Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations - Softcover

Benefiel, Margaret

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1596270136 ISBN 13: 9781596270138

Publisher: Seabury Books, 2005

Synopsis

"Working with Margaret Benefiel has helped me, in a short time, become grounded in Spirit in my corporate workplace. The power and productivity of this spiritual work gives me hope that leaders can encourage people to bring their whole selves into the workplace and that this will lead to more tangible and positive organizational results."--Kerry Hamilton Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing, BJ's Wholesale Clubs

In the last ten years, dozens of books about spirituality and management have demonstrated the yearning for spirituality in the workplace that exists in people like Kerry Hamilton. No longer content to abide the widening chasm between their deeply-held values and the all-too-common business practices they encounter, these readers long for congruence between their values and their work. They wonder whether the days of the giants of corporate character like Johnson & Johnson, businesses who believed that integrity and profitability could co-exist, are gone for good. Are we living in a state of business and organizational entropy? Are we doomed to endless repetition of the Enron, Worldcom, and Global Crossing scandals? Must integrity and profitability now be opposed? What has happened to American business, healthcare, and non-profits in the last forty years?

Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations demonstrates vividly that another way is possible, based on the contemporary restoration of the partnership between integrity and profitability. Soul at Work translates the core of what companies like Johnson and Johnson stood for forty years ago into contemporary forms. Soul at Work shows, through compelling stories of contemporary businesses, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits, how integrity, profitability, and personal and organizational transformation are all of a piece.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"This book is a must-read for anyone who wants the workplace to become more life-giving for all concerned." --Parker J. Palmer, Author of A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, and The Courage to Teach

"Evocative, challenging, and compelling--this book is a gift to the imagination of organizations and those who work in them." --Sharon Daloz Parks, Co-Author, Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in a Complex World

"This book advances the "spirituality and work" movement to a next level of practicality and social value. It's a joy to read and a source of inspiration for all those looking to glimpse into a life affirming future." --Alan Briskin, Author of The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace

"This wise little book invites the reader into a user friendly conversation that contains memorable, grounded illustrations drawn from contemporary organizational life, focuses the reader on spiritual essentials, and allows the reader (or teacher) to probe at any depth that might be desired." --Andre L. Delbecq, Thomas J. and Kathleen L. McCarthy University Professor, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

"Both students and managers will find this book practical, understandable, and inspirational." --Jerry Biberman, Professor of Management, University of Scranton, Editor, Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion

"Soul at Work is destined to take its place in the business, ethics, and values literature right next to the long-time bestseller by Bolman and Deal, Leading With Soul. Both wise and clear, the book includes examples from healthcare and the non-profit sector, as well as a giant corporation which has quickly become its industry leader." -- Lee Robbins, Ph.D., Professor of Managment, Golden Gate University, San Francisco

"What is exceptional about this book is Margaret Benefiel’s ability to wed the pragmatic, realistic, and often challenging aspects of creating spirituality in the workplace with the deep wisdom of spiritual traditions passed on for generations. Soul at Work is a creative and most welcome synthesis." --Elizabeth Dreyer, Professor of Spirituality, Fairfield University

"I couldn't put this book down till I had read it all the way through. I found practical tools and techniques and real-life stories to show me the way to incorporate my spirit in my work everyday. Your copy will definitely be dog-eared at the best practices and tools." --Charlotte Roberts, Co-Author, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

"This book is a gift to any organizational leaders who care about their own souls and the souls of the organizations they lead." --The Rev. Dr. Tilden Edwards, Founder and Senior Fellow, Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation

About the Author:

Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of Soul at Work (Seabury Books, 2005), The Soul of a Leader (Crossroad, 2008), and co-editor of The Soul of Supervision (Morehouse, 2010), serves as Executive Director of the Shalem Institute (Shalem.org).

About this edition

• Publisher: Seabury Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1596270136
• ISBN 13: 9781596270138
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 159