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An extended overview of spiritual leadership and the spiritual leadership model.

This paper extends Being-centered and spiritual leadership theory to further our understanding of how inner life functions as the source of spiritual leadership. Drawing on non-self from the Buddhist emptiness theory, we show how leaders operating at lower levels of being can fall into the trap of practicing a form of pseudo-spiritual leadership that is overly focused on self-centered purposes and economic rationality.

Drawing from spiritual and being-centered leadership theories, we offer a model of Global Leadership for Sustainability (GLfS) that incorporates and extends the current approaches to leadership for sustainability. In doing so we propose that as a result, global leaders for sustainability become more committed to moving beyond satisfying stakeholders’ demands for economic returns toward a more sustainable, triple bottom line, balanced approach. We also offer the GLfS Survey, which can be used for organizational, team, and individual assessment and development.

Drawing on the theory of being-centered leadership, we present a framework that addresses the parallel and intertwined nature of spiritual, leader, and moral development. Four practices and processes of spiritual development are also explored and related to leader and moral development processes. Implications for theory, research, and practice are presented

Executive leaders have spiritual needs and executive coaches (EC) may be well positioned to address the intersection of the leaders’ work and spiritual lives, provided coaches observe skill boundaries and the limitations of the coaching context. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the merits of including spiritual development (SDev) in EC and how executive coaches can incorporate it in their practice.

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing today’s global leaders is the need to address the demand for a new strategic business orientation that effectively perceives the nature of complex markets and maximizes global business opportunities. This has given rise to the call for cultivating a Global Mindset (GM) as a foundation for global leadership. In this chapter we introduce a process for cultivating a GM based on a theory of Being-centered Leadership that proposes multiple levels of being as a context for effective global leadership.

Egel, E & Fry, L. (2017). In J. Neal (Ed.), Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

While spiritual leadership has been a subject of interest in the major spiritual and religious wisdom traditions for eons, it was the mid-1990s that spiritual leadership of individuals, teams, and organizations became the focus of scholarly research.

Fry, L. W. (2022). Bibliography of Spiritual Leadership in the Workplace. In Oxford Bibliographies in Management. Ed. Ricky Griffin. New York: Oxford University Press.

Healthcare workers are especially at risk for burnout because of increased efficiency demands, reduced operations budgets, expedited turnaround times, and the consequences associated with patient errors. They also experience a number of negative personal and organizational outcomes from burnout, all of which have the potential to negatively affect the quality of healthcare. This study explores the extent to which spiritual leadership reduces burnout among medical laboratory personnel while positively influencing organizational commitment, work unit productivity, and employee life satisfaction. Results revealed spiritual leadership exhibited both direct and mediating effects on study outcomes. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Mari Yang & Louis. W. Fry (2018): The role of spiritual leadership in reducing healthcare worker burnout, Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 15, 3, 1-20.

This piece proposes a theory of leadership that utilizes five levels of being as context for effective leadership: 1) the physical world; 2) the world of images and imagination, 3) the level of the soul; 4) the level of the Spirit, and 5) the Non-dual level. We first explore how each of the five levels of being provides a means for advancing both the theory and the practice of leadership. Second, we utilize these five levels to create the foundation for a theory of leadership.  Finally, we present propositions for future research and discuss implications for leadership development and practice.

Fry, L. W. & Kriger, M. (2009). Human Relations, 62 (11), 1667–1696.

This is the initial piece that lays the foundation for the spiritual leadership Model.

A causal theory of spiritual leadership is developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality and spiritual survival. The purpose of spiritual leadership is to create vision and value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels and, ultimately, to foster higher levels of organizational commitment and productivity.

Fry, L. W. (2003). The Leadership Quarterly, 14, 6, 693-727.

Although receiving growing attention, research concerning spirituality and its impact on culture. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of how this domain has evolved by carrying out a bibliometric and content analysis of the conceptual and social structures of the metadata from 1977 to 2021. Next, we offer key insights regarding trends, journals, papers, authors, institutions, and countries. Then, we classified these results into major thematic clusters. Finally, we present implications for future research on spirituality and culture.

The purpose of this piece is to offer a sense of Andre Delbecq as the pioneering founder of management, spirituality, and religion (MSR) as a field of scholarly inquiry.

