Custom essays, dissertations, coursework & essay help from the UK's original custom essay writing services provider
Free Essays - Management Essays
Critically examine the movement 'towards spirituality in leadership' and assess the contribution of this approach to developing theories of strategic business leadership.
Introduction
The study of leadership has been an area of interest to humankind for centuries. This interest can be traced back to Hippocrates' 400 BC writing on personality types based on body humour,¯ and Plato's establishment of the first leadership training centres in 386 BC. With more than 2000 books a year published on the subject, and a plethora of leadership models and theories available, it is a bewildering field of study that emphasises the increasing need to understand the complexity and rapidity of change facing modern enterprise. (Higgs, 2002 and Mullins, 1999)
Higgs, 2002, argues that there are four primary drivers of interest in leadership. Firstly, evolving societal values combined with significant economic and organisational developments have led to a scarcity of skilled resources which in turn has led to the need to engage employees differently in order to retain and motivate talent. Secondly, there has been a change in investor focus with investment decisions increasingly being influenced by intangibles such as the quality, probity, and depth of leadership, linked in a complex fashion to emerging social responsibility concerns and governance frameworks. Thirdly, organisational change to secure competitive advantage is constant in most international and domestic enterprises.
This must be linked to effective leadership if successful outcomes of the change process are to be realised. Lastly, the impact of productivity measures, benchmarking and continuous improvement programmes create increasing stress pressures on employees and in so doing reduce productivity and negatively affect work life balance. Arguably, the behaviour of leaders under these circumstances influences the level of stress, and an organisation's culture.
The main theme of this essay is the emergence of the role of spirituality in the workplace and its impact on strategic leadership and organisational transformation theory. It is therefore necessary to review the development of thinking on leadership to give context to the discussion.
Theoretical Overview
The research based study of leadership began in the United States of America (USA) during the 1930's. Early work focused on qualities or traits of leadership that assumed leaders were born not made. The research was controversial in respect of methodology and underlying assumptions that sought to identify inherited characteristics or personality traits that would pinpoint leaders of the future. The focus of the approach was on the person in the position, rather than the position itself. In contrast, the behavioural school that gained momentum thereafter assumed that leadership skills could be learnt and developed. It gave attention to the types of behaviours of people in leadership positions, what the leader actually does, the nature of the group, the influence on performance, and the range of behaviour and leadership styles.
A third school of situational or contingency theorists then emerged, whose focus was based on the underlying assumption that the leader and leadership context is determinable and can be categorised. The implication was that not every leader is suited to every context and the individual must develop heightened self awareness and situation specific analytical skills to operate successfully. (Mullins, 1999 and Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 1999)
Late 20th century trends of leadership research focussed on what leaders actually do, the determinants of leadership effectiveness, including the impact of leaders on followers, and related performance issues. Arguably the trend for competency based recruitment processes, psychometric profiling and type indicator tests such as the Myer-Briggs, have their roots in trait theory. Equally so, the popular work of Goleman, (2002) on emotional intelligence, Burns and Bass's work on transformational leadership, and the attribution of charisma to a leader by Kanungo and Conger, (1998) can be considered as an advanced forms of traits study. (Mullins, 1999 and Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 1999)
Similarly, work founded in the behaviourist school by Lipman-Blumen, (1992), explores the human need for leadership that is born out of childhood influences, and explains how these relate to leadership style. An extension of her work is the connective leadership model suggesting that interdependence and diversity are pulling workforces in opposite directions and rendering traditional styles of leadership obsolete. Organisations are seen to be interdependent in a political, environmental, and economic sense, while diversity is seen in individualism, ethnic pride, and racially-mixed workforces.
With the ongoing acquisitions and mergers frenzy, and a decline in union power, management and unions have slowly learned about interdependence. She argues that connective leaders have priorities beyond profit maximisation, and use what the author terms denatured Machiavellianism¯ that means leaders use themselves and others as instruments to help reach principled and ethical goals. Another example is Kouze and Pozner's 1998 work on elements of effective leadership from a follower's perspective.
