Judi Neal

Conventional measurements of knowledge are usually based on tangible qualitative and quantitative research, where progress is manifested incrementally with little visible impact. Though workplace challenges are rarely examined from a spiritual perspective, both experience and research efforts have shown that this vein of thinking can deepen personal intuition and provide real breakthroughs and transformations for those who might otherwise feel stuck in their work environment or wider career. Drawing on author Judi Neal’s wealth of experiences and observations, Inspiring Workplace Spirituality invites deeper reflections on the profound questions and issues that conventional forms of knowledge often fail to encompass. Providing specific practices and tools for applying internal spirituality on a day-to-day level, Neal proposes seeing work as sacred. Sharing accessible stories and examples, she explores the importance of spiritual values such as gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness within the workplace. Channelling new ways of perceiving and responding to everyday challenges, Inspiring Workplace Spirituality acts as a unique guide for professionals who are ready to elevate their internal leadership journey and assume the presence and self-awareness that will enable them to make a positive impact wherever they work.

Change processes in organizations are time consuming, expensive, and often don’t create the intended results. This book creates a new way for leaders to relate to change from a place of deeper understanding. Based on years of research, consulting, and teaching, the models and frameworks described in this book have been applied successfully in organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, IBM, Facebook, Charles Schwab & Company, and Accenture. The book provides breakthrough thinking to leaders who find themselves in the chaos of multiple, high amplitude changes that cannot be managed from an autocratic or even a participative mindset. The successful transformation of a human system does not require that people change who they are so much as it requires they become more of who they are—more like themselves. Change does not require new step-by-step models offered by an outside expert. It requires teaching people how to become model builders. As a result of this deeper transformation of mindset, not only will people in the organization be able to manage the particular change crisis facing them in the moment, they will develop a new relationship to change so that strategic thinking and breakthrough business outcomes become part of the organizational norm. This book will primarily appeal to experienced leaders, senior managers, and change agents who have learned that the textbook recipes for initiating or responding to change don’t work. It is also useful supplementary reading for students of organizational studies and leadership.

Change processes in organizations are time consuming, expensive, and often don’t create the intended results. This book creates a new way for leaders to relate to change from a place of deeper understanding. Based on years of research, consulting, and teaching, the models and frameworks described in this book have been applied successfully in organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, IBM, Facebook, Charles Schwab & Company, and Accenture. The book provides breakthrough thinking to leaders who find themselves in the chaos of multiple, high amplitude changes that cannot be managed from an autocratic or even a participative mindset. The successful transformation of a human system does not require that people change who they are so much as it requires they become more of who they are—more like themselves. Change does not require new step-by-step models offered by an outside expert. It requires teaching people how to become model builders. As a result of this deeper transformation of mindset, not only will people in the organization be able to manage the particular change crisis facing them in the moment, they will develop a new relationship to change so that strategic thinking and breakthrough business outcomes become part of the organizational norm. This book will primarily appeal to experienced leaders, senior managers, and change agents who have learned that the textbook recipes for initiating or responding to change don’t work. It is also useful supplementary reading for students of organizational studies and leadership.

The book goes beyond theory to offer tools and suggestions for developing emerging leaders. Inspired by the pioneering work of leadership scholar Andre Delbecq, this book points towards an expanded model of leadership that incorporates an active inner life, and posits that such fully human models of leadership will be essential to meet the profound challenges of the 21st Century. Without presuming to provide definitive answers, the text explores central questions such as: What is the added value of spiritual maturity to leadership? Would the integration of mature spirituality with well-developed intellectual and emotional capacities produce more beneficial leadership outcomes for organizations and individuals? What would a spiritually and developmentally mature emerging leader look like in 10 to 20 years? How do we prepare emerging leaders for the challenges they may face; and how do we model spiritually and developmentally mature leadership in ways that resonate with them? Professor Andre Delbecq (1936-2016) of the University of Santa Clara created the heuristic of “spiritually and developmentally mature leaders” to encapsulate his observation that outstanding leaders often seemed to draw strength and wisdom from sources that are not typically studied or taught in leadership courses. Thirty scholars and practitioners accepted Delbecq’s heuristic as the starting point to explore spiritual components of leadership that do not easily lend themselves to quantification or clear causal links. The analysis of their disciplined engagement with the heuristic forms the foundation of an exploratory, fully human understanding of leadership. This analysis is supported by literature reviews, including an overview of Andre Delbecq’s relevant work. Ultimately, the authors call for further collaboration across disciplines and between research and practice to build on the conceptual constructs offered here, and, especially, to create pedagogies for the trainingof spiritually and developmentally mature leaders