Fry, L. (2019), “The numinosity of soul: Andre Delbecq’s legacy for MSR”, Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion. Retrieved from: https://doi/full/10.1080/14766086.2019.1583597

Explains how spiritual leadership embeds sustainability into the triple bottom line by fostering a sustainability mindset that places social and environmental sustainability at least on par with profitability and maximizing shareholder wealth.

Fry, L. & Egle, E. (2017).  Graziadio Business Review Special Issues on Spiritual Leadership. 20, 3.

This brief article gives a good overview and summary of Spiritual Leadership and the Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model.

Fry, L. (2017). In S. Rogelberg (ed.). Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2nd edition.

Western-based models have dominated leadership research and practice, although a consensus is emerging that new theories and models are needed to foster cross-cultural understanding and rapprochement. This holds not only for global organizations that employ workers from different cultures but also for public and private organizations whose cultures and employees are grounded in and embrace religious beliefs and practices as central to their work. To address these issues we draw from spiritual leadership theory and Islamic religious tenets and perform a theoretical transposition of the components of the spiritual leadership model into a model of Islamic leadership more appropriate for Islamic organizations and organizations employing Muslim workers. Implications for future theory building, research and practice are discussed.

Egel, E. & Fry, L. (in press). Public Integrity, ISSN: 1099-9922 print/1558-0989 online DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2016.1200411

The purpose of this research was to test a dynamic relationship between the revised spiritual leadership model and key organizational outcomes in a sample of Baldrige Performance Excellence Program award recipients. With structural equation modeling, results revealed a positive and significant relationship between spiritual leadership and several outcomes considered essential for performance excellence, including organizational commitment, unit productivity, and life satisfaction. These relationships were explained or mediated by spiritual wellbeing. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Louis W. Fry, John R. Latham, Sharon K. Clinebell & Keiko Krahnke (2016): , Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 14:1, 22-47.

In this short piece it is proposed that workplace spirituality implemented through spiritual leadership can serve as a model for public administration. Given the emerging research on public service motivation and the revelation that public sector employees are more altruistically motivated and spiritual in terms of compassion for others, the experience of interconnectedness, life's meaning, and a calling to serve others, it seems logical to adopt a leadership model for public administration that reinforces these spiritual qualities to enable public sector leaders to more effectively deal with the daunting challenges they face in an increasingly unstable, chaotic, and frenzied task environment.

Fry, L. (In Press). In Farazmaud, A. (Ed.) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy. NY, NY: Springer Publishing.

This article contributes to the emerging fields of Islamic leadership and Management from an Islamic Perspective by offering an analysis of the Islamic credo and the leadership principles that derive from it. Next Islamic leadership within the framework of existing widely accepted models of leadership is discussed, including an example of a contemporary Muslim leader that applies the Islamic leadership principles.

Egel, E. (2014). in R.J. Blomme and B. van Hoof (Eds) Another State of Mind: Perceptions from the Wisdom Traditions on Management and Business(pp. 91-111). UK: Palgrave Publishing.

This article explores the underlying assumptions and history as well as the state of current theory and empirical research regarding SRW. We first describe the history of the efforts to integrate spirituality and religion into the workplace, with their foundational roots in the Protestant Work Ethic and their emergence through the Faith at Work movement. Next we review the major theoretical developments in this area that have established a domain of relevant definitions, constructs, frameworks, and models. Then we review the empirical research on spirituality in the workplace and conclude that 2 major streams have emerged that have, to date, discovered similar findings in regard to their significant impact on relevant individual and organizational outcomes. Finally, we explore particular challenges associated with integrative work and future theory building and research.

Benefiel, M., Fry, L. & Geigle, D. (2014). Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6, 3, 175-187.

In an interview, produced by Quiddity in partnership with NPR-member WUIS, Illinois Public Radio’s hub-station, Fry discusses how he arrived in the inspired scholarly space that brought forth the creation of his latest book which tackles a topic not often readily embraced by conventional corporate culture. He shares a multi-layered journey into the places and spaces where together, head and heart map the mystery of the human experience, and over a decade of academic research, charts a path toward the “co-creation of a conscious, sustainable world that works for everyone.”

Fry, L. (2013). Quiddity, 6, 2, 65-72.

Although spiritual intelligence (SQ) has been an emerging topic among social and organizational scholars in recent years, there have been serious academic discussions on whether SQ is an elusive construct, on its dimensionality, and on whether it should even be considered an intelligence in the first place. First, we review the definition and domain of the intelligence construct and argue that it SQ is a conceptually distinct form of intelligence. Second, we argue that any theory of spiritual intelligence must focus on the spiritual journey as one of epistemological ascent and ontological descent through five distinct levels of being. Finally we offer implications for future theory, research and practice on spiritual intelligence and spiritual leader development.

Fry, L. & Wigglesworth, C. (2013). International Journal on Spirituality and Organization Leadership.

The organizational sciences are not immune to our culture’s burgeoning interest in religion and spirituality, and such interest is taxing the capacity of scholars to keep pace both theoretically and methodologically. Drawing upon the expertise of psychologists of religion and spirituality is crucial to the development of the science of workplace spirituality. This paper explores promising topical areas for theoretical development and empirical research in workplace spirituality, including further defining and conceptualizing workplace spirituality, the role of the psychology of religion, levels of analysis, and other critical issues for advancing the science of workplace spirituality.

Hill, P., Jurkiewicz, C., Giacalone, R. & Fry, L. (2013).  In R. F. Paloutzian and C. L. Park (Eds.).Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press

This reflective piece discusses the emerging  global consciousness and the need for a corporate focus on the triple bottom line as a result. The triple bottom line can be maximized through spiritual leadership and faith and spirituality in the workplace. A research-based model of spiritual leadership is presented and defined. Three key emerging themes in the field are discussed.

Fry, L. (2013). In J. Neal (Ed.). Handbook of Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace: Emerging Research and Practice (pp. 697-704). New York: Springer Publishing.

How to develop the character of leaders is a challenging question pursued by managers, psychologists, and consultants. To address this question, the authors introduce a developmental model for character growth. The model proposes that the integration of the leader’s core values and beliefs into the self-identity is at the heart of character development. The supporting character strengths of agency, self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, and social awareness and connection to others also ensure consistent moral and ethical behavior. We then introduce the spiritual leadership model and discuss how it can be used to develop character in the workplace.  Implications for theory, research, and practice of character development through spiritual leadership are discussed.

Sweeney, P. & Fry, L. (2012).  Consulting Psychology Journal, 64, 2, 89-107.

The purpose of this paper is to offer the Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model as a driver of the triple bottom line via its impact on strategic and internal processes, output quality, and customer satisfaction. An illustrative case study of is offered as an example of how the Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model can be applied, through Cordon-Bleu-Tomasso Corporation’s innovative human and economic ISMA’s (Integrated System of Management Activities), in the daily management of a company deeply committed to the constant pursuit of the reconciliation of human well-being with productivity and profits through an emphasis on workplace spirituality with openness to religion and transcendence in full freedom.

Fry, L. W., Matherly, L., & Ouimet, R. (2010) The Journal of Management ,Spirituality and Religion, 7, 4, 283-314.

In this paper, we propose that the processes of employer recruitment and selection, employee self-selection, cultural socialization, and reward systems help create extended work hours cultures (EWHC). Moreover, we argue that EWHC organizations are becoming more prevalent and that organizations in which long hours have become the norm may recruit for and reinforce workaholic tendencies. Next, we offer spiritual leadership as a paradigm for organizational transformation and recovery from the negative aspects of EWHC to enhance employee well-being and corporate social responsibility without sacrificing profitability, revenue growth, and other indicators of financial performance.

Fry, L. W.  & Cohen, M. P. (2009). Journal of Business Ethics, 84, 265-278.

Being a springboard for a new generation of leaders has long been of importance to higher education. However, leadership models that incorporate spirituality for use in higher education to this end are lacking. Spiritual leadership can be viewed as an emerging paradigm that links spirituality and leadership. This essay  explores personal spiritual leadership as a model for inner student development.

Fry, L. W. (2009). Journal of Leadership Studies, 3, 3, 79-82.

This piece examines spiritual leadership theory as it relates to implementing workplace spirituality to enhance individual and organizational outcomes. We describe the current state-of-the-art of spiritual leadership as an emerging paradigm. Next we offer a revision of the theory and argue that spiritual leaders must draw on an inner life or spiritual practice as a source for hope/faith in a transcendent vision and the values of altruistic love. Finally we will offer directions for future spiritual leadership research, and practice.

Fry, L.W. (2008) In J. Biberman & Tishman, L. (Eds.), Spirituality in Business: Theory, Practice, and Future Directions(pp. 106-124). New York: Palgrave.

