“Spirit-Led Leadership” by Sister Regina Bechtle

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Summary of Article
The theoretical basis for the article
Reflection and Personal Evaluation
Conclusion
References

Introduction

This essay shall analyze the article titled “Spirit-Led Leadership,” which is authored by Sister Regina Bechtle; the journal is titled Human Development and was published in the winter of 2008. The author who is sixty years of age is associated with being a theologian, retreat director, and spiritual director. Sister Regina Bechtle attended Fordham University for a Ph.D. in theology and currently serves in a non-profiting organization as a board member. This article is the author’s reflection based on a spiritual-led leadership viewpoint on her won account and beliefs. In this article the author attempts to take the reader through spiritual leadership and discloses the challenges that are associated with leadership and society today. The universal norms that have engulfed leadership which lead to moral crossroads which has made it lose the fundamental good that once governed leadership and filled with greed and corruption (Bechtle, 2008).

This article takes the reader through a spiritual transformation that is aimed at offering spiritual skills that are essential to leadership. According to Markham (2006), the basic leadership concept is well outlined and elaborated through spiritual guidance on the author’s occurrences in her life and the journeys that her life has undergone. Also, the spiritual hunger that may host and yet the leaders are unable o unveil is covered by this article.

Summary of Article

In this article Sister Regina Bechtle’s main mission is to unveil the leadership complexities in the practices and nuances that are associated with modern leadership from a spiritual angle. She articulates in this article how it can be made knowledgeable and executed by those who are under the subject and the learning students.

The article is well laid out with interactive and engaging sections that have the rich and deep spiritual context that underlines the benefit associated with practices of spiritual leadership and the hurdles that are associated with today’s kind of leadership. The articles section is designed and formulated in ways that would guide the pursuant through the facet of spiritual personal exploration and transformation which is engaging and encouraging through some personal spiritual enlightening, observation, and reflection based on the author’s perception of leadership in the modern era.

Issues addressed by the article Bechtle (2008) in the introduction part takes the reader through her definition of her physical being and her nature of religion. Her take on the kind of governance and the bias norms that are associated with leadership the challenges that are posed through leadership and spiritualism in these transitional times is based on her understanding and concept about leadership.

The author engages the reader through the hardship that is adapted by the post-modern kind of leadership. To this, she articulates how an institution that once had dignity and honor have lost their universal norm of serving the society they were formulated to serve and have engaged in schemes that only oppresses. This failure the author links it with the leader’s failure in all aspect of governance form the religious facets to the secular ones (Whyte, 2001). However, in this aspect, the leader claims that they harbor constructive facets that mainly search to interconnect the societies and nations. The fundamental aspect attributed by the author here is to have a common agenda of assessing and generating a common agenda in an evolution manner which the author coins “The Great Turning,” this she articulates that it calls for alertness as there are danger signals all over and therefore there ought to be a significant task that should be formulated to combat this facets.

The author spiritually defines leadership based on the spiritual writer Parker Palmer concept, that a leader is someone who has incomparable ability to propel others quality of high profiled competence. To this, she articulates that those who are appointed to lead should possess this quality that is associated with the skilled ability to bring out the best on those they are appointed to lead (Chittister, 1995).

However, the author adds that according to the doctrines of Palmer, this kind of leadership is an interconnection of the leadership ability and the communion that one has with his/her inner being (Markham, 2006). This she emphasizes that spiritual guidance and relation is the driving force for a high-level profile leader. The spiritual dimension that sister Bechtle takes one through is based on the concept of the leader’s will and submission to the spiritual world which she bases on the Christian tradition.

The author offers an example based on her personal leadership attributes based on diminishing women congregation leadership in the United States. She narrates the frustration that the diminishing women congregational leadership is associated with as the numbers become less the existing sisters in the spiritual leadership are overcome with fear, anger, and denial and the authors narrate how they had to overcome this hurdle. The author takes the reader through her eight years of leadership which she reflects as being the journey to Emmaus. She concludes that through this journey she acknowledged that all her revelations, purpose and plans were put to test and left her feeling inadequate and irresponsible while wrestling her spiritual and external forces. Sister Bechtle at this point in the article narrates that she was confused and even started questioning the will of God as time became more complex and challenging (Bechtle, 2008).

