Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment pp 733–752Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Ubuntic Inclusion, Inclusive Leadership, and Workplace Spirituality

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

Abstract

This chapter proposes a conceptual relationship between workplace spirituality and inclusive leadership. More specifically, in this chapter, the author posits that this relationship is moderated by the presence and type of Ubuntu that manifests in the organization’s culture. The chapter melds research on two types of spirituality – dwelling and seeking orientations – and links them to a novel conceptualization of two types of Ubuntu (Parochial and Cosmopolitan). The chapter extends the model of Ubuntic Inclusion (Smith and Lindsay, Beyond inclusion: Worklife interconnectedness, energy, and resilience in organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2014) to consider Parochial and Cosmopolitan Ubuntu. The chapter ends with comparing and contrasting Ubuntic Inclusive Leadership with other complementary models of leadership.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   699.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amin Mohamed A, Wisnieski J, Askar M, Syed I (2004) Towards a theory of spirituality in the workplace. Compet Rev 14(1/2):102–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong TD (1995) Exploring spirituality: the development of the Armstrong measure of spirituality. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, New York City, August

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashmos DP, Duchon D (2000) Spirituality at work: a conceptualization and measure. J Manag Inq 9(2):134–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Avolio BJ, Gardner WL (2005) Authentic leadership development: getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadersh Q 16(3):315–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell E (2008) Towards a critical spirituality of organization. Cult Organ 14(3):293–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benefiel M, Fry LW, Geigle D (2014) Spirituality and religion in the workplace: history, theory, and research. Psychol Relig Spiritual 6(3):175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benner DG (1989) Toward a psychology of spirituality: implications for personality and psychotherapy. J Psychol Christ 5:19–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom D (2009) The phenomenological method of Gestalt therapy: revisiting Husserl to discover the “Essence” of Gestalt therapy. Gestalt Rev 13(3):277–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brimhall KC, Lizano EL, Barak MEM (2014) The mediating role of inclusion: a longitudinal study of the effects of leader–member exchange and diversity climate on job satisfaction and intention to leave among child welfare workers. Child Youth Serv Rev 40:79–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns JM (1978) Leadership and followership. Leadership, 18–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Butts D (1999) Spirituality at work: an overview. J Organ Chang Manag 12(4):328–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamiec-Case R (2009) Developing a scale to measure social workers’ integration of spirituality in the workplace. J Relig Spiritual Soc Work Soc Thought 28(3):284–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Cliffs Foundation (2017) Community relations statement. http://www.clevelandcliffs.com/English/corporate-responsibility/community-relations/default.aspx. Accessed 1 Nov 2017

  • Cosmopolitanism (2013) Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmopolitanism/. Accessed 21 Oct 2017

  • Costa MV (2016) Cosmopolitanism as a corrective virtue. Ethical Theory Moral Pract 19(4):999–1013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curle N (2015) A Christian theological critique of uBuntu in Swaziland. Conspectus 20(10):2–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniels D, Franz RS, Wong K (2000) A classroom with a worldview: making spiritual assumptions explicit in management education. J Manag Educ 24(5):540–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dehler GE, Welsh MA (1994) Spirituality and organizational transformation: implications for the new management paradigm. J Manag Psychol 9(6):17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egel EE, Fry LWJ (2013) Spiritual leadership as a model for Islamic leadership development. Acad Manag Proc 2013(1):12376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkins DN, Hedstrom LJ, Hughes LL, Leaf JA, Saunders C (1988) Toward a humanistic–phenomenological spirituality: definition, description, and measurement. J Humanist Psychol 28(4):5–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons RA (2000) Is spirituality an intelligence? Motivation, cognition, and the psychology of ultimate concern. Int J Psychol Relig 10:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanon F (1963) The wretched of the Earth. Grove Weidenfeld, New York. http://abahlali.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Frantz-Fanon-The-Wretched-of-the-Earth-1965.pdf. Accessed 20 Jan 2018

