| Pub. Date | : Jan, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJOB040121 |
| Author Name | : Jose Mathews |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Arts & Humanities |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 22 |
Spirituality, though not controversial, is approached from different perspectives in accordance with the religious practices and thinking. The different schools of spirituality agree on the point that it is concerned with the inner life and the growth and development of a consciousness that is transcendental. Spirituality cannot be relegated to the background of solitude and muted meditative practices. Instead, it has to be brought to the level of active transactions and the world of business where the modern-day leaders are expected to be spiritual leaders. Spiritual leaders rely upon their inner resourcefulness, moral strength and transcendental orientations. When spirituality is practiced at the leadership level, leaders move through a series of stages like connectedness, spiritual intelligence and spiritual consciousness. Spiritual leadership is superior to the traditional leadership paradigm in that it brings about deeper transformative and illuminating outcomes at the leader, follower and situational levels.
The disenchantment with the transactional paradigms of leadership stems from its constricted view of leader behavior and an infatuation with the ends, disregarding the means and the dynamics of accomplishment. The obsession with the programmed styles of leadership has also led researchers and practitioners to search for alternatives so as to be an effective, enabling and ennobling leader who blends material and spiritual pursuits in the life of a worker. The alternatives identified include an array of higher-order leadership models like servant-executive, authentic leadership, ethical leadership, transcendental leadership and spiritual leadership. Spiritual leadership models are derived not from any specific religious belief system but from the essence of all religious systems, that is, the spiritual processes which are universal, pan-cultural and transnational. Man being fundamentally a spiritual being considering the mortal and the transitory dimensions of life, it is but natural that individuals easily turn to spirituality. And organizations are no exception to this constant yearning for spiritual or inner fulfilment, which man cannot easily find immersed in a materialistic life. It is in this context that spiritual leadership becomes significant. The objective of this paper is therefore to delineate the structure of spirituality by merging the different streams of the spiritual realms culled from the different traditions of man's thinking and experiences.