Strengthening Spirit–Releasing Potential
Spiritual Direction for Leadership and Organizational Development
Foreword by Wilkie Au
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Have you ever wondered what releasing spiritual potential in the workplace might do for your organization? In today's climate of colossal and incredibly fast global change, the world needs new ways to develop discerning leaders to consciously lead our community of life into the future. Though there are many books on leadership, they rarely engage the importance and relevance of spiritual development and spiritual accompaniment in organizational discernment and leadership development. Spiritual formation through spiritual direction has the potential to transform the way we lead organizations in secular and religious settings. Drawing on the wisdom and experience of leaders and spiritual directors, this book, first, broadens our understanding of how spiritual direction can be a resource for leadership and organizational development; second, supports spiritual directors in developing their corporate practice and their understanding of the relevance of spiritual direction for a wider community.
Bernadette Miles is an Honorary Post-Graduate Researcher with Stirling Theological College at the University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia. She is co-director and co-founder of Kardia Formation P/L who provide spiritual formation for spiritual directors, leaders, and all who seek to strengthen the spiritual self.
“Linking cutting edge organizational thinking with Ignatian spiritual direction, which assumes the implicated order of a divine creation, she shows how leaders can open institutional paths which release untapped potential to transform their organizations in making real differences in the world, particularly when gripped by crises.”
—John Bazalgette, founding member of The Grubb Institute
“It is rare indeed to find a book in which in-depth scholarship, skilfully integrated across multiple disciplines, is charged with the sparks of stardust that illuminate whole new horizons. Dr. Miles has achieved this in remarkable measure. Her book is an essential companion, inspirer, and empowerer of all who engage in roles of authentic and holistic leadership in humanity’s quest to become the best we can possibly be in whatever field we serve.”
—Margaret Silf, author and retreat facilitator, Scotland
“Skillfully and masterfully interweaves the dynamics of spiritual direction with spiritual leadership. It emphasizes in various creative ways how important a leader’s inner life and prayerful presence is for the spiritual well-being of an organization and its members.”
—Maureen Conroy, RSM, author of Looking into the Well: Supervision of Spiritual Directors
“In this book, Dr. Bernadette Miles shows how, through Ignatian spiritual direction, organizations can find deeper meaning and purpose by way of attending to their members’ inner lives. Using knowledge from psychology, organizational dynamics, ethics, spirituality, and her own research, she points to how organizations might develop their creative potentials and fulfill meaningful roles beyond their transactional habits.”
—Susan Long, Director of Research and Scholarship, National Institute of Organisational Dynamics Australia
“The approach draws not only on the expertise of a seasoned spiritual director in the Ignatian tradition, and on a background of business administration, but is presented, refreshingly enough, from the perspective of a committed lay woman who has combined raising a family with co-establishing a dynamic spirituality center in Melbourne.”
—Geoffrey Williams, SJ, Sessional Professor of Ignatian Spirituality, Regis College, University of Toronto
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