Introduction
Can strong leaders be trained and developed over time or must a person be born with inherent leadership traits in order to truly be a “successful” or “effective” leader? Most leaders could probably make a case for both sides of this age old debate, but the purpose of this article is to focus in on the trainable aspects of leadership; competencies that can be improved over time. It is generally accepted that all human beings consist of several different elements including our physical body (measured by behavior), our mind (measured by intelligent thoughts or beliefs), and our soul (measured by emotions, will, and desires). As seen in the following literature review, each of these components has been positively linked to leadership outcomes. A more controversial component, however, and one that is just now coming to the surface in leadership research, is that of the human spirit. Are all humans spiritual beings? Should spirituality play a role in the workplace? Is spiritual competency more important than other human abilities as they relate to leadership effectiveness? Can higher levels of spiritual competency be developed through training and application? These are a few of the questions explored in this article.
