spiritual leadership

David Hoyle

SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

Pieter Bruegel, The Adoration of the Kings

Pieter Bruegel Desidia

The weasel word

Spiritual, but not religious

Religious, but not spiritual

Faith and Spirituality

Faith The concepts Spirituality The actions and doctrines: God, and feelingsForgiveness

We all have a spirituality

I am the only child of parents who weighed, measured, and priced everything; for whom what could not be weighed, measured, and priced, had no existence.

Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit

It could be damaging

Nothing now can come to any good

It is very often…

I went for a walk in the woods

Spirituality is

…and not necessarily Christian or even religious

Spirituality is:

Belief Awe Transcendence Meaning Self Knowledge …

It must not be vagueWilliam Matthews the four subjects of poetry:1. I went out into the woods today, and it

made me feel, you know, sort of religious.2. We're not getting any younger.3. It sure is cold and lonely

(a) without you, honey, or (b) with you, honey.

4. Sadness seems but the other side of the coin of happiness, and vice versa, and in any case the coin is too soon spent, and on what we know not what.

Pieter Breugel, Fall of Icarus

The fixed is the world without fire – dead flint, dead tinder; and nowhere a spark. It is motion without direction, force without power

Put another way…

A boat that needs wind

A school that needs purpose, direction, a spirit

The spirit is breath and speech

A sense of purpose

Where are we going? Why? Why is it important?

How? It needs to be yours

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval Mark Twain

How? The very real danger

The root of all sin is fear, the very deep fear that we are nothing… To sin is always to construct an illusory self that we can only admire, instead of the real self that we can only love Herbert McCabe

How? Can you name it?

What matters? Why does it matter? How do I set priorities?

How? Can you share and communicate it?I say there are three very basic things that someone who accepts a senior leadership post requires. First, that they understand what it is to serve.Second, that their love and respect for what their colleagues are about is robust. Third, I don’t have to question their commitment. (Bishop Mike)

They are authentic

Can you resource it?

Where are the wells? Who helps? If it is all about

noticing do you have a vantage point?

How? What are the challenges?

Fear Muddying the water The temptation of office Objectives Despair Overwork and exhaustion

Spirituality

Mr Gove said: “We need to refocus inspection on the principal purpose of schools improving teaching and learning and dramatically reduce the time and energy spent on other existing bureaucratic duties.”

Or Hope?

Not forced, not defined

Angels fly because they take themselves lightly G K Chesterton

I ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the lightlike a colour slide…

I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand torture a confession out of it.They begin beating it with a hoseto find out what it really means.

Billy Collins