RE-EMBODYING LEADERSHIP THROUGH A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE SACRED Submitted by Alison Margaret Grieg Young to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership Studies June 2014. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature) ...................................................................................... Abstract The last couple of decades have witnessed an exponential increase of interest in religion and spirituality in the academic disciplines of leadership and organization. Some scholars argue that this interest is prone to neglect analysis of Western religion’s historical origins and therefore of what may be its repressed influences on leadership and organizational practices. Others, that this revived focus on the sacred may be limited by an over-reliance on too narrow a theology rooted within a singular (Judeo-Christian) cosmology. I seek to both speak to and expand the concerns of such previous research. I do this by introducing ecofeminism as a theoretical framework for a critical analysis of the macro level of what has already been framed as the repressed influence of mainstream religious orthodoxy within the field of leadership studies. Building upon the perspectives provided by ecofeminism and feminist spirituality I extend the aforementioned concerns by suggesting that some of the ethics within the Judeo-Christian cosmology itself bear some relationship to and responsibility in crises relating to environmental sustainability and social justice. I explore a number of related themes, arguing in particular that the 1 demotion of nature and partnership with what might be described as the divine feminine within Western culture are not only linked but also generate profound dysfunction, in both leadership and organization. In the second section I present empirical data at a micro level, collected within a contemporary spiritual community where both nature and the divine feminine play central roles in its cosmology. The School of Movement Medicine functions as a financially successful business organization dedicated to the encouragement of spiritual fulfillment, ecological sustainability and social justice. The practices it teaches are specifically designed to assist those who engage with them to take responsibility for responding to the individual, societal and global challenges that lie before us - aiming, in other words to make leaders out of members. My hope is that these explorations may answer some of the calls of previous work to broaden representation within the leadership and spirituality field, as well as enriching its theory and practice with greater potential to generate increased levels of social justice, environmental sustainability and human fulfillment. Keywords: Leadership; Ecofeminism; Cosmology; Shamanism; Insider Research List of Contents Acknowledgements PROLOGUE Introduction 10 Society and Subjectivity – Catechisms, “Peaceniks” and Draft Dodgers 15 Reich, Body, Authority and Encounters with Charismatic Leadership 19 Career Burnout and Aspirations Towards More Sustainable “Organization” 29 Summary 34 SECTION ONE LEADERSHIP AND THE SACRED CHAPTER ONE LEADERSHIP, CRISIS AND SPIRITUAL DIVERSITY 1a. Introduction 36 2 1b. Contradictions and Confluences 41 1c. Crisis as opportunity 43 1d. Leadership - Problem or solution? 47 1e. Leadership and spiritual diversity? 53 1f. Ecofeminisms – Looking through critical, varifocal lenses 56 1g. Theoretical, methodological and empirical contexts Relevance and contribution 65 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 2a. Introduction 71 2b. “Surveying the landscape” - A literature review of leadership, religion and spirituality 72 2c. Leaps of (interest in) faith in both the Private and Public Domains 73 2d. For god, economy and country? The question of whether the public sphere has ever been a secular arena 78 2e. Measurement, science and subjectivity 81 2f. Moving beyond science – Subjectivity and Holistic Perspectives 84 2g. Is it really spirituality or is it religion in disguise? 86 2h. Conclusions 89 CHAPTER THREE RE-CONSTELLATING LEADERSHIP THROUGH RE-EXAMINING THE SACRED. AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK? 3a. Introduction 92 3b. Leadership Discourse. Black and White? Or Technicolor? Dominance and Diversity 92 3c. “Living by the sword” 97 3d. Cosmology as value, ethical principle and social construction 98 3e. From primal mother to monstrous chaos 101 3f. In the name of the father 102 3g. The sins of the flesh – Platonic philosophy as disembodiment 104 3h. Imagining ‘other’ ways 105 3 3i. Disconnection, subordination and coercion 109 3j. So just what does all this have to do with the real world? 