear.

Kindness – we are considerate, humane and sympathetic to the feelings and needs of others.

Empathy/Compassion – we read and understand the feelings of others. When others are
suffering we understand and want to do something about it.

Patience/Meekness/Endurance – we bear trials and/or pain calmly and without complaint.

We persist in or remain constant to any purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or
discouragement. We pursue steadily any project or course we begin and never quit in spite of
counter influences, opposition, discouragement or suffering.

Trust/Loyalty – in our chosen relationships, we are faithful and have faith in and rely on the
character, ability, strength and truth of others. We recognize, rejoice in, and celebrate the
noble efforts of others.

Forgiveness/Acceptance/Gratitude – we suffer not the burden of failed expectations,

gossip, jealousy, hatred, or revenge. Instead, we choose the power of forgiveness through
acceptance and gratitude. This frees us from the evils of self-will, judging others, resentment,
self-pity, and anger and gives us serenity, joy and peace.

Excellence – we “do what it takes” to get the job done in meeting the needs and striving to
exceed the expectations of those we serve through continuous innovation and improvement.
We know that it takes 10% more effort to do a job right the first time and 90% more effort to

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do it over. We recognize, rejoice in, and celebrate the noble efforts of our colleagues and
clients.

Fun – enjoyment, fun, and playful activity must exist in order to stimulate minds, foster
creativity and bring happiness and a sense of well-being to one’s place of work. We therefore
view our daily activities and work as not to be dreaded yet as reasons for smiling and having
a terrific day in serving others.

How does Spiritual Leadership maximize the Triple Bottom

Line?

Organizations that focus on sustainability and strategic performance measurement have been
at the forefront of the movement to maximize the Triple Bottom Line. They stress the need
for a new business model that emphasizes nonfinancial predictors of financial performance
such as leadership, operating/internal measures, quality, customer satisfaction, employee
well-being, and social responsibility. Measuring organizational performance in this new way
requires the adoption of a stakeholder approach. Organizations need to embrace the various
internal and external parties that have a legitimate strategic and moral stake in the
organizations performance. These stakeholders have different values, interests, and
expectations as well as different relationships with other individuals, groups and
organizations. The main purpose of the stakeholder approach is to define the common good
of the organization, while meeting the needs and safeguarding the rights of the various
stakeholders. By achieving congruence between customer, worker, and other stakeholder
values and expectations, leaders will enhance, rather than detract from, corporate
profitability.

The Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard

Business Model
The Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model given in Figure 1 draws from
the latest developments of the Baldrige and Balanced Scorecard approaches to performance
excellence. It emphasizes stakeholder satisfaction and the spiritual leadership model as key to
maximizing the Triple Bottom Line. Strategic leaders — through choices about vision,
purpose, mission, strategy, and their implementation — are responsible for creating vision
and value congruence across all organizational levels. In the upper third of Figure 1, the
strategic management process is shown beginning with the development of a vision, purpose,
and mission, followed by an internal and external analysis, which results in strategic action
plans and objectives. These objectives form basis for the leading and lagging indicators that
are selected for key Balanced Scorecard Performance Categories.

Leading indicators and management metrics are used to measure the performance of ongoing
company operations, which are depicted in the figure’s input/output model in the center third
of Figure 1. Generally, the more strategic the level of the scorecard in the organizational
chart, the more results oriented and lagging are the specific measures that are reported in the
scorecard. These measures comprise the quality, customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and

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financial Balanced Scorecard Performance Categories. For example, the quality of a firm’s
products and services are outputs that are leading indicators of customer satisfaction, which
in turn, is a leading indicator of financial performance. However, quality is also a lagging
indicator of the efficiency and effectiveness of the organizations key production processes.

In the bottom third of the Figure 1, employee learning and growth, which is the central
balanced scorecard performance category, is driven by the spiritual leadership process. This
is because the learning and growth category is a leading indicator and drives the other
performance categories. As shown by the dotted line from the learning and growth category
to processes, employees who have a sense of well-being and are committed, productive, and
socially responsible will strive to continuously improve organizational processes and produce
quality products and services that satisfy customers and other key stakeholders expectations,
which ultimately drives financial performance. In turn, the learning and growth outcomes of
organizational commitment and productivity, employee well-being and social responsibility
are driven by the organizational spiritual leadership process. As shown by the dotted line
between the strategic management and spiritual leadership processes, strategic leaders must
provide the supportive context for the spiritual leadership model to operate effectively across
the individual, team, and organizational levels.

Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model

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Triple Bottom Line Outcomes
The Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model demonstrates the link from
spiritual leadership to financial performance. Relative to organizational performance and
profits, the intrinsic motivation process in Spiritual Leadership that is based on vision,
altruistic love and hope/faith results in an increase in ones sense of Spiritual Well-Being and
ultimately increased:

Member well-being (People). In terms of people or enhancing employee well-being,

mainstream medical research during the last 20 years has established the power of spirituality
in maintaining health. Individuals in work groups that experience high levels of spiritual
leadership and spiritual well-being through calling and membership have higher levels of
positive human health, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction. More specifically, they
have a higher regard for themselves and their past life, good-quality relationships with others,
a sense that life is purposeful and meaningful, the capacity to effectively manage their
surrounding world, the ability to follow inner convictions, and a sense of continuing growth
and self-realization.

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (Planet). Attending to the sustainability of

our planet requires an ongoing commitment to corporate social responsibility. Organizations
based on hope/faith in a vision of service to stakeholders through altruistic love (spiritual
leadership) are dedicated to being socially responsible. Corporate social responsibility feeds
into and flows from the attainment of goals consistent with need for the organization and its
workers to function in society as a whole. When members of an organization have a sense of
belonging (membership) and a commitment to a common purpose (calling) through spiritual
leadership, the organization as a whole is more successful in meeting or exceeding all
stakeholder expectations, including those focused on sustainability and corporate social
responsibility.

Profit. The field of performance excellence has signaled the need to go beyond reporting
financial metrics, such as profit and sales growth, to include nonfinancial predictors of
financial performance such as customer satisfaction, organizational outputs such as quality
and delivery, process or internal operating measures, and employee commitment and growth.
Of these performance categories, employee commitment is the central and leading indicator
of these other performance categories. In other words spiritual leadership positively
influences:

1. Organizational commitment – People with a sense of calling and membership will

become attached, loyal to, and want to stay in organizations that have cultures based
on the values of altruistic love, and
2. Productivity and continuous improvement – People who have hope/faith in the
organization’s vision and who experience calling and membership will “Do what it
takes” in pursuit of the vision to continuously improve and be more productive.

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Organizational commitment and productivity are then key for producing a high level of
quality products and services, which then leads to high levels of customer satisfaction and,
ultimately, financial performance – the triple bottom line.

How do I implement Organizational Spiritual

Leadership?
As detailed in our book, Maximizing the Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual Leadership,
the key activities that are necessary to implement the Organizational Spiritual Leadership
Model include:

 Administer Organizational Spiritual Leadership Survey.

 Conduct Vision/Stakeholder effectiveness analysis with the organization’s leadership
team to:
o Create a dialog for shared organizational vision/purpose/mission/values.
o Identify stakeholder effectiveness criteria and issues.
o Organize empowered teams/task forces around key issues.
o Develop and implement goals and strategies to address these issues.
o Review/develop information systems to measure stakeholder effectiveness.
 As appropriate, conduct Organizational Development Interventions and skills training
in:
o Team empowerment
o Collaborative, consensus-based decision making.
o Managing conflict.
o Managing and overcoming resistance to change.
o Overcoming anger, resentment and fear through forgiveness, acceptance, and
gratitude.
 Align changes with organization design variables; especially reward systems, 360
degree and stakeholder evaluations, and recruiting and selection processes. Identify
those who must be asked to leave and help them exit (with love).
 Develop and implement information systems based on the Spiritual Leadership
Balanced Scorecard Business Model to maximize the triple bottom line through
spiritual leadership.

These practices (1) reinforce/establish organizational spiritual leadership through a vision of

service to key stakeholders and a culture of care and concern based on the values of altruistic
love, (2) identify key stakeholder expectations, (3) surface issues and barriers to
meeting/exceeding these expectations, and (4) establish goals, strategies, and quality-based
information systems to track progress on meaningful performance measures.

The Organizational Spiritual Leadership Survey and

Vision/Stakeholder Effectiveness Analysis
For organizational spiritual leadership we recommend that you first administer the Spiritual
Leadership Survey and then conduct a Vision/Stakeholder Effectiveness Analysis with your
organizations top leadership team before undertaking any organizational change initiatives. A
broad range of standardized and custom surveys and feedback reports are available for
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purchase online. The results of theses surveys, when combined with the vision/stakeholder
effectiveness analysis, can provide tremendous insights into your organizations current level
of Organizational Spiritual Leadership plus surface key issues that, if addressed, will move
your organization to the next level of performance.

Organizational Development Interventions and Skills Training

Organizational development (OD) is the planned development, improvement and

reinforcement of strategies, structures, and processes that lead to organizational effectiveness.
Organizational development interventions based on organizational spiritual leadership should
not be initiated until the organization has established a baseline for intervention after
administering the spiritual leadership survey and conducted a thorough vision/stakeholder
effectiveness analysis that, in combination, identify the key issues that, if addressed, will
move the organization to the next level of performance and the triple bottom line.

Common OD interventions include implementing elements of team empowerment;

collaborative, consensus-based decision making; managing conflict, managing and
overcoming resistance to change; and overcoming anger, resentment, worry, and fear through
forgiveness acceptance, and gratitude. Finally, these changes must be aligned with key
organizational design variables.

