5. Spiritual Leadership and Crisis

The research on both spiritual leadership and crisis leadership is small but has grown steadily over the past 20 years. Overall, the research on spiritual leadership has tended to show that leaders who emphasize spirituality in the workplace typically inspire their employees more. Additionally, research shows that when workplace spirituality is encouraged employees tend to perform better (Williams et al. 2017). This chapter will provide an overview of the literature available and will explain where there is room for additional research to make a large impact on the crisis leadership field. This chapter will also discuss key characteristics for modeling workplace spirituality and will offer suggestions to leaders on how to incorporate spirituality in the workplace and in their leadership style. The role of spirituality in employees dealing with a crisis will be the main focus of this chapter. Several examples will be provided to show how leaders can use their Christian spirituality to help their organizations during a crisis.