title: Spirituality and leadership. Genuine leaders recognize the sacredness of the human presence.
abstract: Functionalism, which is the dominant philosophy of our time, views the world externally and mechanically and describes things in terms of how they work. But it cannot answer the "why" or (especially) the "who" questions. Leadership, however, requires an ability to recognize the sacredness of individuality. Each of us lives simultaneously in four different words: system, society, behavior, and experience. True leaders know that effecting change is possible only in the realm of experience. Change often begins in the human imagination, from which true leaders draw five necessary qualities: integrity, a gift for awakening others, compassion, spontaneity, and an ability to make use of failure--which is of course at the heart of crucifixion, resurrection, and incarnation. Healthcare today is caught up in a conversation between mission and market. Catholic healthcare leaders, who believe healthcare is a human right, will have to use all their powers of memory and imagination to invoke the vision of the ministry's founders. In that way, they may reawaken our numbed hearts.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Donohue
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000639:trends; D016519:Hospitals, Religious; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007857:Leadership; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012941:Social Responsibility; D014481:United States