Leading

Leading with soul

Leading with Soul, what does that mean? This reference refers to leading with your heart, not your mind. This type of leadership requires you to examine yourself, what are you passionate about. This is not the ordinary way that you would typically lead; this method requires introspection and self-inventory. The only way to lead effectively is to make a positive connection with people you are trying to lead. When your approach to leading is one with meaning, heart, and direction; the response is positive and easy to follow. This book stressed the importance of facing your demons when taking up a leadership role within an organization.

The main themes of this book deal with the process of human evolution within the leadership realm. The main purpose of the book is to get the reader to recognize the inner workings of spirit and transfer those positive characteristics to the people that you lead. The book tries to explain the importance of making the relationships at work memorable and meaningful. Treating people with respect and significance will yield a better organization throughout. The road to leading with soul may be tough and not without personal strife. The self-inventory of self-introspection requires a person to take a good hard look at them and identify the personal flaws within them in order to better him or herself. This an approach that I feel I personally demonstrate due to a similar book I read before that demonstrated personal inventory and introspection. Many times people lead through force and discipline, this yields a negative work environment, with little or no communication. A work environment lacking in this important factor suffers greatly with lack of productivity. Having empathy for you employees is a positive trait that only emphasizes the ability to lead with your heart. Taking a true and genuine concern for whom you work with creates a positive and pleasant work environment; this is the key to a successful organization.

The role of the coach is one that creates transformation in the protÐ"©gÐ"©. In this story Maria is the wise coach who transforms the dispirited leader named Steve. Steve is disheartened by his life and work; he is in search for something more meaningful in his life and work. Steve is put in touch with a wise sage named Maria whom a close friend has recommended. Maria uses her life and business experiences to help Steve discover his need for new soulful leadership ability. Steve unexpectedly discovers the true meaningfulness of leadership through his own self-discovery and introspective questioning. His talks with Maria reveal to him the true meaning of leadership and what it takes to become a leader. His transformation is gradual and takes many conversations with Maria before his soul was revealed to him. Steve uses his newfound soul to help him in making a significant change within his work organization.

Through Steve’s journey he discovers the “four gifts” of leading with soul. The four gifts consist of: love, power, authorship and significance. Authorship relates to giving up control and trusting in other people around you to get the job done. Steve found himself taking on an ever-growing workload. He was not trusting of his employees to deliver an get the job done. He did not think that they would be able to complete the tasks that