Projects have always been essentially human endeavours. Large modern projects are generally highly complex, fraught with technical difficulties and supported by diverse, often apparently conflicted stakeholders. The spirituality that originally defined some of the great construction projects of the classical era surely has a role in project management today. The Spirit of Project Management explains the context for spirituality in projects and explores how it can be used to create a larger sense of purpose and achievement; to help encourage an esprit de corps amongst all those involved; to act as a touchstone for ethical and sustainable decision-making. This is a very pragmatic book. The first part includes an explanation and a variety of useful models for understanding the significance and value of spirituality in projects. Judi Neal and Alan Harpham devote the second part of the book to help you integrate these ideas into your day-to-day management of projects. Thus there are chapters on spirituality from the perspective of the individual, the project team, the project organization and even project management within a sustainable world framework. Read this book, use the ideas to help you articulate your projects; engage and sustain your project team and your stakeholders; and frame how you work in terms of your organisation, society and the environment.

Projects have always been essentially human endeavours. Large modern projects are generally highly complex, fraught with technical difficulties and supported by diverse, often apparently conflicted stakeholders. The spirituality that originally defined some of the great construction projects of the classical era surely has a role in project management today. The Spirit of Project Management explains the context for spirituality in projects and explores how it can be used to create a larger sense of purpose and achievement; to help encourage an esprit de corps amongst all those involved; to act as a touchstone for ethical and sustainable decision-making. This is a very pragmatic book. The first part includes an explanation and a variety of useful models for understanding the significance and value of spirituality in projects. Judi Neal and Alan Harpham devote the second part of the book to help you integrate these ideas into your day-to-day management of projects. Thus there are chapters on spirituality from the perspective of the individual, the project team, the project organization and even project management within a sustainable world framework. Read this book, use the ideas to help you articulate your projects; engage and sustain your project team and your stakeholders; and frame how you work in terms of your organisation, society and the environment.

In ancient cultures, each village had a shaman or medicine man who would visit the invisible world to obtain vital information, guidance, and healing for members of the tribe. These edgewalkers have contemporary counterparts in today's organizations—those individuals who don't fit squarely into any one box; in their metaphorical travels they interpret trends from the marketplace, translate messages across departments, and envision the future impact of today's decisions and actions. Edgewalking doesn't come without its own risks and challenges; these unconventional people often clash with more traditional, rule-bound colleagues, and they are often frustrated by organizational systems that emphasize quantitative results over creative impulses. And yet in today's fast-changing, diverse, and globalized business environment, organizations must recruit and support these people in order to stay competitive. Featuring colorful interviews and practical tools to gauge and manage your own edgewalking skills, Edgewalkers explores the opportunities that are created by defying formal boundaries and fostering creativity at every level of the organization. They're the first people to volunteer to head up a new business unit, lead a cross-company initiative, or take on an overseas assignment. They're the glass half-full folks, who are constantly thinking out of the box, forging alliances with colleagues in other departments, seeking out new solutions to old problems, and anticipating challenges on the horizon. And in today's increasingly diverse workplaces, they are often people who have pursued unusual educational and career paths, traveled widely, and speak more than one language. Judi Neal has a term for these people: Edgewalkers. Literally, an edgewalker is someone who walks between two worlds. In ancient cultures, each village had a shaman or medicine man who would visit the invisible world to obtain vital information, guidance, and healing for members of the tribe. Today's corporate edgewalkers serve a similar function, interpreting trends from the marketplace, translating messages across departments, and envisioning the future impact of today's decisions and actions. Edgewalking doesn't come without its own risks and challenges; these unconventional people often clash with more traditional, rule-bound colleagues, and they are often frustrated by organizational systems that emphasize quantitative results over creative impulses. And yet in today's fast-changing, globalized business environment, organizations must recruit and support these people in order to stay competitive. Featuring colorful interviews with edgewalkers from a variety of fields and practical tools to gauge and manage your own edgewalking skills, Edgewalkers explores the opportunities that are created by defying formal boundaries and fostering creativity at every level of the organization.