  • Ferdman BM, Davidson MN (2002) Inclusion: what can I and my organization do about it? Ind Organ Psychol 39(4):80–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferdman BM, Roberts LM (2013) Creating inclusion for oneself: knowing, accepting, and expressing one’s whole self at work. In: Ferdman BM, Deane BR (eds) Diversity at work: the practice of inclusion. Wiley, San Francisco, pp 93–127

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Frankl VE (1959) Man’s search for meaning (trans: Lasch I). Rider, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry LW, Vitucci S, Cedillo M (2005) Spiritual leadership and army transformation: theory, measurement, and establishing a baseline. Leadersh Q 16(5):835–862

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaylard R (2004) “Welcome to the world of our humanity”: (African) humanism, Ubuntu and Black South African writing. J Lit Stud 20(3–4):265–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giacalone RA, Jurkiewicz CL (eds) (2010) Handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance (2nd ed.). Me Sharpe, Armonk

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales R (2017) Red Cross exec doesn’t know what proportion of donations goes to Harvey relief, Morning edition, National Public Radio, 30 Aug 2017. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/30/547435136/red-cross-exec-doesn-t-know-what-portion-of-donations-will-go-directly-to-harvey. Accessed 1 Nov 2017

  • Greenleaf RK (1970) The servant as leader. The Robert K. Greenleaf Center, Indianapolis, pp 1–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Hailey J (2008) Ubuntu: a literature review. Document. Tutu Foundation, London. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.459.6489&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 15 Jan 2018

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlos KP (2000) Toward a spiritual pedagogy: meaning, practice, and applications in management education. J Manag Educ 24(5):612–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill PC, Smith GS (2010) Coming to terms with spirituality and religion in the workplace. In: Giacalone RA, Jurkiewicz CL (eds) Handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance, 2nd edn. Routledge, New York, pp 171–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeon KS, Passmore DL, Lee C, Hunsaker W (2013) Spiritual leadership: a validation study in a Korean context. J Manag Spiritual Relig 10(4):342–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellerman B (2012) The end of leadership. Harper Collins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • King ML (1965) Remaining awake through a great revolution. Commencement Address, Oberlin College, June 1965. http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/BlackHistoryMonth/MLK/CommAddress.html. Accessed 25 Jan 2018

  • Konz GN, Ryan FX (1999) Maintaining an organizational spirituality: no easy task. J Organ Chang Manag 12(3):200–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kouzes JM, Posner BZ (2002) The leadership challenge, vol 3. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladkin D, Spiller C (eds) (2013) Authentic leadership: clashes, convergences and coalescences. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis B (2010) Forging an understanding of black humanity through relationship: an Ubuntu perspective. Black Theol 8(1):69–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz DW (2009) African Ubuntu philosophy and global management. J Bus Ethics 84:313–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manda DS (2009) Ubuntu philosophy as an African philosophy for peace. Africafiles.org. http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=20359. Accessed 21 Oct 2017

  • Mann T, Lowe-Porter HT (1927) The magic mountain. Knopf, New York, p 112

    Google Scholar 

  • McKnight R (1984) Spirituality in the workplace. In: Adams JD (ed) Transforming work: a collection of organizational transformation readings. Miles River Press, Alexandria, pp 138–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitroff II, Denton EA (1999) A study of spirituality in the workplace. MIT Sloan Manag Rev 40(4):83

    Google Scholar 

  • Mor Barak MEM (2013) Managing diversity: toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Munyaka M, Motlhabi M (2009) Ubuntu and its socio-moral significance. In: Murove MF (ed) African ethics: an anthology of comparative and applied ethics. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Durban, pp 63–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Murithi T (2006) Practical peacemaking wisdom from Africa: reflections on Ubuntu. J Pan Afr Stud 1(4):25–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Neck CP, Milliman JF (1994) Thought self-leadership: finding spiritual fulfilment in organizational life. J Manag Psychol 9(6):9–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nkomo SM (2013) Inclusion: old wine in new bottles? In: Ferdman BM, Deane BR (eds) Diversity at work: the practice of inclusion. Wiley, San Francisco, pp 580–592

