The Soul of A Leader: Finding Your Path to Success and Fulfillment

The book is well laid out with wonderful examples of real leaders who have demonstrated the concepts. It inspires me to be a better leader in my corner of the world.

We often believe that to be a leader, we must, in a sense, ‘sell our soul’. We find that it is often necessary to go against our own beliefs and what we hold dear, in order to accommodate the bottom line. However, in this book, Margaret Benefiel gives us instructions on how to be a leader without compromising our morals. She gives the reader step-by-step instructions, as well as excellent examples of companies and individuals who have done just this. She guides us to find partners who share our goals to help us to follow our dreams. She reminds us that we must persevere and stay on track while practicing gratitude. All you need to be a leader and to make your dreams come true is here in this book.The ideas presented in this book make sense and seem to be very effective. The stages of ‘growing pains’ of a business, or any other endeavor for that matter, are accurate. My only problem with this book is that she seems to repeat herself a lot, making this for a long read.

In THE SOUL OF A LEADER, Margaret Benefiel explores real-world organizations AND their real-world actions of bringing soul and spirit to the workplace. Many leaders wish to create a spirited and soulful work life. Benefiel writes specifically about leaders who are courageously bringing that spirit into the workplace, to serve both their leadership, and their organizations results.In nine clear process steps, Benefiel charts the course for Choosing the Path, Staying on Track and Persevering to the End. In reading these simple yet profound steps, any one of us can strive to be a true, soulful and spirited leader.Especially helpful is Chapter 8, Persevering to the End, where Benefiel lays out The Leader's Three-Fold Path. This acknowledges what we know to be true of leadership. It is challenging, sometimes illuminative, often discouraging as we encounter 'dark nights' and challenges that make us wonder if it is worth it.In the end, Margaret Benefiel's SOUL OF A LEADER is a courageous companion on the journey of leadership, helping leaders to understand the natural course of leadership challenges -- and the profound transformation that occurs when those challenges are accompanied by a leader's indomitable spirit.

I am more than a little suprised that several Christian leaders whom I greatly respect, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, provide enthusiastic cover-blurbs for Benefiel's book. The actual substance of The Soul of a Leader could be reduced without loss to a relatively brief paragraph or two:Leaders need to listen to their hearts, but current corporate culture doesn't respect or encourage heart wisdom. Leaders need to find partners in creating and implementing their vision. In creating that vision, leaders need to dare to dream big dreams and then keep on track by always focusing on the organization's mission.Gratitude must become part of the organizational culture and people should come first, including opportunities for staff development and personal growth. Compassion and forgiveness will break a "cycle of violence." Persevering to the goal requires spiritual transformation and will include dealing with failures and defeats. It helps leaders to have spiritual guidance along the way.Is that, as Miss Peggy Lee once famously sang, all there is? Unfortunately, it is. So how does Benefiel manage to get a whole book out of her decidedly slim material? By padding the text with lengthy illustrations from the stories of various corporate and organizational leaders. Sadly, not one of these extended tales in any way expands one's understanding of the point it is marshaled to support.If one can determine anything about an author's character from his or her work, Benefiel has a genuine passion for building spiritual values within corporate culture. Unfortunately, those good intentions have not translated into a particularly valuable book.

In the introduction, the author defines the words "Soul" and Leader" in broad terms. She makes it clear that some find expression of soul through religious faith, while others may find expression in other ways. The important point is that soul is the spiritual principle that moves a human being to act in an authentic way, consistent with his beliefs. Leadership is likewise defined broadly. As one might expect it applies to holders of positions in tradional organizations, but she points out that parents, teachers, and others who are in a position to influence others should be considered leaders. This approach makes her message resonate with a wide audience. Her book contains examples showing how leaders put the principles identified in her book to work for them in achieving their dreams.

This is a very interesting and different view into leadership, not filled with trite or trendy advice but addressing us on a deeper and personal basis. Glad I discovered the book

I really enjoyed "Soul of a Leader" and now my best friend is reading it with great pleasure. It really helped us to re-envision our role and calling as leaders inside and outside of the work experience!

A little bit difficult to understand