Abstract:
This paper is designed to offer insights on the place and role of spiritual leadership in
organizational performance. By relying on a systematic review of literature, this paper draws on
evidence from empirical and conceptual studies to make a case for the need of spirituality in
leadership and how it enhances organizational performance. The theory of spiritual leadership
offers important tenets (altruistic love, faith and hope) that are critical in the development of a
model for public service delivery. This paper argues that spiritual leadership is the ultimate
panacea for building healthy and inclusive organizations given that spirituality in leadership
overemphasizes the need for team/group effectiveness. Furthermore, this paper proposes the
need to enhance the capability of employees to perform their functions by among others
intrinsically motivating them and ensuring that they feel and experience meaningfulness in their
duties. This paper recommends the need to design public service model based on the key tenets
of spiritual leadership theory: hope, faith and altruistic love given that the three dimensions are
critical in enhancing the capability of individuals to find meaningfulness in their work that in
turn helps to foster organizational commitment and citizenship behavior which is sine qua non
for improved organizational performance. Given that many studies found existence of positive
and significant relationship between spirituality in leadership and organizational performance,
the current paper proposes the need for organizations to leverage spiritual leadership in their dayto-day management. The paper relied on a systematic literature review approach and was
conceptual in nature, which gives room for organizational leadership scholars, researchers and
practitioners to critique its propositions.