Willson Lectures: April 3-4, 2006
"Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations" with Margaret Benefiel
LECTURE ONE: MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006, 7:30 P.M. ESR CENTER
Spirituality and Business: Strange Bedfellows or Natural Partners?
Spirituality and business, once thought incompatible, have begun a flirtation in the past decade. Is this a relationship that can be sustained or will it be merely a passing romance? This lecture will focus on managerial decisionmaking as an arena for examining the relationship between spirituality and business, noting how 50% of managerial decisions fail, and how introducing spiritual discernment can help leaders make better decisions.
LECTURE TWO: TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2006, 10: 00 A.M. ESR CENTER
Oil and Water?: The Academic Study of Spirituality in the Workplace
The academic study of spirituality in the workplace finds itself betwixt and between two worlds: the social scientific world of management scholars and the normative spiritual development world of spirituality scholars. Can the two worlds be brought together? How can a theological/spiritual worldview enrich the social scientific worldview?
COMMON MEAL: TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2006, 11: 20 A.M. ESR DINING ROOM
(Persons wishing to attend Common Meal should contact Rita Cummins at ESR for reservations/payment information.)
LECTURE THREE: TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2006, 12: 00 P.M. ESR CENTER
Getting from Here to There: Becoming a More Spiritually Grounded Leader
How can one become a more spiritually grounded leader: in the church, at work, at home? How can spirituality be integrated throughout an organization's structures and processes? What can one person do? This lecture will focus on practical steps one can take to become a more spiritually grounded leader and to invite one's organization into more spiritual awareness.
This year's lecturer:
MARGARET BENEFIEL, Ph.D., teaches at Andover Newton Theological School in Boston, in the area of spirituality and organizational leadership. For the 2003-2004 academic year, she held the O'Donnell Chair of Spirituality at the Milltown Institute in Dublin, Ireland. She is also CEO of ExecutiveSoul.com. Benefiel serves as Program Chair of the Academy of Management's Management, Spirituality, and Religion Group, and has served on the governing board of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality. She authored Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations (Seabury Books, 2005) and co-edited Hidden in Plain Sight: Quaker Women's Writings 1650-1700 (Pendle Hill, 1996). She has written for The Leadership Quarterly, Management Communication Quarterly, Managerial Finance, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Organization, Friends Journal, Quaker Life, The Evangelical Friend, Quaker History, Quaker Religious Thought, Presence, The Way, The New Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, and Faith at Work.
She is a member of Beacon Hill Friends Meeting in Boston, and is a recorded Friends Minister. She lives in Boston with her husband and dog, and enjoys hiking, reading novels, and scuba diving in her free time. Her website: www.executivesoul.com.