Team Empowerment

Empowerment is power sharing through the delegation of power and authority. It creates the
cross-level connection between team and individual jobs and provides the basis for strong
intrinsic motivation while meeting the higher-order needs of individuals. Empowered
employees are more committed to the organization through trust, hope, and faith in the
organization’s vision and values. In particular:

 Empowered teams receive information about organizational performance.

 Employees receive knowledge and skills to contribute to organizational goals.
 Employees have the power to make substantive decisions.
 Employees understand the meaning and impact of their jobs.
 Employees are rewarded based upon organizational performance.

Managing Conflict

Conflict pervades our daily lives. As if the workplace weren’t busy enough, research shows
that managers and employees spend about 20% of their time attempting to resolve conflicts in
the organization. Conflicts take many forms in organizations. There are the inevitable clashes
between formal authority and power, how resources should be allocated, how the work
should be done, including jurisdictional disagreements among individuals and departments.
These include subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes, and
struggles for power and favor. Organizational conflict though is not all bad. It can be positive
and seen as a constructive learning experience that creates involvement and positive
relationships that lead to improved communication and problem solving. Yet it can also be a
destructive force that diverts energy from tasks and widens differences creating irresponsible
behavior, lower morale, with reduced commitment and productivity.

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As we discuss in Maximizing the Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual Leadership,
implementing this organizational development intervention requires the team members or
individuals to assess and understand their conflict style and under what conditions or
circumstances a certain style is appropriate. Team leaders then model an ongoing process
whereby conflict situations are acknowledged and team members are encouraged to dialogue
about the conflict process and how to best resolve it.

Collaborative, Consensus-based Decision Making

The fundamental building block of a learning organization is an empowered team that

encourages constructive collaboration as key to effective decision making. As we illustrate in
Maximizing the Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual Leadership, a collaborative, consensus-
based process is not about reaching unanimity, but rather a situation where each party is
open-minded, honest in sharing facts and opinions, and willing to participate responsibly and
work toward satisfying both their and the other party’s needs. Consensus is based on the
principle that every voice is worth hearing and every concern is justified. The focus here is on
common ends or goals rather than differences, placing emphasis on addressing the issue
rather than defeating the other party. Without consensus the quality, acceptance and the
implementation and effectiveness of team decisions will suffer.

Managing and Overcoming Resistance to Change

One of the biggest problems facing today’s organizations is the failure to adapt to rapid
technological and environmental change. Although there are many reasons for the failure to
change and adapt, there is little doubt that effective leadership is necessary to keep change
efforts moving forward. Leaders must serve as the main role model for change and provide
the vision, values, and motivation to facilitate change in followers and help their
organizations adapt to external threats and new opportunities. For change initiatives to
succeed there must be a shared understanding of the stages in the change process and top
leadership commitment to empowering employees and change teams throughout the
organization to act on the vision for change.

Many good ideas are never implemented due to failure to anticipate or prepare for resistance
to change because, no matter how good the idea, its implementation will conflict with some
party’s interest and jeopardize current alliances in the organization. These conflicts, threats,
and potential losses require strategies to increase the probability of a successful change
transition. This calls for widespread communication, participation, involvement, and training
(e.g., in the interventions we cover in Maximizing the Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual
leadership) to help employees understand and be enthusiastic about their role in the change
process.

Overcoming Resentment, Anger and Fear through Forgiveness, Acceptance, and

Gratitude

Anger, resentment and fear are the most damaging emotions in personal and professional life.
They emerge when people have frustrated feelings about a past or future situation. If the
spiritual leadership survey reveals that there are problems with employee anger, resentment,
worry, and fear, the organization may need to emphasize interventions that target the cultural
values of forgiveness, acceptance, and gratitude. This OD intervention is detailed in
Maximizing The Triple Bottom Line Through Spiritual Leadership, which provides models,
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methods, and tools that both leaders and employees can draw upon to become free of anger,
resentment, worry, and fear no matter what their circumstances.

Align Organization Design Variables

An organization will then need to focus on aligning key organizational design variables to
implement any changes. The basic idea behind organizational design is that there are several
key variables – structure, task, information technology, people, and reward systems – that
must fit or be in alignment for an organization to implement its vision, values, goals, and
strategies. A change in any one of the design variables will call for adjustments in the others
as they all must form an integrated whole or system. The values that comprise the
organization’s culture form the glue that holds the system. Ultimately, change is fully
accepted and implemented when it is steeped in the organization’s culture and becomes “the
way we do things around here.” Until the new behaviors are rooted in social norms and
shared values, the organization will digress as soon as the pressure for change is removed.
This stage requires that leaders make a conscious attempt to communicate how the new
approaches, behaviors and attitudes have improved organizational performance. It also
requires that the people and reward system design variables are adjusted so that the next
generation of leaders really reflects the new order. This is where many, if not most,
organizational change efforts fail.

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