112 3k. The power and the glory, forever and ever? 116 3l. Restoration of value through the re-constellation of the sacred 117 3m. “Forgive them father” 122 3n. Leaderships For An Age of Re-embodiment 124 SECTION TWO MOVEMENT MEDICINE – AN ETHNOGRAPHY CHAPTER ONE APPROACHES TO EPISTEMOLOGY, THEORY AND METHODOLOGY 1a. Introduction 126 1b. Self, Other and Community – Attempting to Embody Coherence 127 1c. Ethnography – learning from, standing with 132 1d. Home and Abroad 134 1e. Intimacy, insiders and reflexivity 136 1f. Orthodox science and the postmodern challenge 142 1g. Beyond paralysis and despair – local knowledge and the productive embrace of limitation 144 1h. Interview as communion 148 1i. Written Representations as Creative, Analytical Process 153 CHAPTER TWO THE SCHOOL OF MOVEMENT MEDICINE 2a. Introduction 157 2b. New Religious Movements and Counter-Culture Motions 158 2c. Shamanism – Spiritual Leadership for Immanent Concerns 165 2d. So just what is it you all do when you get there? 169 2e. Moving Towards Here and Now Empowerment? 175 CHAPTER THREE GENDER DEMOCRACY AND EMPOWERING THE FEMININE? 3a. Introduction 179 3b. Reflections on the “feminine” 181 4 I. The most exquisite medicine 181 II. All about balance 182 III. A healthy and balanced feminine 183 IV. Infinitely lovely, soft touch…she would never do thunderbolts 183 V. Cultural restrictions, gender and history 184 VI. Radical change in relationships 184 3c. “A long, ongoing struggle” 185 CHAPTER FOUR THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE BODY, AS WELL AS THE MIND 4a. Introduction 190 4b. What difference is ‘conscious’ embodiment felt to make? 196 I.) Remembering that we have a body 196 II.) A whole new relationship with our bodies 197 III.) Becoming present 197 IV.) Conscious from the head up 197 V.) Feeling instead of abusing 198 VI.) Curious about communication 198 VII.) Greater openness and connection 198 VIII.) Meeting others in a new way 199 4c.) Re-Sacralizing the Material Realm? 200 CHAPTER FIVE SUSTAINABILITY, ECO-PSYCHOLOGY, SANITY AND WELL-BEING. 5a. Introduction 204 I.) Cranking up connection 207 II.) We are the flesh of the earth 207 III.) Bringing people back to their fundamental nature 208 IV.) Giving back 208 V.) Considering our footprints 208 5b. Sustaining Nature? 209 VII.) It’s a big mess 209 VIII.) Power of community 211 IX.) Connections to the natural world 212 5 X.) Empowering communities 212 XI.) Dealing with the emotional response to what’s happening… 213 XII.) Mad Dream 214 XIII.) No separation 215 5c. “A sustainable future, how the fuck are we going to do that?” 215 CHAPTER SIX LEADERSHIPS FOR NEW PRIORITIES SOCIAL JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND HUMAN FULFILLMENT 6a. Introduction 225 I.) The danger of power 226 II.) Eyeball to eyeball with leadership 228 6b. Questions for members of the community 232 III.) The ability to empathize 232 IV.) Sharing the struggle 233 V.) Honouring others 234 VI.) A kind of feminine openness 234 VII.) Freedom to…lead my own things 235 VIII.) Helping others find their own authority 236 IX.) Facilitating a sense of purpose 236 X.) A vision of service 237 XI.) Supporting the underlying wish for wholeness 237 XII.) Releasing control 238 XIII.) They walk their talk 238 L.) Highest potential…is to invite everybody into their own leadership 239 LI.) The cutting edge of what’s needed at this time 240 LII.) A balance of masculine and feminine 241 6c. “Shifting focus” –employing charisma to encourage social responsibility 241 6d. Being and Becoming 249 CONCLUSIONS 7a. Leaderships. “Taking Altitude”, Coming Back To Earth 252 6 7b. Personal AND Political. Seeing Connections 263 7c. Working for well-being. A woman’s work is never done? 266 7d. TSOL - Re-newing Concerns about Chronically De-valued Labour 271 7e. Retrieving a lost Past, alongside caring for the future in the present 272 7f. Contributing to hope, avoiding “excessive positivity” 274 Appendix One – Data Collection 277 References 281 Illustrations Fig 1 – Altar depicting divine feminine 179 Fig 2 – Participant with decoration for sweat lodge 190 Fig 3 – Digging a ‘grave’ for ceremonial burial 204 Fig 4 – Community labyrinth for fundraising project 217 Fig 5 – Image from the “Be the Change” symposium on hand 225 Previous related publications Ali Young (2010) Management Learning 41: 593 Book Review: Doing Work Based Research: Approaches to Enquiry for Insider Researchers. Carol Costley, Geoffrey Elliott and Paul Gibbs (2010). London: SAGE, 2010. Ali Young (2011) Walking between the