This article seeks to address top managers’ need to simultaneously maximize the so-called triple bottom line, or “People, Planet, Profit.” In doing so, we draw from the emerging fields of workplace spirituality, spiritual leadership, and conscious capitalism. Research conducted with Interstate Battery System of America, Inc. (Interstate Batteries) is offered as a case study of a company that may serve as a role model for spiritual leadership. We also present a general process for maximizing the triple bottom line through the development of the motivation and leadership required to simultaneously optimize employee well-being, social responsibility, organizational commitment, and financial performance.

Fry, L. W. & Slocum, J.W. (2008). Organizational Dynamics. 37,  86-96.

In this piece we discuss the emerging fields of positive organizational scholarship and workplace spirituality as two areas within the field of organization studies that have important implications for servant leadership. Next, the emerging theory and research on servant leadership is examined and extended using spiritual leadership theory. Then, four issues not addressed by servant leadership models are identified. We then argue that spiritual leadership addresses these issues and provides insights for servant leadership theory, research, and practice. Finally, legacy leadership is presented as a more specific model of spiritual leadership for servant leadership development.

Fry, L. W. & Matherly, L. L., Whitington, J. L., & Winstion, B. L. (2007). In Sing-Sengupta, S., & Fields, D. (Eds.), Integrating Spirituality and Organizational Leadership. Macmillan India Ltd. 70-82.

This piece provides the initial exploration the initial thinking for and development of the Spiritual Leadership Balanced Scorecard Business Model. Developments in strategic scorecards, performance measurement and quality, (e.g., Baldrige Award Criteria and strategy maps) point out the pivotal role that employee well-being and performance plays in predicting all other key strategic performance indicators. The Strategic Model of Performance Excellence through Spiritual Leadership provides a process for ultimately impacting customer satisfaction and financial performance by fostering the development of the motivation and leadership required to drive both human well-being and excellent operational performance.

Fry, L. W. & Matherly, L. L. (2007). Encyclopedia of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. (Rogrlberg, S.G., Ed.)San Francisco: Sage.

This paper draws from the emerging spiritual leadership paradigm to integrate the dispersed theory and research on workaholism.  We first argue that enthusiastic workaholism is rooted on intrinsic motivation and positively related to personal and organizational outcomes while non-enthusiastic workaholism is based on extrinsic motivation and negatively related to personal and organizational outcomes. Next, spiritual leadership theory is reviewed and used to explain these differences in positive human health and psychological well-being for enthusiastic and non-enthusiastic workaholics.

Fry L.W., Matherly, L., & Vitucci S. (2006).  In Ronald Burke (Ed.), Research Companion to Workaholism in Organizations (pp. 751-754). New Horizons in Management Series.

The emerging theory of authentic leadership is examined and extended using spiritual leadership and legacy leadership theory. Expanding the borders on authentic leadership requires a focus on three key issues: 1) achieving consensus on universal or consensus values that are necessary, though not sufficient, for authentic leadership; 2) the role of authentic leadership in achieving congruent and consistent values, attitudes, and behavior across the individual, group, and organizational levels; and 3) the personal outcomes or rewards of authentic leadership. Together, spiritual and legacy leadership theories address these issues and provide insights for authentic leadership theory, research and practice.

Fry, L. W. & Whittington, J. L. (2005). Avolio, B., Gardner, W. & Walumbwa, F. (Eds.), Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects, and Development. Monographs in Leadership and Management, Vol. 3, 183-200.

This research tested the Spiritual Leadership Model using longitudinal data from a newly formed Apache Longbow helicopter attack squadron at Ft. Hood, Texas. The results provide strong initial support for the SL Model and its measures. A methodology was developed for establishing a baseline for future organizational development interventions as well as an action agenda for future research on spiritual leadership in general and Army training and development in particular. We conclude that spiritual leadership theory offers promise as a springboard for a new paradigm for leadership theory, research, and practice given that it (1) incorporates and extends transformational and charismatic theories as well as ethics- and values-based theories (e.g., authentic and servant leadership) and (2) avoids the pitfalls of measurement model misspecification.

Fry L.W. &Vitucci S. & Cedillo, M. (2005). “Transforming the Army Through Spiritual Leadership: Theory, Measurement, and Establishing a Baseline”  The Leadership Quarterly’s Special Issue on Spiritual Leadership, 16, 5, 835-862.

