Spirituality and Authentic Leadership Development in Neo-Charismatic Christians of Latin America Working in Nonreligious Organizations: A Phenomenological Study
Spirituality and Authentic Leadership Development in Neo-Charismatic Christians of Latin America Working in Nonreligious Organizations: A Phenomenological Study
Carlos Noe Alejandro Hernandez | 2018
Abstract
Authentic leadership (AL) theory is a field of great interest due to its positive influence in an important number of leader, individual, group, and organizational outcomes. Spirituality can be an important element of AL development in order to facilitate a harmonic relationship between the individual’s identities (Klenke, 2007). This study explored the relationship between the leader’s religious beliefs and practices and the development of AL with an emphasis in theological reflection (TR). The researcher interviewed and analyzed the leadership experiences of five members of the Neo-Charismatic Christian (NCC) tradition who work in nonreligious organizations based in Latin America. The researcher employed phenomenological inquiry to elucidate how leaders incorporate their religious-based spirituality into their leadership development processes. To triangulate the information, the researcher used theory on AL and interviewed two subordinates per leader, except for one case where only one subordinate was interviewed. Findings indicated that the five components more frequently described in AL theory and all the positive-oriented behaviors (POBs) were observed in participants’ experiences, which support the presence and cultural affinity of AL in the Latin American context. Findings also showed that inputs related to spirituality were present among the clusters corresponding to four of the five AL components and within four of the six POBs, highlighting the importance of religious-based spirituality in the enactment of AL. Analysis of the emerging themes, indicated the possible existence of a different subidentity, self-tradition merge, operating within the spiritual identity system. Overall, when the leader has developed a spiritual identity, self-awareness and the other AL components will necessarily be developed partly in connection to elements of the spiritual beliefs and practices. These relationships were explicated in a model of TR for AL development based on Christian values and beliefs.