Kotter's 1990 differentiation between leaders and managers links into Bass's transformational model which identifies different sets of behaviours and characteristics (transformational versus transactional leadership) required in situations of organisational transformation in contrast to situations of stability. Transformational leadership is considered charismatic and inspirational by providing a common purpose or mission underpinned by intellectual stimulation and individualised concern for feelings, aspirations, and personal development.
Transactional leadership is more closely aligned with scientific management theory based on contingent reward and management by exception, when a delegated task or function is failing to meet expectations. The emphasis is on the notion of contrasting free will relationships with followers versus contracts with subordinates. Associated with this is the Greenleaf's 1977 concept of servant leadership or a long term transformational approach to life and work from a philosophical perspective based on teamwork and community. (Mullins, 1999 and Higgs, 2002)
There is a growing body of literature relating to the emotional aspects of organisational life, especially the aspect of emotional intelligence as an element of leadership. It is not within the scope of this essay to explore the concept in detail but important to note is Goleman's (1998) p317, definition of emotional intelligence, defined as a person's self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control, commitment and integrity, and a person's ability to communicate, influence, initiate change and accept change.¯ Goleman further describes a model of five dimensions with each area incorporating sets of behavioural attributes. (Goleman, 1998 and Higgs, 2002)
Kakabadse and Kakabadse (1999) take an integrative approach to leadership theory, with that of management, and the paradoxical combination of leadership with the practical requirement to management day to day activities in order to maintain the organisation. They identify seven sides of leadership representing leadership elements necessary for success and include a range of critical success factors including cultural, power, politics, and the role of demographics including gender and ethnicity.
The implication for the future research and development in leadership is a willingness to accept the integration of earlier theories with emerging thought and to accept the challenge that other factors such as spiritual leadership may present on both leadership and organisational development.
Defining Leadership
Stogdill, quoted in Yukl, 1989, p252, suggests, there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.¯ Yukl, (1989) states that leadership has been defined in terms of individual traits, leader behaviour, interaction patterns, role relationships, follower perceptions, influence on task goals and influence on organisational culture. This confirms the theoretical overview that a definitive model of leadership has yet to emerge.
Johnson and Scholes (2005), and Kakabadse and Kakabadse, (1999) suggest that strategic leadership within an organisation is not necessarily determined by hierarchal position but rather someone is who in a position to have influence. This flows from the transformational school of leadership theory which differentiates visionary leadership that energises organisations, from transactional leadership which manages design, process, and control.
Bryman, (1999) stares that there are three common elements in most definitions namely: influence, groups, and goals. In other words, leadership involves influencing other people, usually a group of a team, to work towards the achievement of a common goal. The enabling environment and culture through which the leader works, is the subject of organisational development and transformation. This commonality provides a basis for discussion of spiritual leadership.
Spiritual Leadership
A growing interest in spirituality in the workplace resulted in God making the front page¯ of Fortune Magazine in December 2001. (Klenke, 2003, p56) The article covered the revival of spirituality in the American workplace and the growing interest from leadership theorists and academics in the phenomenon. The trend from an individual perspective is attributed to increased time at the workplace, a quest for work-life balance, improved technology and the communications of ideas.
Covey, (1994) discussed the concept of a spiritual renaissance occurring within the business, whilst Zohar, a quantum physicist proposed a model of spiritual intelligence for effective leaders at a lecture at the Science and Consciousness conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in April 2001. A common theme is the notion that spirituality is at the core of leadership and facilitates the alignment of personal and organisational values to the strategic advantage of the organisation. (Klenke, 2003)
Tischler, Biberman and McKeage, (2002) suggest that human beings at work have spiritual needs that remain mostly unfulfilled. Organisations have for the most part left this aspect up to the individual worker to avoid negative aspects of evangelism, undue influence of subordinate workers and conflict with the profit motive.
