David Hoyle
SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
Pieter Bruegel, The Adoration of the Kings
Pieter Bruegel Desidia
The weasel word
Spiritual, but not religious
Religious, but not spiritual
Faith and Spirituality
Faith The concepts Spirituality The actions and doctrines: God, and feelingsForgiveness
We all have a spirituality
I am the only child of parents who weighed, measured, and priced everything; for whom what could not be weighed, measured, and priced, had no existence.
Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit
It could be damaging
Nothing now can come to any good
It is very often…
I went for a walk in the woods
Spirituality is
…and not necessarily Christian or even religious
Spirituality is:
Belief Awe Transcendence Meaning Self Knowledge …
It must not be vagueWilliam Matthews the four subjects of poetry:1. I went out into the woods today, and it
made me feel, you know, sort of religious.2. We're not getting any younger.3. It sure is cold and lonely
(a) without you, honey, or (b) with you, honey.
4. Sadness seems but the other side of the coin of happiness, and vice versa, and in any case the coin is too soon spent, and on what we know not what.
Pieter Breugel, Fall of Icarus
The fixed is the world without fire – dead flint, dead tinder; and nowhere a spark. It is motion without direction, force without power
Put another way…
A boat that needs wind
A school that needs purpose, direction, a spirit
The spirit is breath and speech
A sense of purpose
Where are we going? Why? Why is it important?
How? It needs to be yours
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval Mark Twain
How? The very real danger
The root of all sin is fear, the very deep fear that we are nothing… To sin is always to construct an illusory self that we can only admire, instead of the real self that we can only love Herbert McCabe
How? Can you name it?
What matters? Why does it matter? How do I set priorities?
How? Can you share and communicate it?I say there are three very basic things that someone who accepts a senior leadership post requires. First, that they understand what it is to serve.Second, that their love and respect for what their colleagues are about is robust. Third, I don’t have to question their commitment. (Bishop Mike)
They are authentic
Can you resource it?
Where are the wells? Who helps? If it is all about
noticing do you have a vantage point?
How? What are the challenges?
Fear Muddying the water The temptation of office Objectives Despair Overwork and exhaustion
Spirituality
Mr Gove said: “We need to refocus inspection on the principal purpose of schools improving teaching and learning and dramatically reduce the time and energy spent on other existing bureaucratic duties.”
Or Hope?
Not forced, not defined
Angels fly because they take themselves lightly G K Chesterton
I ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the lightlike a colour slide…
I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand torture a confession out of it.They begin beating it with a hoseto find out what it really means.
Billy Collins