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 CURRENT ISSUE
Letter from the Editor
Dear Colleagues,
As this academic year comes to a close and we welcome the upcoming summer months, this time provides us with space to reflect on our personal leadership practices and the related spiritual connections and implications. The shift from an industrial paradigm of conventional leadership that centers around the individual to a collaborative, relationship perspective of leadership that focuses on values and ethics, provides a strong framework that intersects with many related spiritual principles. Fostering authentic and transformational leadership within higher education is a multi-dimensional and dynamic process of development that impacts all aspects of our institutions – from socially responsible practices of senior administration all the way to the co-curricular student leadership development that occurs on our campuses across the country. This edition of the Newsletter features four articles that explore the many ways spirituality intersects with this relational conception of leadership. An interview with leadership educator and researcher, Nance Lucas, Dean of the Integrative studies program at New Century College within George Mason University, highlights many important ethical issues and spiritual connections we must consider when focusing on developing a more authentic leadership style within our students and ourselves. Her experience and insight studying leadership and working in a variety of roles within higher education provide valuable reflections on how we can foster a spiritually inspired leadership within our institutions. Additionally, well-known leadership scholar, Walter Fluker, explores the relationship among spirituality, ethics, and leadership by challenging us to face the “other” in order to recognize our interconnectedness to all of humanity. Fluker’s introspective writing delves deep into the heart of what is required for ethical leadership within the twenty-first century. Similarly, Larry Braskamp introduces the concept of “inside-out leadership” that is associated with many spiritual principles. As a Senior Fellow at the American Association of Colleges and Universities and a Senior Scientist at the Gallup Organization, Braskamp’s knowledge of strengths-based leadership and the connection to vocation are further highlighted through a series of reflective exercises. Lastly, Maiko Yasuno shares an international perspective of spirituality as an essential component of leadership for social change, advocating for a collaborative leadership paradigm that requires individual investment in a larger shared vision and common purpose. We are also still collecting curricular and co-curricular promising practices related to spirituality in higher education. Please visit our project website to learn more or download a submission form. Please feel free to contact me at spiritualitynewsletter@gseis.ucla.edu if you have any comments about this edition or suggestions for future Newsletter topics. Thank you for your continued readership and we look forward to hearing from you soon! Leslie M. Schwartz
Encouraging Ethical & Authentic Leadership: An Interview with Nance Lucas
Recently, Leslie M. Schwartz interviewed well-known leadership researcher and scholar, Nance Lucas, about her personal and professional experiences in higher education. Lucas’ focus on leadership as a relational process based on ethics and values poses many implications for recognizing and encouraging the spiritual dimension of leadership within higher education. Her call for leaders to become more self-aware and to model this type of authentic leadership from a strengths-based perspective provides a compelling argument for our institutions to foster this new paradigm of leadership within our campus communities.
Known as an expert in the theory and practice of ethical leadership, Fluker explores the inner core of our social lives as leaders, contending that “spirituality demands that leaders cultivate and nourish a sense of self that recognizes the interrelatedness of life or a sense of community” in practical, everyday encounters. Through an introspective journey of understanding ourselves through facing “the other,” Fluker challenges readers to think about the dynamic relationship among spirituality, ethics, and leadership.
Braskamp introduces the notion of “inside-out leadership” that is inner-based and outer-focused and relates to many spiritual principles, such as vocation, self-reflection, and strengths-based intra and interpersonal development, among others. Through a series of guided exercises that allow readers to apply this new conception of leadership to their personal and professional lives and experiences, Braskamp illustrates how leading is a lifelong spiritual endeavor that involves building and sustaining collaborative relationships with others.
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