Fairholm, (1996), was one of the first leadership scholars who put spirituality and leadership together. He defines spiritual leadership as a holistic approach that considers the full capacities, needs, and interests of both leaders and led,¯ (Fairburn, 1996, p12) Fairburn identifies eight elements of the spiritual leader process that are dynamically interrelated and include community, competence, stewardship, servanthood, visioning, and morality all of which link to themes in existing leadership literature. (Fairburn, 1996 and Klenke, 2003)
Attempts to integrate or incorporate spirituality into existing leadership theory present a number of challenges. These include the definition of spirituality itself, its relationship to leadership and the measurement thereof. Fairholm focuses on American Christian values that take no account of the multiple views of spirituality in the world. Korac-Kakabadse, Kouzmin, and Kakabadse, (2003) on the other hand suggest that spirituality and its application in the workplace should not be associated with any specific religious tradition and should incorporate elements of all religions. Another perspective is existential in nature in terms of the meaning of work and life. (Krishnakumar and Neck, 2002)
Definitions of spirituality therefore mirror the multiple definitions of leadership discussed by Yukl (1989). Important to note is that the spiritual leadership movement has drawn heavily on similarities with transformational leadership theory. Transformational leadership theory implies that moral and ethical standards influence leadership and the management of change in the organisation. This is echoed in Greenleaf and DePree's servant leadership framework that include elements of integrity and awareness of the human spirit. (Korac-Kakabadse, Kouzmin, and Kakabadse, 2003, and Klenke, 2003) Consensus in the meaning of both leadership and spirituality remain elusive.
The measurement of spirituality as a construct presents similar issues. Klenke (2003) states that there are over 150 instruments that purport to measure spirituality/religiosity and include measures of spiritual intelligence as well as spiritual well being and transcendence instruments. Although researchers have been refining measures of leadership for over 50 years, measures of spirituality have for the most part, yet to prove comparable psychometric qualities and often have serious problems such as validity, response bias and scale redundancy and should be approached with caution.¯ (Korac-Kakabadse, Kouzmin, and Kakabadse, 2003, p171)
Researchers have equally attempted to link spirituality and emotions in the context of the workplace and infer similarities between emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence and their impact. Tischler, Biberman and McKeage (2002) p204, suggest that people with a higher emotional intelligence (EI) quotient tend to have happier, healthier, more productive lives and do better at work¯. This was based on the definition of work success as being advancement in one's work organisation.¯ They argue similar outcomes where a definition of spirituality is used similarly to, or in ways related to emotional behaviours or attitudes.
A study by McCormick, cited in Tischler, Biberman and McKeage (2002), suggests that religion based spirituality in the workplace has positive causal outcomes based on the themes of compassion, selfless service and meditative work but the results could not be linked causally with EI.
The spirituality debate around nature versus nurture has equivalent pedagogic implications to that of leadership, leadership development, and hence organisational transformation. It is accepted practice that leadership can be taught as an academic subject, and that leadership skills can be acquired through personal reflection and life experience. A similar question is raised around the nature of spirituality and its interface with leadership in the context of the organisation. Thompson, (2002) reports that organisational performance and success may depend on spiritual enrichment from a values perspective and that spirited¯ organisations do better with respect to profitability and adds shareholder value. The link with spiritual leadership and values was however implicit rather than explicit. The complexity in a learning environment is therefore a mirror of that faced in a societal context. (Klenke, 2003)
Strategic Leadership
Strategic leadership demonstrates elements of transformational leadership in the definition of an organisation's vision, its core ideology, and desired future state. A vision statement forms the basis for a mission statement of enduring purpose for the organisation. A mission statement is sometimes called a creed statement detailing an organisation's self concept and philosophy. It represents the organisation's beliefs, principles, and values. Campbell and Yeung, (2004) cited in Johnson and Scholes, (2005) suggest that the mission statement should create an emotional bond and sense of mission between the organisation and its employees. (Johnson and Scholes, 2005)
Collins and Porras, (1996) elaborate that the core ideology and values inherent in a vision are analogous to religious principles and hence akin to spiritual leadership. They argue that vision establishes identity and adds meaning to the work place which in turn translates into improved productivity and by implication, superior long term performance. Collins and Porras, (1996) further suggest that strategic leadership involves intuition in times of uncertainty and that strategic management relies more on precedent. Korac-Kakabadse, Kouzmin, and Kakabadse, (2003), however, state that there is a reluctance to discuss intuition at executive level because it is seen as mysticism.
