Cultivating a Spirit-in-Action Spiritual Leadership Practice for Authenticity

Session Submission Type: Workshop

Short Description

Now more than ever the world needs leaders who are authentic and able to tap into higher callings and community. Leading Spirit-in-Action fuses our human and divine natures to awaken the highest good in the world. The scholar-practitioner facilitators will offer a model of spiritual leadership, an operational process, and various reflexive and creative tools for leading Spirit-in-Action. Participants will experience cultivating a dynamic leadership practice and will reflect on how they may adapt this to their own learning, teaching, and facilitation in leadership education.

Detailed Abstract

In a world of wicked problems, ethical decay, and a barrage of changes and choices, leaders need to tap into a higher calling and seek membership in a loving community as they authentically lead themselves and their teams as they seek creative and innovative ways of solving the intractable problems of today. Some have proposed that spiritual leadership, which at its heart is about drawing on a source of inner strength to love and serve others, is needed in to meet these challenges for leadership education in both the business community as well as higher education (Fry, 2009; Fry & Nisiewicz, 2013).

Leading Spirit-in-Action is a practical approach for application of the spiritual leadership model. Leading Spirit-in-Action is about fusing our human and divine natures to awaken the highest good in the world. In doing so, we creatively embrace calling and community, through presence, practices and (im)possibilities. As we move through the world, learning to listen and act on choice point moments are key. Choice point moments are the crossroads and intersections that speak to us from the heart, which may not always make sense at the head level, but somehow as we listen and act, magic happens. Furthermore, to move powerfully in a world of increasingly complex challenges, responsibilities, and pressures, leaders need to take time and space for reflexivity and inner discovery. In doing so, they can consider deeply their connection to self, their life’s purpose and interconnection within the world.

The spiritual leadership model in conjunction with its methods, tools, and interwoven Spirit-in-Action approach can be adapted and applied across various settings, such as undergraduate, graduate, cross-denominational and traditional classroom courses. The core purpose of this workshop is for participants to explore their inner selves and how they can then authentically show up in the world to make a positive difference.
Owen (2000) contends that spirit is the most important thing that must be attended to when creating powerful organizations. For Owen the word spirit may be applied in any way that people may choose to think about it: “team spirit, spirit de corps, high spirits, deep spirit, or even the eternal spirit - mother of us all” (p. 7). Likewise, we recognize the power in individuals to make sense of what spirit means for them. For our purposes “spirituality” is concerned with qualities of the human spirit and that intangible reality at the core of personality, the animating life principle or life-breath that which alerts us to look for the deepest dimension of human experience. It is at the heart of the quest for self-transcendence and the attendant feeling of interconnectedness with all things in the universe.

In this workshop we offer both an operational process and tools for leading Spirit-in-Action. These build upon the Spirit-in-Action approach (Bishop, 2005) and the widely researched model of spiritual leadership model by Fry and colleagues (Fry, 2003, Fry 2008, Fry, Matherly & Ouimet, 2010; Fry & Nisiewicz 2013; Benefiel, Fry & Geigle, 2014). Spiritual leadership intrinsically motivates oneself and others by drawing on an inner life or spiritual practice to foster hope/faith in a transcendent vision and nurture values based in altruistic love, which in turn satisfies universal needs for spiritual well-being through calling and membership and, ultimately, positively influence important individual and organizational outcomes, such as personal and organizational commitment and productivity, life satisfaction, psychological well-being, and joy peace, and serenity independent of one’s circumstances.

In addition, our activities are based on strong adult education principles such as experiential (Kolb, 1984; Kolb & Kolb 2017), transformative (Dirkx, 2006; Mezirow, 2000; O’Sullivan & Morrell, 2002); reflective (Schön, 1984), and whole-person learning (Yorks & Kasl, 2002). As well as, we draw upon arts-based methods (Knowles & Cole, 2008, Leavy, 2015) and nature-based activities (Plotkin, 2003, Plotkin 2008, Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013).

Learning Objectives
· Understand the Spiritual Leadership Model and Leading Spirit-in-Action framework.
· Experience activities centering around cultivating Spirit-in-Action Spiritual leadership practice
· Explore personally and collectively how these tools may enhance authenticity in leadership education.

Interactive Component Overview
We will begin with a welcome and introduction and then proceed to give the Spiritual Leadership model and Leading Spirit-in-Action framework overview. Participants will then be given a short survey to complete and an overview of the nature-based meditation activity. They will explore out in nature (unless logistically unable, see below for our back up plan *). We will close the session with a whole group dialogue and an invitation for participants to consider how they will get into action with this model and tools. A bibliography handout will be available around theory and practices.

In summary:

· Overview. A PowerPoint presentation will be given on the Spiritual Leadership model and Leading Spirit-in-Action framework.
· Survey. The Personal Spiritual Leadership/ Leading Spirit-in-Action Survey will be completed.
· Nature-based Meditation Activity. Participants will be guided through a nature-based meditation activity, in which they will consider the core inquiry question: What supports do I need for cultivating a Spirit-In-Action/Inner Life leadership practice?

We will lead them in a silent walking meditation to an outside area and offer the core question to explore while in nature. They can either choose to wander freely and see what arises or more consciously interview Nature. The instructions for interviewing nature are as follows: Go out and interview nature by asking What can nature teach me about this spiritual journey I am on? And/or the Spirit-In-Action leadership practice I need to cultivate?

*Note: Our back up plan if the campus does not have an appropriate nature-based place is to do a living meditation within the classroom with a fly over forest video and meditation music.

· Debrief & dialogue. As facilitator we will address both Content & Process of the activity. We will engage in critical questioning and link to the session’s learning outcomes.

Time Overview

Welcome (5 mins)
Spiritual Leadership model overview/
Leading Spirit-in-Action framework given (15 mins)
Participants complete Survey (15 mins)
Nature-based Mediation Activity (20 mins)
Debrief & Dialogue (25 mins)
Closure & Takeaways (10 mins)

Sub Unit

• Leadership Development

Presenters

• Kathy Bishop, Royal Roads University

• Louis W. Fry, Texas A&M University - Central Texas