Against Spiritual Leadership in (For-Profit) Organizations

Abstract Spiritual leadership has become a prominent approach within the family of horizontal and non-hierarchical leadership styles, aiming to integrate employees’ spiritual needs into organizational life. While existing literature often highlights benefits such as increased well-being, cooperation, and performance, this paper critically examines the ethical and conceptual implications of spiritual leadership in for-profit contexts. It argues that current models tend to emphasize the instrumental value of spirituality, using it as a means to align employees’ motivations with organizational goals, typically centered on productivity and profitability. Building on the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel, the paper contends that spirituality and transcendence inherently resist objectification and measurement, and their integration into the workplace should preserve their depth. Two core problems are identified: the alignment problem , in which spirituality is subordinated to organizational objectives; and the conceptual problem , where reductive definitions obscure its essential qualities. Ultimately, this paper suggests abandoning the leader–follower model when considering spirituality in for-profit organizations.