Cacioppe, (2000), argues that it is the alignment of individual values with those of the organisation, which integrates spirituality at work. He links the process to Senge's concept of a learning organisation that examines and questions the reason for its own existence as a basis for future survival. He suggests that the process provides undertones of a spiritual voice which allows the identification of common principles and truths of company culture. (Cacioppe, 2000, and Kakabadse, Kouzmin, and Kakabadse, 2003)
The strategic leadership process in this context has strong links with charismatic leadership in organisations as suggested by Kanungo and Conger, (1998). It is the visioning component, and innovation and unconventional approaches used to achieve the vision that characterise this type of leader. It is the visioning process itself, which has strong links with spiritual leadership. It has been argued that charismatic leadership is a parallel to transformational leadership but that charismatic leadership has strong elements of narcissism with ethical issues. (Johnson and Scholes, 2005)
Transformational leadership is the process of creating higher order motivation and commitment amongst followers. The emphasis is on the generation of a vision for the organisation and is dependant on the leader's ability to appeal to higher ideals and values, thus instilling feelings of justice, loyalty and trust that result in the pursuit of organisational goals above self interest. (Kakabadse, and Kakabadse, 1999 and Johnson and Scholes, 2005)
The literature on transformational leadership is linked to the long standing literature on virtue and moral character, as exemplified by major religious beliefs. It can also be linked to the major themes of the modern Western doctrines of liberty, utility, and justice. Power, corruption and deception, sophistry, and pretence in the exercising of transformational leadership, are attributed by Bass to pseudo-transformational leadership. Bass suggests that the strategic and moral foundations of authentic transformational leadership are transcendence, agency, trust, striving for the congruence of the values, cooperative action, power, persuasion, and corporate governance. (Bass and Steidlmeier, 1998)
Bass and Steidlmeier, (1998) further argue that the ethics of leadership rests upon the moral character of the leader, the ethical values embedded in the leader's vision and mission which followers either embrace or reject, as well as the morality of the processes of social and ethical choice that leaders and followers engage in and collectively pursue. The ethical dimensions of leadership have already been discussed in the concept of spiritual leadership and servant leadership frameworks. Authentic transformational leadership therefore provides a more reasonable and realistic concept of self that is connected to friends, family, and community whose welfare may be more important to oneself than one's own. As with servant leadership and connective leadership theory, moral obligations are grounded in a broader conception of individuals within the community and related social norms and cultural beliefs. (Bass and Steidlmeier, 1998)
Transformational leadership is therefore consistent with Judaic-Christian philosophical traditions on the leadership of the moral sage that suggest a trusting community is a pillar of the central life context. Similarly, Chinese ethics emphasise personal virtue and specifies proper conduct in family, kinship, and friendship as well as social equals, and between superiors and subordinates in socio-political organisations and institutions. The social and political order has always been seen as a moral issue and it plays a critical role in realising humanity's ethical destiny. Eastern leadership is generally based upon the concept of Confucian of inspirational motivation, which is the equivalent of charismatic leadership. (Dehler and Welsh, 1994 and Kakabadse, and Kakabadse, 1999)
It is a matter of modern Western moral concern that ideals should not be imposed, or coerced, and should go hand in hand with the freedom of spiritual choice. Ethical norms and behavioural ideals should not therefore be imposed and motivation should not be reduced to coercion, but grow out of authentic inner commitment to a strategic leadership vision freely accepted through a process of questioning and creativity. From a spiritual leadership perspective, followers should not be means to self-satisfying ends for the leader but should be treated as ends in themselves.
