Teilhard, Eisler and Greenleaf all offer encouraging and inspiring models of leadership. One may be inclined, however, to dismiss these portrayals as hopelessly out of date or out of touch with reality. A similar critique is often drawn with regard to many of the other appreciative approaches to organizational life. Yet all three visionaries, Teilhard, Eisler and Greenleaf, speak to the necessity for making this shift in leadership, given the critical condition of many 21st Century organizations.
Furthermore, there is ample evidence all around us in our natural world that suggest the abundance of love, partnership and servanthood. According to Teilhard: “. . .[if] a universal love is impossible, how can we account for the irresistible instinct in our hearts which leads us towards unity whenever and in whatever direction our passions are stirred: A sense of the universe, a sense of the All, the nostalgia which seizes us when confronted by nature, beauty, music—these seem to be an expectation and awareness of a Great Presence.”xiv
____________________
i Edgar Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1985.
iiPaul Hershey and Kenneth Blanchard. The Management of Organizational Behavior. (3rd ed.) Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977.
iiiFred Fiedler. A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967; V. H. Vroom and P. W. Yetton. Leadership and Decision Making. Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburg Press, 1973; and Jane Woodward. Management and Technology. London: HMSO, 1958.
iv Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. Managerial Grid III (3rd ed.). Houston, Tex.: Gulf, 1985.
v Chris Argyris and Donald Schon, Organizational Learning. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978; Peter Senge. The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday, 1990.
vi Margaret Wheatley. Leadership and The New Science. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999; William Bergquist, The Postmodern Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994; Ralph Stacey. Complexity and Creativity in Organizations. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1996.
vii James Gleick. Chaos. New York: Viking Penguin,1987; William Bergquist. The Postmodern Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.
viii Teilhard de Chardin. The Phenomenon of Man. New York: HarperCollins, 1953, p. 264.
ix Teilhard de Chardin. The Phenomenon of Man. New York: HarperCollins, 1955, p. 265.
x Riane Eisler. The Chalice and The Blade. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1987.
xiRiane Eisler. The Chalice and The Blade. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1987.
xii David Loye and RianeEisler. “Chaos and Transformation: Implications of Nonequilibrium Theory for Social Science and Society,” Behavioral Science, 1987, 32, p. 63.
xiii Robert Greenleaf. Leader as Servant. Peterborough, New Hampshire: Windy Row Press, 1970, pp. 3-4.
xiv Teilhard de Chardin. The Phenomenon of Man. New York: HarperCollins, 1955, p. 266.
—————
————————————————————
—————
————————————————————
