There is a growing indescribable void in the life people are living nowadays. People are working doubly hard and earning much and yet the sense of insecurity is reaching its peak. To quote, “millions of people arrive at their place of employment, the unfortunate reality is that many see their work environment not as an opportunity, but as a place of mundane misery”. This “indescribable void” can be something connected to the next level of concern which is the mounting world’s hunger for leaders. We are in an era where “leadership” is better defined and explained by books not by actions, by words and not by real life. Such phenomenon explains the reason why for the past decades “schools of thoughts about leadership” popped out like mushrooms in the field. But it is noticeable that most of the theories highlight traits, characteristics, and expectations for leaders of this generation. Bolman and Deal bravely brought out a radical and yet basic concept about leadership. Radical because it counters the common trends and expectations for leadership in our time; yet basic because it is a simple journey of going inward – in search of the soul in leadership – the quest for its meaning.
The book is about leading in a way that is not of this time and yet needed by this time. It is about giving value to faith, hope and meaning in leading ourselves, others and organizations. One really important point in the book is the recognition of “leadership” as a journey; a journey that is foundationally inward, and then existentially outward. Most of the times, in front of leadership challenges, we simply refer to ideas presented by books and other people, without weighing its context and relevance. But as the book tells us “no one can find meaning for you. Not your consultants, not your boss, not the Harvard Business review. Only you really know what’s in your heart”.
The ‘journey of discovering the soul of leadership’ is the inward one that is at times the longest and hardest. There is no map or exact path. “It is a quest through unchartered territory”, and it’s being unknown makes it an unappealing and uncomfortable choice. But it’s the “unknowingness” that gives value and meaning to it. For it is there that we encounter the “meaning”.
“Leading with Soul” is not exclusively for people who are tasked to lead organizations. It is basically about “personal leadership”. The journey will take a lot of ‘introspection and integration’; a lot of silent moments, reflections, prayers, meditations. But these are things that the authors named as our “heart songs”, songs that will sustain us through the “vicissitudes of our leadership journey”.
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