Conclusion
Work has become the centrepiece of life and the driver of societal values. This essay has considered the incorporation of spirituality into both the workplace and its application in strategic leadership as a discipline. It has reviewed the complex and bewildering field of leadership theory and focused on emerging leadership models that suggest the elements and characteristics of effective leadership.
The essay sounds a cautionary note in inferring links between empirically derived leadership constructs and the measurement thereof, with the largely inductive theoretical bases of spirituality, but argues strong similarities between those notions of spiritual leadership and those of strategic leadership founded on visionary and transformational leadership theory. It suggests that spirituality can be invoked ethically within business by means of visionary practice that is aligned both western and eastern philosophies that create advantage both for the organisation, and for the greater community of stakeholders that it serves.
Reference List
Bass, B. M. and Steidlmeier, P. (1998) Ethics, Character, and Authentic Transformational Leadership. New York, Centre for Leadership Studies, Binghamton University. www.cls.binghamton.edu.¯ Accessed 22 April 2005.
Bryman, A. (1999) Leadership in Organisations. Clegg, S., Hardy, C. and Nord, W. (eds.), Managing Organizations: Current Issues. Thousand Oaks, Sage.
Conger, J & A Kanungo, R N (1998) Charismatic Leadership in Organisations. London, Sage
Cacioppe, R. and Edwards, M. (2005) Seeking the Holy Grail of Organisational Development.¯ Leadership and Organisational Development Journal. Volume 26, 2.
Colins, J. C. and Porras, J. I. (1996) Building Your Company's Vision.¯ Harvard Business Review.
Covey, S. (1994) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, Simon and Schuster.
Fairholm, G. W. (1996) Spiritual Leadership: Fulfilling Whole-Self Needs at Work.¯ Leadership and Organisational Development Journal. Volume 17, 5.
Goleman, D (2002) The New Leaders. Little Brown.
Gould, M & Campbell, A (2002) Designing Effective Organisations. San Francisco, Jossey Bass.
Higgs, M. (2003) How Can We Make Sense of Leadership in the 21st Century?¯ Leadership and Organization Development Journal. Volume 24, 5.
Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy Seventh Edition. London, Prentice Hall.
Kakabadse, A. and Kakabadse, N. (1999) Essence of Leadership. London, International Thomson Business Press.
Klenke, K. (2003) The S Factor in Leadership Education, Practice and Research. Journal of Education for Business.
Korac-Kakabadse N., Kouzmin A., and Kakabadse A. (2003) Spirituality and Leadership Praxis.¯ Journal of Managerial Psychology. Volume 17, 3.
Krishnakumar, S. and Peck, C. P. (2002) The What, Why and How of Spirituality in the Workplace.¯ Journal of Managerial Psychology. Volume 17, 3.
Lipman-Blumen, J. (1992) Connective Leadership Female Leadership Styles for the 21st Century Workplace. www.achievingstyles.com. Accessed 22 April 2005.
Mullins, L. J. (1999) Management and Organisational Behaviour, Fifth Edition. London, Financial Times, Pitman Publishing.
Peterson, R. S. and Mannix, E. A. (2003) Leading and Managing People in Dynamic Organisations. Embaum.
Thompson, D. (2000) Can You Train People to be Spiritual?¯ Training and Development. Volume, 54, 12.
Tischler, L., Biberman, J and McKeage, R. (2002) Linking Emotional Intelligence, Spirituality and Workplace Performance.¯ Journal of Managerial Psychology. Volume 17, 3.
Yukl, G. (1989) Managerial Leadership: A Review of Theory and Research.¯ Journal of Management. Volume 15, 2.
Management Essays - Find your free management essays...
We have a large assortment of free essays available to use as research material. Visit our management essays from our free essays section.
All of the essays in the "Free Essays" section were written by students and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their essays to us. You should not hand in our essays as your own. We do not condone plagiarism!
UK Essays Sitemaps
UKEssays.com RSS Feed
