Soulful organizational leadership

Resum

Teseo Abstract In the “Postmodern” organizational era, the concept of soul, spirituality, rationality, telos, virtue, happiness, and meaning is becoming increasingly a mainstream component in scientific psychology. This situation presents a promising challenge for a Thomistic, organizational faculty-behavioral-psychology. As contemporary organizations emerge into hierarchical-heterarchical structures, it is argued that a return to a premodern Aristotelian-Thomistic, faculty-behavioral-psychology is the most appropriate organizational psychology for the digital-disruptive culture in quest of an executive-exemplar realist leadership. In responding to this cultural situation, we developed a psychology of soulful organizational leadership grounded on a Thomistic, organizational faculty-behavioral-psychology of six fundamental principles of executive-exemplar leadership and practice: Principle One: An Organizational, Faculty-Behavioral Psychology The Thomistic solution to the issue of organizational leadership is grounded on a well-developed Thomistic faculty-behavioral psychology. Therefore, we have articulated an organizational, faculty- behavioral psychology as foundational to the study and practice of soulful leadership. Craft Knowledge Art Principle Two: Soulless Executive/Soulful Executive and a Return to Virtuous Character We deliberately began with an examination of the “dark soul.” Unfortunately, we seldomly think in terms of organizations as domains of soulfulness. The history of the “soul” in relationship to leaders and workers in organizations is, as a rule, one that has often had pejorative connotations. More frequently expressed and believed is that organizations, especially business and governmental, are perceived as being “soulless” as opposed to “soulful.” Craft Knowledge Principle Three: Metaphysical Sense of Organization and Wisdom Once executive leaders with the prudential moral character master such metaphysical principles, on a daily basis, as exemplar leaders, they can diffuse and amplify virtuous powers of harmony, cooperation, that bring a social group to perfection throughout the organization. This process of diffusion of virtual intensity of organizational power must begin with the soulful executive who has a metaphysical sense of organizational perfection. Craft Knowledge Principle Four: Common Sensemaking Induction There is a recognition that contemporary leaders must have highly developed sense-making abilities. On this issue we argue that empirical psychology and leadership education has an inadequate understanding of the intellect and intuition to generate such sense-making abilities Craft Knowledge Principle Five: The Diffusion of Exemplar and Follower Organizational Learning of Estimative Intelligence and Emotional Master We defined this confluence of estimative powers as an estimative intelligence that is essential to the practical art of soulful organizational leadership. Second, the ability to lead by means of the confluence of the estimative powers of the soul requires a mastery of the faculties of the soul, especially of the human passions. . Craft Knowledge Principle Six: The Moral-Molar Nested Behavioral HEFT We hold for a trading-zone Thomistic, faculty-behavioral psychology with the work of the neo-behaviorist BAUM’s theory of behavior and the observation of molar behavior as compatible with a Thomistic, faculty-behavioral psychology. Most importantly, we will apply this concept of the observation of molar behavior and nesting activities to the moral virtues. We suggest the practice of developing thin and thick data moral-molar observational methods for the continuous improvement of leadership virtuous character and observable organizational activities.