Spirit Informed Leadership
Grace and Associates
Inspiring Courage, Hope and Action for Just Communities
A distinctive of Grace and Associates is our commitment to support the emergence of spiritually vibrant and responsive leaders, institutions and communities. We help you to recognize and release the spirit that inspires and animates the process of achieving your noble purpose.
What is it?
Spirit Informed Leaders find meaning in relationship with their deepest source which liberates them to act courageously for the renewal of their institutions and communities. They view themselves and all social entities as complex spiritual entities, called by a Spirit within and beyond to fulfill a noble purpose. Recognizing that organizations often become distracted from this ultimate purpose, they work to increase organizational freedom to fulfill this purpose.
Why is it important?
Physicists have discovered what they call dark matter. This invisible matter, which far outweighs the visible matter in the universe, is currently discernable only through observing the impact that it has on visible objects. We believe that, like dark matter, the unseen dimension of individual and corporate existence exerts powerful influence over observable actions. Leaders who learn to operate at the both the visible and invisible levels of collective life will be better equipped to meet the challenges of our day.
- In a world of increasing complexity that exceeds the intellect's capacity to absorb, leaders need to develop a quality of "knowing within the unknowable" that can guide their actions.
- With the pace of change increasing exponentially, leaders need to remain grounded in their deepest source and open to what is wanting to emerge.
- Where many institutions have lost touch with their highest purpose, leaders need resources to effect deep and lasting transformation that impacts the heart of a organization.
What do Spirit Informed Leaders do?
Spirit Informed Leaders consistently take action designed to help institutions and communities gain increased capacity to engage in ongoing learning and transformation.
- Sustained by relationship with their deepest source, Spirit Informed Leaders courageously face the truth about themselves and their institutions and communities. They acknowledge the great potential for good as well as the persistent impediments to achieving the good, and they stand in a place of hope for redemptive possibility.
- Aware of the persistent power of the unseen institutional spirit to shape organizational behaviors and frustrate good intentions, Spirit Informed Leaders are not satisfied to achieve surface level change but intentionally work to effect deep transformation.
- Affirming the essential unity between visible and invisible aspects of existence, Spirit Informed Leaders are intensely practical, seeking integrity between organizational systems, structures and actions and the organization’s noble purpose.
- Recognizing the limits of ordinary experience and understanding, Spirit Informed Leaders seek wisdom from a Spirit within and beyond themselves to invite them to new and uncharted territory.
Are you called to Spirit Informed Leadership?
If you….
- care about the well-being and highest purpose of your organization or institution,
- feel confused by organizational actions that seem counter to its purpose or frustrated by repeated attempts to make lasting change,
- want to remain personally grounded in the face of organizational challenges, or
- desire to operate from a place awareness in order to take action
then you may be called to enter the territory of Spirit Informed Leadership.
How We Help Develop Spirit Informed Leaders
Leading Spirit Informed Institutions--Two Day Intensive
Grace and Associates offers a 2-day intensive workshop to introduce this approach to institutional transformation that will allow leaders to tap into the spiritual dimensions of individual and organizational life to access new insights and new possibilities for action.
In this workshop, participants build a learning community with others seeking to be Spirit Informed Leaders, explore the vocation of Spirit Informed institutions, understand the nature and quality of leadership required to nurture Spirit Informed institutions, and chart a path toward Spiritually Informed leadership.
Participants gain a deep sense of the potential for good inherent in their organization and resolve to act for its manifestation. They learn a practical model for reflection in order to design Spiritually Informed leadership actions, and take away resources for ongoing leadership formation.
The upcoming intensive is scheduled for October, 2009. Email to request information.
Communities of Reflective Practice
Grace and Associates offers two types of facilitated learning communities. Leaders support one another in developing awareness of how they are being called to exercise positive influence in their unique settings.
In a year-long series of monthly gatherings, participants deepen their understanding of key leadership principles and engage in reflective practice with others in order to ground this knowledge in real-life experience.
In regularly scheduled small group phone conversations, participants share current leadership experiences in a safe, confidential setting, in order to gain greater self-awareness and increased competence. Create your own group with 3-4 colleagues or email to be placed on the list for the next group that forms. Participants commit to 6 sessions over a 3-month period, with the option to renew that commitment.
One-on-One Coaching for Spirit Informed Leaders
Coaching for Spirit-Informed Leaders helps individuals call upon their own depth of being in order to exercise positive influence in the organizations of which they are part. Applying this reflective practice to the interplay of personal and organizational life helps them take action consistent with deeply held values, call and purpose. Individual coaching appointments may be held by phone or in person (in the Seattle area). Email to request a complimentary introductory session.
Consulting for Spirit Informed Institutions
The accomplishment of an organization’s purpose is not dependent on one person alone but is the result of a complex web of relationship. This often unnoticed relational space between management, staff, community and other stakeholders is a source of untapped spiritual energy for organizational success as well as home to much of the painful confusion and chaos that can hinder a group’s effectiveness. Grace and Associates develops an ongoing relationship with organizations committed to serving their highest purpose. We work with you to understand your needs, then walk with you on the path of discerning your highest purpose and developing freedom to achieve that purpose. Email to request a complimentary phone consultation to explore the possibilities for your organization.
