The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations [Hardcover]

Robert Spitzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

This book not only to make up for this glaring error of omission, but also probes deeply into all the major roots of organizational spirit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bob Spitzer has drawn a blueprint for ethical consideration and conduct within our organization at every level of activity. -- Jim Sinegal, President and CEO, Costco Wholesale Corporation

Drinking deeply from this well of wisdom will help any leader soar to new heights. -- —Alan Mulally, President, Boeing Commercial

His brilliant book has the power to bless the lives of millions of people. It will be required reading in all our programs. -- —Lou Tice, President, The Pacific Institute

I'm pleased to see that the same intellectual energy and spiritual power that characterize Bob's presentations made it into print. -- Alan Mulally, President, Boeing Commercial

Read the book! In it, Spitzer soars, delivering a precise, profound, and passionate case for inspired leadership. -- Michael W. Morrison, Dean, University of Toyota

Read this book! In it, Spitzer soars, delivering a precise, profound, and passionate case for inspired leadership. -- —Michael W. Morrison, Dean, University of Toyota

Spitzer is right on the mark. Quantitative and analytical understanding, though necessary for leadership, are not enough. -- Sid Banwart, Vice President, Caterpillar, Inc.

Spitzer is right on the mark. Quantitative and analytical understanding. -- —Sid Banwart, Vice President, Caterpiller, Inc.

About the Author

Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., is the president and CEO of Gonzaga Universityin Spokane, Washington, and the former Director of Gonzaga's Institute of Professional Ethics and the Institute on Character Development. He has consulted more than 40,000 executives, managers, team leaders, administrators and supervisors in over 500 large corporations (e.g., Boeing, Costco, and Toyota). This book is a result of extensive testing of leaders and organizations in North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, South Africa, and the Middle East.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Executive Excellence Publishing; 1 edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189000989X
• ISBN-13: 978-1890009892
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars weLEAD Book Review by the Editor of leadingtoday.org, February 16, 2004

By 

Greg L. Thomas (Litchfield, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations (Hardcover)

Robert Spitzer has been the President and CEO of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He also has extensive experience as an organizational consultant. It is from this experience he has written The Spirit of Leadership. The main point of the book is valid and clearly expressed. Far too many individuals in leadership positions spend a large amount of energy and resources to improve the products or processes of their organizations with mediocre results. As Spitzer comments in the introduction of this book, "Joe had blinded himself consistently to one of the three Ps of leadership. By concentrating on product and process, he had altogether ignored people".

The Spirit of Leadership correctly emphasizes that when people are ignored; their essential spirit is stifled resulting in a lack of trust, common cause, participation, teamwork and creativity. The purpose of the book is to show the reader how to create a espirit de corps within the heart of an organization. Spitzer defines this as the ability to transcend the material world to "gain energy when doing something creative". He continues to define espirit de corps in terms of the capacity to go beyond the self, or beyond known paradigms, or to become more alive. He believes this is fostered by three elements: vision, rational communication and four sets of commitments discussed in the book. This allows for an environment of inspired and motivated workers as well as high performing teams.

The Spirit of Leadership is composed of eighteen chapters within five well organized sections. The sections are entitled, The Mind and Vision of the Inspired Leader, The Heart of the Inspired Leader, People Commitments, Ethical Commitments and Leadership Commitments. As you can tell by these titles, Spitzer believes a great leader must have a consistent and heartfelt commitment toward growing people, sound moral behavior, and the responsibility that comes with being a leader! He begins the book by making a compelling case for the need of Inspired Leadership, in contrast to the traditional Driven Leadership we see so often in organizations today. He concludes the book with how to create a espirit de corps in your organization. Many chapters are featured with numerous steps, stages or points to clarify the author's main ideas.

The Spirit of Leadership does not break new ground, but it is a good read. Some of the strengths of the book are its readability, ethical foundation and it's many charts that condense larger ideas into visual snapshots. If you believe and understand the importance of building people in your organization, this may be a good book for your library.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars something to think about, September 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations (Hardcover)

I have often heard people refer to this author as a "Genius", a "Great Administrator", a "Superb and inspirational teacher", but all these descriptions (while true) fall short of what the man and his work really are. If you read this book, what you will really be reading are the words of a holy man.

In the tradition of Ricci, Verbeist, and other great Jesuits, Father Spitzer has doned the garb of contemporary culture for one very simple, but incredibly important reason-that the gospel message will be proclaimed in a language which people will listen to, people who otherwise might not hear it.

This task of translating the good news into the language of business is no small matter (not if it is going to be done with subtlety), or one that is easily undertaken. We ought to wrap our minds around the extreme humility of the author and consider the sanctity of his life as perhaps the greatest testimony of all.

What else would a serious mission to a culture like our look like? Take for instance the some 15 books for sale on amazon.com right now by Robert J. Spitzer-look at the titles alone. Talk about Mission!

This persons authority is not limited to one discipline but spans so many that it temps me to question his very humanity, for it is not like the humanity I know.

Given the "S.J." which follow his name, we consider a person who has taken a vow of poverty and yet has probably generated millions-all given away freely. A man who's gifts causes him to shine more brightly than any CEO of any corporation in this country, and yet he has chosen a path of obedience.

The question why? begs an answer. This book is not about business alone, read more carefully, each line has about 3 layers of meaning.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Collaboration, August 30, 2000

By 

Pat Lynch (Front Royal, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book...especially for the business professional who is interested in "leading" versus "managing" and who desires to learn more about "collaborating" rather than "comparing". Truly a worthwhile investment of your time.