The will to overcome the facets that were holding the author down opened doors that revealed that it was not her inadequacy, but the renewal that the community she was appointed to lead needed. From this she articulates that the fundamental lesson learned from her experiences helped her sort and acknowledge the real meaning of leadership, and also its real quality values based on spiritual viewpoint. To sister Bechtle (2008) leadership is more composed of spiritualism than skills; there is an interrelationship of person, society and community in the transformation journey. She lastly acknowledges that the spiritual leadership journey is a progression of non-ending chores.

The author offers the reader her own reflection on the responsibilities that are coupled with spiritual kind of leadership. This is based on a Catholic point of view which is based on fabricating the Body of Christ as the greatest foundation of might. This author articulates that will be achieved through reflection of the love of God in hard and merry times (Whyte, 2001). The fundamental facets that the author uses are by possessing the power of forgiveness and this she acclaims that would make peace with the pursuant of this doctrine if they practice it and the ultimate prize of joy and bliss unveils itself to them.

The author distinguishes the fantasies that people harbor about leaders distinguishing illusions from realities from the visions of leadership. From this sister Bechtle incorporate the story of the Savoir in seeing the opposite of what other saw. The author takes the reader through discipline that is associated with own body as a leader, tending o its needs and listening to its plights this is in a spiritual dimension (Markham, 2006). She later incorporate tending of the own body with the community, balancing these two facets are coined to enable the body to function in unison as one organism. From these factors the author claims that the pursuant will benefit and gain the gift of a content heart.

The theoretical basis for the article

The theoretical basis that is in the article mostly relates to the ideology of the transformational nature which leadership should generate by Christianity. The hard part of this idea is that perseverance is the hardest thing for a leader and the follows lose faith when the leader. Leadership significant visions are explained and are not expounded or detailed how they can be affected leadership in a secular world (Whyte, 2001).

Reflection and Personal Evaluation

This article although has some minor theoretical facets, it is the most enlightening article about spiritual leadership. Sister Bechtle’s writing style is well blended with the kind of information and intersection of Christian values and morals that support spiritual led leadership. The input of reflections and questions anticipates the reader of this article to understand and gain positive motivation of the importance of this study. The material is very enriching as it differentiates between secular simplistic leadership approach and spiritual led leadership approach by bridging the gap that encroaches the objectives of effective leadership. The issues that confuse followers are well elucidated and evaluated by theories based on personal, society and communal experience with the agenda of providing leadership that serves the people, not to the leader’s gains (Chittister, 1995). I think that the practical implementation of these principles could improve contemporary society significantly. Nowadays most leaders use their power for satisfying their personal needs, which causes numerous conflicts in society, though most of them could be prevented. I think that a person can succeed and become a good manager only on the condition of taking into consideration the interests of other members of the community. The fact is that every leader needs the support of the surrounding people following the person and accepting his/her leadership.

Conclusion

The leader should have an ideal intention to be able to practice transformational kind of leadership in their responsibilities of leadership, the sacrificing facets that look over others and makes them overcome their inadequacies and empowering them with spiritual guidance. The spiritual leadership journey that the author takes the followers is enriching and transforming catering for the plights of the followers first.

References

Bechtle, R. (2008). Spiritual-Led Leadership. Human Development Journals. 29(4), 56-72
Chittister, J. (1995). The Fire in These Ashes: A Spirituality of Contemporary Religious Life. Kansas, KS: Sheed & Ward.
Markham, D. (2006). The Leader’s Mantle: Creating Connection in Chaotic Times. Human Development. 24(4), 56 – 87.
Whyte, D. (2001). Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity. New York, NY: Riverhead Press.

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