This piece introduces the special issue of The leadership Quarterly on spiritual leadership. It briefly reviews each piece in the issue. From them, a theme comprised of three universal spiritual needs emerges: that what is required for workplace spirituality is an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by calling or transcendence of self within the context of a community based on the values of altruistic love.  Satisfying these spiritual needs in the workplace positively influences human health and psychological well-being and forms the foundation for a new spiritual leadership paradigm.

Fry, L. W. (2005). The Leadership Quarterly, 16,5, 619-722.

This piece offers the proposition that (1) recent developments in workplace spirituality, character ethics, positive psychology and spiritual leadership provide a consensus on the  values, attitudes, and behavior necessary for positive human health and well-being and (2) the spiritual leadership model incorporates these values and provide a process that fosters ethical and spiritual well being as well as corporate social responsibility.

Fry, L. W. ( 2005). in Giacalone, R.A. and Jurkiewicz, C.L., (Eds.), Positive Psychology in Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

The learning organization (LO) is a new organizational paradigm in which people are valued and learning is emphasized to improve performance. Not surprisingly, leadership has been identified as one of the most influential factors for the development of learning organizations. The LO leader motivates employees through a shared vision, fosters an environment of learning, and personal development empowers employees to more effectively address challenges in their task environment. In this article it is argued that spiritual leadership can provide a leadership model for transforming a traditional bureaucratic organization into a learning organization.

gel, E. (2013, June). Paper presented  at the”22 Congrès des IAE 2013”. Nice, France. June 13-14,

Information technology enables mission achievement and business results across the federal government departments and agencies. The federal oversight organizations have reported and made recommendations repeatedly to improve the management of information technology investments. Using structural equation modeling, the research study explored to what extent the use of the spiritual leadership model improves the performance of information technology projects in the federal government. Results revealed support for the spiritual leadership model and its positive impact on IT project commitment, productivity, and performance.

Rollins, R. & Fry, L. (2013). Paper presentation, Academy of Management. Orlando, Florida.

The tradition of leadership in Catholic organizations has long been associated with the values and traditions of the Catholic Church. The proponents of Catholic organizations suggest the loss of Catholic leadership in Catholic organizations will change the culture of the organization and have a significant impact on the values and service principles and, in particular, the nature of Catholic organizational identity. The purpose of this research was to test a dynamic relationship between the revised spiritual leadership model and Catholic organizational identity and key individual and organizational outcomes in a sample of corporate leaders from Catholic health and service agencies. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), results revealed significant support for hypotheses. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Dayler, L. & Fry, L. (2012). Academy of Management. Boston, Mass.

The purpose of this research is to further test and validate the spiritual leadership model using data from a municipal government and its employees. The results provide strong support for the Spiritual Leadership Model and its measures. A methodology is offered for establishing a baseline for future organizational development interventions as well as an action agenda for future research. We conclude that spiritual leadership theory offers promise as a springboard for a new paradigm for leadership theory, research, and practice in this arena.

Fry L.W., Nisieiwcz M., Vitucci S., Cedillo M. (2007). Academy of Management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

While improvement of neighborhoods, streets, and citizen’s concerns has been extensively studied, the focus on what police leadership may most effective in supporting this change has not been explored. The purpose of this research is to test and validate the Spiritual Leadership Model in a police organization.  In addition, a methodology is developed for establishing a baseline for future organizational development interventions, discussion of performance measures, an action agenda for future research on the Spiritual Leadership Model, and a six step guide to development.

Fry L.W., Nisieiwcz M., Vitucci S. (2007). Academy of Management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The purpose of this research is to test the spiritual leadership model and its impact on unit level performance using a sample of 347 workers employed by a large Southwest-based distributor of electrical power-source products in 43 company owned wholesale distributorships. The results provide support for the model and its measures as a significant positive influence on organizational commitment and productivity, and sales growth.

Fry, L. W. & Matherly, L. L. (2006).Paper presented at the Academy of Management, Atlanta, Georgia.

This paper tested and validated the spiritual leadership model through an experimental design that examined 229 employees from three elementary and one middle school. A one-year longitudinal field experiment was conducted with two of the original schools by means of a vision/ stakeholder analysis intervention performed in one school with the other as a control. Results revealed support for the model and the intervention, especially in terms of a significant increase in organizational commitment. An action agenda for future research on spiritual leadership as a paradigm for organizational transformation and development is offered.

Malone, P. & Fry L. W. (2003). National Academy of Management meeting, Seattle,