Organizational spiritual leadership of worlds “made” and “found”

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce and define the concepts of “energy” and “feel” into understanding organizational spiritual leadership. It does so through the following. First, it offers a view of workplace spirituality by defining the role of organizational spiritual leadership. Second, it introduces the metaphors of “made” as well as “found” organizational worlds, reflecting a constructivist and positivist perspective, respectively, and highlight their relevance to organizational spirituality. Third, it adapts David Kolb's experiential learning model to articulate an experiential learning model for navigating feel in both “made” and “found” worlds. Finally, it derives implications for leadership and organizational development research and practice in the context of workplace spirituality moving forward. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper. It explores the ideas of “feel,” “energy,” and “inspiration” in the context of organizational spirituality. It also articulates an experiential learning model for navigating feel by taking into considering the constructivist and positivistic ontological perspectives embodied in the metaphors “made” and “found.” Research limitations/implications – This conceptual paper invites a re-consideration of commonly understood concepts such as motivation, and performance in the context of organizational spirituality. Practical implications – This paper includes telling implications for leaders seeking to understand the increasingly important concept of workplace spirituality. It invites them to seek to better understand why and how organizational spirituality matters to themselves and the people they lead. It prompts them to reconsider the value of important organizational constructs and their continued relevance in a rapidly changing workplace. Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper introduces an original conceptual experiential learning model for navigating “feel” in both “made” and “found” organizational worlds in the study of organizational spirituality.

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