    Google Scholar 

  • Northouse PG (2015) Leadership: theory and practice. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Pensky M (2007) Two cheers for cosmopolitanism: cosmopolitan solidarity as second-order inclusion. J Soc Philos 38(1):165–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes K (2006) Six components for a model of workplace spirituality. Graziadio Business Review. https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/six-components-of-a-model-for-workplace-spirituality/. Accessed 21 Oct 2017

  • Shafranske EP, Malony HN (1990) Clinical psychologists’ religious and spiritual orientations and their practice of psychotherapy. Psychother Theory Res Pract Train 27(1):72–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shutte A (1993) Philosophy for Africa. University of Cape Town Press, Cape Town

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JG, Lindsay JB (2014) Beyond inclusion: worklife interconnectedness, energy, and resilience in organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Spears LC (2010) Character and servant leadership: ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. J Virtues Leadersh 1(1):25–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Storberg-Walker J, Gardiner RA (2017) Authentic leadership in HRD – identity matters! Critical explorations on leading authentically. Adv Dev Hum Resour 19(4):350–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuit HH (2013) Ubuntu strategies in contemporary South African culture. Doctoral dissertation, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Tutu D (1999) No future without forgiveness. Image Doubleday, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Binsbergen WM (2001) Ubuntu and the globalisation of Southern African thought and society. Quest 15:53

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan F (1991) Spiritual issues in psychotherapy. J Transpers Psychol 23(2):105

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson JR (2003) South African women and the ties that bind. In: Coetzee PH, Roux APJ (eds) The African philosophy reader. Routledge, New York/London, pp 343–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Wuthnow R (1998) After heaven: spirituality in America since the 1950s. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, 29409, SC, USA

    J. Goosby Smith

Authors
  1. J. Goosby Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Goosby Smith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robertson School of Government, Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

    Gary E. Roberts

  2. International College of Management (ICMS), Sydney, Australia

    Joanna Elizabeth Crossman

Appendix A: Themes and Sub-Themes of Ubuntic Inclusion (Smith and Lindsay 2014)

Appendix A: Themes and Sub-Themes of Ubuntic Inclusion (Smith and Lindsay 2014)

Care

Connection

Helping personally

To a larger purpose

Helping professionally

Sense of community

Getting to know me

Through breaking bread

Caring what I think and feel

To the organization

Saying “Thank You”

With leaders

Speaking to people

With colleagues/peers

Throughout the organization

To one’s team

Through fun

Fairness

Communication

Fair and legal staffing

Formal

Fair professional development

Downward

Fair compensation

Upward

Fair promotion practices

Informal

Fair policies and norms

One-on-one

Fair treatment

Transparency

Fair work-life balance

Career development

Mode of communication

Feedback

“Safe space” for communication

Multilingual

Trust

Intrapersonal

Trust in the organization’s strategy

Expecting inclusion

Trust in Human Resources

Initiating inclusion

Trust in organizational processes

“They told me so”

Being trusted by leaders

Being flexible

Trusting leaders

Self-control

Trust in one’s colleagues/peers

Double-effort half the recognition

Persistence in proving oneself

Checking-out (avoiding)

Impression management

Affinity groups

Leaning toward inclusion

Mentoring and Coaching

Visibility and Reward

Having a mentor or a coach

Recognition/acknowledgement among peers

Needing mentoring

Reinforcing fairness and meritocracy

Actively engaged mentors

Conquering a challenge

Diverse set of mentors

Celebrating performance with others

Formal mentoring programs

Intrinsic enjoyment of reward

Informal mentors

Public recognition and reward

Gaining exposure/getting sponsoring

Feeling appreciated for hard work

Skill development

Being promoted

Career development

Internal visibility

Being a mentor or a coach

External visibility

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Smith, J.G. (2018). Ubuntic Inclusion, Inclusive Leadership, and Workplace Spirituality. In: Roberts, G., Crossman, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62163-0_25

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation