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Role of Spiritual Intelligence in Leader Influence onOrganizational TrustBill KerstetterWalden University

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mailto:[email protected]

Walden University

College of Management and Technology

This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by

William E. Kerstetter

has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made.

Review Committee Dr. David Banner, Committee Chairperson, Management Faculty

Dr. Steven Tippins, Committee Member, Management Faculty Dr. Richard Schuttler, University Reviewer, Management Faculty

Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D.

Walden University 2018

Abstract

RoleofSpiritualIntelligenceinLeaderInfluenceonOrganizationalTrust

by

WilliamE.Kerstetter

MBA,UniversityofPhoenix,2007

BS,UniversityofPhoenix,2001

DissertationSubmittedinPartialFulfillment

oftheRequirementsfortheDegreeof

DoctorofPhilosophy

Management

WaldenUniversity

August2018

Abstract

Corporatescandalshavedisruptedthetrustandconfidenceinleadersoverthelasttwo

decades.Researchershavenotaddressedthespiritualintelligenceofleadersandtheroleit

mightplayininfluencingorganizationaltrust.Thepurposeofthisqualitative

phenomenologicalstudywastoexploretheroleofspiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluence

onorganizationaltrust.Theresearchquestionaddressedtheroleofspiritualintelligencein

leaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrustwithinaglobalinsurancecompany.Theconceptual

frameworkwasbasedonintelligencetheory,leadershiptheory,spiritualintelligence

theory,trusttheory,andservantleadershipphilosophy.Datawerecollectedusing

semistructuredinterviewswithapurposivesampleof16employeesfromaglobal

insurancecompany.Participantselectionincludedseniorleadersintheorganizationor

employeeswhoreportedtooneofthoseseniorleaders.Datawerecoded,analyzed,and

interpretedmanuallytoidentify5themesusingthemethodologicalframeworkofreflective

lifeworldresearch:emotionalintelligence,servantleadership,integrity,trustworthiness,

andmoralcompass.Findingsshowedthatspiritualintelligenceplaysacriticalrolein

leaders’capacitytomakegooddecisions,buildrelationships,andprovideasenseof

empowerment.Seniorleaderswholeveragetheirspiritualintelligencemaycreatean

organizationalcultureoftrustandempowerment,andmaybecomerolemodelsforothers

tofollow.

RoleofSpiritualIntelligenceinLeaderInfluenceonOrganizationalTrust

by

WilliamE.Kerstetter

MBA,UniversityofPhoenix,2007

BS,UniversityofPhoenix,2001

DissertationSubmittedinPartialFulfillment

oftheRequirementsfortheDegreeof

DoctorofPhilosophy

Management

WaldenUniversity

August2018

Dedication

Idedicatethisdoctoraldissertationtothelovingmemoryofmysister,Katherine

Kerstetter.Herdedicationtolearningandpursuitofcontinuingeducationinspiredmeto

followinhershadow.Katherinewasalwaysthesmartone,strivingforperfectioninallher

goals.Shemayhavebeenmyyoungersister,butinmanyways,Ilookeduptoher.Shenever

hadtheopportunitytocompleteherdoctoraldissertation,sothisoneisforyouKat.Ilove

youandmissyougreatly.

Acknowledgments

ThanksandgratitudetomywifeJill,mykids,andallmyfamilyandfriendsforthe

supportprovidedduringmydoctoraljourney;tomymentor,Dr.DavidBanner,forhis

insight,prodding,andencouragementthatkeptmeontrackdespitethedemandsoflife;

andtomycommitteemember,Dr.SteveTippins,forchallengingmetostretchfurtherand

supportingmystrugglesintheprocess.Thankyoutomyuniversityresearchreviewer,Dr.

RichSchuttler,forallhissupportandguidancethroughouttheprocess.Iwanttogive

specialthankstoDr.KarlaPhlypo,Dr.TerryMcGovern,Dr.DaphneHalkias,andDr.Barbara

Turnerforparticipatinginmyfieldtestandprovidinginvaluablefeedback.Lastly,thank

youLordformakingthisnotonlyalearningexperience,butalsoanintegralpartofthenext

stepinmyspiritualjourneyandknowingmyself.

i

TableofContents

Chapter1:IntroductiontotheStudy......................................................................................................................1

BackgroundoftheStudy......................................................................................................................................2

ProblemStatement..................................................................................................................................................5

PurposeoftheStudy...............................................................................................................................................6

ResearchQuestion...................................................................................................................................................7

ConceptualFramework.........................................................................................................................................7

NatureoftheStudy...............................................................................................................................................11

Definitions.................................................................................................................................................................12

Assumptions.............................................................................................................................................................13

ScopeandDelimitations....................................................................................................................................13

Limitations................................................................................................................................................................15

SignificanceoftheStudy....................................................................................................................................15

SignificancetoPractice..............................................................................................................................16

SignificancetoTheory................................................................................................................................16

SignificancetoSocialChange..................................................................................................................16

SummaryandTransition...................................................................................................................................17

Chapter2:LiteratureReview..................................................................................................................................19

LiteratureSearchStrategy................................................................................................................................20

ConceptualFramework......................................................................................................................................21

EffectiveLeadership............................................................................................................................................24

LeadershipTheories............................................................................................................................................26

TransformationalLeadershipTheory................................................................................................28

SpiritualLeadershipTheory....................................................................................................................29

ii

ServantLeadership......................................................................................................................................31

IntelligenceTheories...........................................................................................................................................34

EmotionalIntelligence................................................................................................................................34

SpiritualIntelligence...................................................................................................................................36

OrganizationalTrust............................................................................................................................................42

SummaryandConclusions...............................................................................................................................45

Chapter3:ResearchMethod....................................................................................................................................47

ResearchDesignandRationale......................................................................................................................48

RoleoftheResearcher........................................................................................................................................50

Methodology............................................................................................................................................................52

ParticipantSelectionLogic.......................................................................................................................52

DataCollectionMethod..............................................................................................................................54

Instrumentation.............................................................................................................................................55

FieldTest...........................................................................................................................................................56

ProceduresforRecruitmentandParticipation.............................................................................57

DataAnalysisPlan........................................................................................................................................60

IssuesofTrustworthiness.................................................................................................................................61

Credibility..........................................................................................................................................................61

Transferability................................................................................................................................................62

Dependability..................................................................................................................................................62

Confirmability.................................................................................................................................................62

EthicalProcedures........................................................................................................................................63

Summary....................................................................................................................................................................64

Chapter4:Results..........................................................................................................................................................65

iii

ResearchSetting.....................................................................................................................................................65

Demographics..........................................................................................................................................................66

DataCollection........................................................................................................................................................67

DataAnalysis...........................................................................................................................................................68

EvidenceofTrustworthiness..........................................................................................................................72

Credibility..........................................................................................................................................................72

Transferability................................................................................................................................................72

Dependability..................................................................................................................................................73

Confirmability.................................................................................................................................................73

StudyResults...........................................................................................................................................................74

Theme1:EmotionalIntelligence..........................................................................................................74

Theme2:ServantLeadership.................................................................................................................76

Theme3:Trustworthiness.......................................................................................................................78

Theme4:Integrity........................................................................................................................................79

Theme5:MoralCompass..........................................................................................................................80

Subtheme1:Communication..................................................................................................................81

Subtheme2:Empathy.................................................................................................................................82

Subtheme3:Vision.......................................................................................................................................83

Subtheme4:Self-Awareness...................................................................................................................84

Subtheme5:Disruption/Risk.................................................................................................................86

Summary....................................................................................................................................................................88

Chapter5:Discussion,Conclusions,andRecommendations..................................................................89

InterpretationofFindings.................................................................................................................................89

LimitationsoftheStudy.....................................................................................................................................94

iv

Recommendations................................................................................................................................................96

Implications..............................................................................................................................................................98

PositiveSocialChange................................................................................................................................98

Methodological...............................................................................................................................................99

RecommendationsforPractice...........................................................................................................100

Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................................100

References......................................................................................................................................................................103

AppendixB:InterviewProtocol..........................................................................................................................126

AppendixC:TheInterviewScript......................................................................................................................127

AppendixF:RevisedInterviewQuestions.....................................................................................................128

1

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Corporatescandalshavedisruptedthetrustandconfidenceinleadersoverthelast

twodecades(Zimmer,2013).Thelackoforganizationaltrustcannegativelyimpact

organizationaleffectiveness,degeneratemoralandethicalbehavior,anddeterioratethe

integrityoftheorganization(Bansal,2016;Jason,2014;Zuppa,Olbina,&Issa,2016).

Distrustandsuspicionaregrowing,andconfidenceinmanyinstitutionsislacking(Carucci

&Hansen,2015).DuPlessis,Wakelin,andNel(2015)arguedthatnewareasofdeveloping

trustarebeingexplored.Fry(2003)conductedastudyonspiritualintelligenceand

suggestedthatarelationshipexistsbetweenspirituality,spiritualintelligence,and

leadershippractices.

Muchoftheresearchonspiritualintelligencehasfocusedondefiningthe

phenomenonanddescribinghowtotapintospiritualintelligence,ratherthanon

demonstratingpracticalbusinessapplicationsinleadershipdevelopment(Fry,2013).

Exploringtheroleofaleader’sspiritualintelligenceinthedevelopmentoforganizational

trustmayhelporganizationsidentifythemoralandethicalleadersnecessarytoalignthe

needsofthepeoplewiththeneedsofthecompany.Alackofempiricalevidenceexists

regardingtheroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’sabilitytopromotetrustwithinan

organization.

Thepurposeofthisstudywastoexploretheroleofspiritualintelligenceinleader

influenceonorganizationaltrust.Inthisphenomenologicalstudy,Iinvestigatedthelived

experiencesofseniorleadersregardingspiritualintelligenceandtrust.Findingscreateda

deeperunderstandingofaleader’sspiritualintelligence,includingtherolespiritual

intelligenceplaysinaleader’sinfluenceontrustwithinanorganizationandthepotential

businessapplicationforleadershipdevelopment.

2

Background of the Study

Gardnerdevelopedatheoryofmultipleintelligencesin1983.Initially,Gardner

(1983)suggestedsevenintelligences:spatial,linguistic,logical,kinesthetic,musical,

intrapersonal,andinterpersonal.In1999,Gardneraddednaturalistastheeighth

intelligenceandcontendedthatspiritualintelligencedidnotmeethiscriteriafor

intelligence.Gardner(1999)suggestedthatexistentialintelligencemorecloselyaligned

withthiscriterion.

Intelligence,asdefinedbyGardner(1983),“istheabilitytosolveproblems,orto

createproducts,thatarevaluedwithinoneormoreculturalsettings”(p.ii).Thisdefinition

excludesanysinglepropertyofthemindcurrentlymeasuredbyaninstrumentcalledthe

intelligencetest.Gardner(1983)introducedeightcriteriaforintelligence.Heproposedthat

peoplearebornintoculturesthathavemultipledisciplinesortalentsthatareadoptedand

developedovertime;peoplethengetassessedonthelevelofcompetencetheyhave

attainedinthesedisciplines(Gardner,1983).Yearslater,Gardner(1999)refinedhis

definitionofintelligence:“abiopsychologicalpotentialtoprocessinformationthatcanbe

activatedinaculturalsettingtosolveproblemsorcreateproductsthatareofvalueina

culture”(p.33).Spiritualintelligenceisgroundedinacursoryreviewofintelligence

theoristswhohavecontinuedtolegitimizespiritualintelligence(Vaughan,2002;

Wigglesworth,2012;Zohar&Marshall,2001).

Spiritualityhasnoclasssystemordoctrinewhereasreligionischaracterizedbya

classsystemandfollowsadoctrine(Hildebrant,2011).Hildebrant(2011)differentiated

spiritualityfromreligionbyhighlightinganindividual’spersonalexperiencewitha

connectiontoadivinesource.Spiritualintelligenceisdifferentfrombothspiritualityand

religion.Spiritualityisdefinedastheinnatehumanneedtobeconnectedtosomething

3

largerthantheself.Religionisasetofbeliefsandpracticesbasedondoctrine(Hildebrant,

2011).AccordingtoWigglesworth(2012),spiritualintelligenceis“theabilitytobehave

withcompassionandwisdomwhilemaintaininginnerandouterpeaceregardlessofthe

circumstances”(p.8).Thisdefinitionwasusedasthefoundationfortheconceptual

frameworkofthisstudy.

Thisstudymayprovideadeeperunderstandingoftheapplicationofspiritual

intelligenceandtheroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’sinfluenceonorganizational

trust.Researcherswhostudiedspiritualleadershipsuggestedthatspiritualintelligence

alongwithleadershipstylesandintelligence(e.g.,emotionalintelligence,servant

leadership)mayformanewstyleofleadershipconducivetobuildingacultureoftrust

withinanorganization(Afsar,Badir,&Kiani,2016;Esfahani&Sedaghat,2015;Kashyap&

Rangnekar,2016).Investigatingtheroleofspiritualintelligenceanditspotential

applicationinleadershipdevelopmentmayincreasescholarlyknowledgeinthisareaand

mayshiftorganizationalparadigmsonthetopic.

ChanandMak(2014)foundservantleadershiptobeinlinewiththeviewthat

servicetoothersresultsinapositivesubordinateattitudeandtrustintheleader.Chanand

Makemphasizedthatahigh-qualityrelationshipwithsubordinateswillresultinsatisfying

theirneedsandfosteringtheirtrust.Encouragementfromleadershipleadstojob

satisfaction(Chan&Mak,2014).Relationshipbuildingandencouragementare

characteristicsoftheservantleaderwhobuildstrustwithsubordinates(Chan&Mak,

2014).

Greenleaf(1970)usedsocialexchangetheorytoexpresshowservantleadership

influencessubordinaterelationshipstobuildleadertrust.ChanandMak(2014)suggested

thatservantleadershipisfocusedonself-interestforthebettermentofsubordinates.

4

Subordinatesreciprocatebytrustingtheirleaders(Chan&Mak,2014).Miao,Newman,

Schwarz,andXu(2014),foundthatperceptionsofservantleadershipwererelatedto

commitmentandtrust.Z.Chen,Zhu,andZhou(2015)builtonsocialidentitytheoryby

showingthatservantleadershipextendsbeyondtheeffectsoftransformationalleadership

throughitsinfluenceonself-efficacyandgroupidentification.

SinceGreenleaf’svisionofaservice-orientedphilosophy,othertheoristshave

developedmultipleservantleadershipmodels(Z.Chenetal.,2015;Chiniara&Bentein,

2016).Fromthesemodels,multipleleadershipelementshaveemergedthatareessentialto

thecharacteristicsofaservantleader,includinghumility,emotionalhealing,wisdom,

altruism,vision,andtrust(Winston&Fields,2015).Value-based,spirit-centeredleadership

modelshaverecentlyattractedtheattentionofleadershipscholars,includingtheservant

leadershipmodel(C.Chen,Chen,&Li,2013).

C.Chenetal.(2013)andLynchandFriedman(2013)confirmedthattheconceptsof

spiritualleadershipandservantleadershiparerelated.LynchandFriedmanpositedthat

spiritualindividualsaremorelikelytobecomeservantleaders.Theliteratureindicatedthat

servantleadershipistheonlyleadershipparadigmwithanexpresslyspiritualtone(C.Chen

etal,2013;Lynch&Friedman,2013).LynchandFriedmannotedthataspiritualservant

leaderunderstandsthatethicalvaluescomefirst.Theadditionofaspiritualcomponentto

servantleadershipcompletedtheleadershipparadigmandaddedvaluetoleadership

theory(Lynch&Friedman,2013).

Withoutempiricaldataaddressingtheinfluenceofspiritualintelligenceon

organizationalculture,trust,andperformance,spiritualintelligencemaynotgain

acceptanceinacademicorscientificcommunities.Researchershavesuggesteda

relationshipbetweentrustandotherleadershipfactorssuchasemotionalintelligenceand

5

servantleadership(duPlessisetal.,2015).However,Ididnotfindempiricaldata

addressingtheinfluenceofspiritualintelligenceonthedevelopmentoforganizationaltrust

intheliteratureatthetimeofthecurrentstudy.Thisstudywasintendedtofillthegapin

knowledgeregardinghowspiritualintelligencemaybeusedinleadershipdevelopmentto

createacultureoftrustwithinanorganizationandtoimproveorganizationalperformance.

Theconceptofspiritualintelligence(SQ)isnew.Theintentofthisstudywasto

increasethelevelofknowledgeaboutspiritualintelligence,demonstratethepotential

influencespiritualintelligencehasonorganizationaltrust,andaddtotheliteratureonthe

potentialrelationshipbetweenspiritualintelligenceandthedevelopmentoforganizational

trust.Becausespiritualintelligencebringsupthenotionofspiritualityandreligion,controls

mustbeputinplacetomanageindividualandpersonalbias.Thekeywastoremove

religioustraditionsoutofthedefinitionofspiritualintelligenceinthisstudy.Additional

conceptsofemotionalintelligence,servantleadership,transformationalleadership,and

spiritualleadershipwerealsoneededtobuildontheunderstandingofSQ.

Problem Statement

Thedeficitinorganizationaltrusthasbuiltupoverthelasttwodecadesbecauseof

prominentorganizationalfailureslikeEnron,Worldcom,AIG,andGeneralMotors

(Bachmann,Gillespie,&Priem,2015).Thelackoforganizationaltrusthasnegatively

impactedethicalbehaviorandorganizationaleffectiveness(Bansal,2016;Zuppaetal.,

2016).AccordingtoEsfahaniandSedaghat(2015),thegeneralproblemwithorganizations

isthedecliningtrustbetweenstaffandmanagers.Thespecificproblemaddressedinthe

studywaswhatmightleadtoimprovedtrustinleaders.Ajike(2016)identifiedspiritual

intelligenceandtrustaseffectivefactorsinenhancingorganizationalperformance.Wang

6

andHsieh(2013)foundthatcreatingacultureoftrustcanimproveorganizational

performanceandreinforcepositiveethicalbehaviors.

Overthelast15years,researchershaveexaminedhowtransformational,servant,

andspiritualleadershipstyleshaveinfluencedorganizationaleffectiveness,ethical

behaviors,andorganizationalcommitment(Chiniara&Bentein,2016;Gilbert,Horsman,&

Kelloway,2016).Thelackofresearchonwhatmightleadtolowtrustinleadersindicateda

gaprelatedtotheunderstandingofworkingrelationshipsinbusinessenvironments

(Korsgaard,Brower,&Lester,2015).Atthetimeofthestudy,limitedresearchexistedon

howspiritualintelligenceinleadersmightinfluenceorganizationaltrust.

Purpose of the Study

Thepurposeofthisqualitativephenomenologicalstudywastoexploretheroleof

spiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrust.Thiswasaccomplishedby

investigatingthelivedexperiencesofseniorleadersregardingtheirspiritualintelligence

andtrust.Isoughttoidentifytheassumptions,beliefs,andperceptionsofleaders’

awarenessandexperienceofspiritualintelligenceandtrusttoprovideatextural

descriptionofthemeaningandessenceofbothphenomena(seeMoustakas,1994;Vagle,

2014).Purposivesamplingwasusedtorecruit16participantsinaglobalinsurance

company(seeLeedy&Ormrod,2010).Participantsincludedseniorleadersandemployees

whoreportedtothoseleaders.Datacollectioninvolvedsemistructuredinterviewswiththe

16employeesusingopen-endedquestions,whichresultedindatasaturation(seeSaunders

etal.,2017).

Seniorleadersareexposedtoavarietyofleadershipstylesastheyadvancethrough

theircareers.Thisexposureislikelytoinfluencetheirleadershipstyle(Echevarria,2015;

Walker,2015).Leadersareconsideredtohavethepowertoinfluenceanorganizational

7

culture,makingthemthebestchoiceastheprimarypopulationforthisstudy.Asmall

sampleofgeneralemployeeswerealsointerviewedtoaccountforpossiblebiasinleaders’

perceptionoftrustintheorganization.

Research Question

Thenatureoftheresearchquestiondeterminedthemethodology.A

phenomenologicalstudywillhaveastrongcentralphenomenologicalquestionthatwill

addressthelivedandexperiencesoftheparticipantsstudied(Koopman,2015).Thecentral

researchquestionusedtoguidethisphenomenologicalstudywasasfollows:Whatisthe

roleofspiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrustwithinaglobal

insurancecompany?

Conceptual Framework

Theconceptualframeworkthatsupportedthisstudyemergedfromacombination

ofintelligence,leadership,andtrusttheories.Theframeworkwasinformedbythe

intelligencetheoryofGardner(1983),theleadershiptheoryofBass(1985),thespiritual

intelligencetheoryofWigglesworth(2012),thetrusttheoryofDeutsch(1958),and

Greenleaf’s(1970)servantleadershipphilosophy.Thesetheoriescollectivelyformeda

conceptualframeworktoconductananalysisofaleader’sspiritualintelligenceandidentify

theroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’sinfluenceonorganizationaltrust.These

theorieswiththeirtheoreticalunderpinningsareexaminedindetailinChapter2.

Thefieldofintelligencehasbeenstudiedandevaluatedsincetheearly1900swhen

thefirstintelligencetestwascreatedbyBinetandSimon,knownastheIntelligence

QuotientorIQ(Gardner,1999).Thistestisusedtomeasureanalyticalandlinguisticskills

andsortpeoplebynumbertodeterminetheirdegreeofintelligence.In1983,Gardner

8

introducedthetheoryofmultipleintelligencesandlistedseventypesofintelligencesthat

includedinterpersonalandintrapersonalintelligence.

Goldman(ascitedbyLi,Gupta,Loon,&Casimir,2016)notedtheimportanceof

leaders’emotionalintelligenceintheworkplace.Theemotionallyintelligentleadercan

sense,understand,andapplythepowerofemotionasasourceofenergy,information,

knowledge,connection,andinfluence(Popoola,2015).Emotionalintelligence(EQ)is

definedastheabilitytomonitorthefeelingsandemotionsofothersandselfandusethis

informationasaguidetothoughtsandactions(Koohbanani,Dastjerbi,Vahidi,&GhaniFar,

2013).

In2001,ZoharandMarshallintroducedtheconceptofspiritualintelligence.SQis

saidtobethefoundationforbothIQandEQtofunctioneffectively(Zohar&Marshall,

2001).Spiritualitygivesanewperspectiveonanysituationbyputtingpeopleintouchwith

somethinglarger,deeperandricherthanthemselves(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Spiritual

intelligencewasdefinedas“theintelligencewithwhichweaddressandsolveproblemsof

meaningandvalue[to]placeouractionsandourlivesinawider,richer,meaning-giving

context”(Zohar&Marshall2001,pp.3-4).In2012,Wigglesworthdefinedspiritual

intelligenceas“theabilitytobehavewithcompassionandwisdomwhilemaintaininginner

andouterpeaceregardlessofthecircumstances”(p.8).DevelopingandusingIQ,EQ,andSQ

mayenableindividualstodealwitheverydaysituations(Zohar&Marshall,2001).

Fry(2003)introducedthetheoryofspiritualleadershiptothebodyofliteratureon

value-based/spiritualleadershipmodels.Liketransformationalleadership,thespiritual

leadershipmodelincorporatesvision,hope,faith,altruisticlove,workplacespirituality,and

spiritualsurvival(Afsaretal.,2016).Aunitingthemethathasemergedfromworkplace

spiritualityresearchisthetranscendentexperienceofworkasprovidingpeoplewith

9

meaning(Milliman,Gatling,&Bradley-Geist,2016).Leadershipisdefinedascollaborative

meaningmakinginpractice(Raelin,2014).Ego-transcendenceisdefinedasworking

towardahigherpurpose(Klaus&Fernando,2016).Aleaderwithahigherpurposeisnot

necessarilyreligious;ratherheorshemakesdecisionsbasedonhisorherbeliefofwhatis

right.

Anewgenreofleadershiptheorieshasdominatedthestudyofleadership(e.g.,

transformational,ethical,andauthenticleadership).Thesetheoriesrefertoleadership

stylesinwhichleaderscreatepositivechangebyinfluencingthebeliefsandbehaviorsin

themselvesandothers(Schaubroeck,Lam,&Peng,2016).Transformationalleadership

occurswhenleadersfocusontheinterestoftheiremployees,promoteemployee

acceptanceofthegroup’smission,andinspireemployeestolookbeyondthemselvesand

worktowardacommongoal(Bass,1985).Schaubroecketal.(2016)positedthat

transformationalleadershipandethicalleadershippromotebehaviorchangeinfollowers.

LaPuma(2015)concludedthatauthenticleadershipalsofocusesontheself-awarenessof

followersandthedevelopmentofleader-followerrelationships.

Servantleadership,amodeldevelopedbyGreenleafin1970,focusesonbeinga

servantfirst.Servantleadershipisinitiatedbythebehaviorsofaleader(Winston&Fields,

2015).Jaramillo,Bande,andVarela(2015)positedthatservantleadershiphelpscreatean

ethicalworkclimate.ChanandMak(2014)foundthatservantleadershipbehavior

enhancessubordinatetrustintheleader.Miaoetal.(2014)confirmedthatservant

leadershipenhancesorganizationalcommitmentthroughthedevelopmentofaffective

trust.Servantleadershiphasalsobeenlinkedtopositiveperformance,increased

productivity,andchangesinbehavioraloutcomes(Miaoetal.,2014;Winston&Fields,

2015).

10

Leadershipandtrustcansignificantlycontributetothesuccessorfailureofan

organization(Zuppaetal.,2016).Creatingtrustrelationshipsiscriticalinbuilding

collaborativeteams(Zuppaetal.,2016).Trustisadynamicfactor,increasingordecreasing

overtime(Pishdad-Bozorgi&Beliveau,2016).Therearedifferenttypesoftrust,including

personal,organizational,orinstitutional(Vanhala&Ritala,2016).Organizationaltrustisan

impersonalphenomenondefinedbyVanhalaandRitala(2016)asanemployee’s

expectationregardingthecapabilityandfairnessoftheorganization.Impersonaltrusthas

beenstudiedverylittle(Vanhala&Ritala,2016).

Severaltheoristsandresearchersoverthelastdecadehaveidentifiedspecific

characteristicsandbehaviorsrelatedtospirituality.Hildebrant(2011)foundthatleaders

withhighspiritualintelligencetendtocreateapositiveorganizationalculture,increase

employeecommitmentandproductivity,andcreatehigherethicalstandardswithinthe

organization.Astheinterestinspiritualityintheworkplacehasgrownandleadershave

gainedinterestinworkplacespirituality,ithasbecomenecessarytodevelopabetter

understandingofspiritualleaderdevelopment.

Thisstudyaddressedhowleaders’spiritualintelligencemayalignwiththeneedsof

theemployeesandtheorganization.Exploringtheroleofspiritualintelligenceinthe

developmentoforganizationaltrustmayhelporganizationsidentifymoralandethical

leaderswhocanmakebetterdecisionsandsolveproblemsmoreholisticallyandeffectively.

ZoharandMarshall(2001),Vaughan(2002),Emmons(2000),Amram(2007),Hildebrant

(2011),Hyson(2013),andWigglesworth(2012)weretheprimarytheoristsofspiritual

intelligencecitedinthisstudy.

11

Nature of the Study

Theresearchmethodchosenforthisstudywasqualitative.Thepurposeofthis

qualitativestudywastoexploretheroleofspiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceon

organizationaltrustanddescribethelivedexperiencesofleadersandemployeeswho

reporttothemregardingtheirspiritualintelligenceandtrust.Theintentofusing

qualitativemethodologyistounderstandparticipants’perceptionandperspectiveonan

eventorcircumstance(Leedy&Ormrod,2010).Qualitativeinterviewscanelicitthoughts,

feelings,andmemoriesthattheintervieweewasnotawareofbeforetheinterview(Patton,

2014).Becausethephenomenonofleaders’useofspiritualintelligencetopromote

organizationaltrustwasnotwellunderstood,usingaqualitativemethodtoidentifythe

perceptionsofstudyparticipantswasappropriate.

Quantitativemethodsfocusontherelationshipbetweenvariables.Leedyand

Ormrod(2010)statedthatquantitativeresearchisusedtotestexistingtheoriesthrough

surveysandexperiments.Quantitativedesignsarefocusedontestinghypothesesthrough

analysisofnumericaldata(Leedy&Ormrod,2010).Quantitativeresearchisappropriatefor

correlationalstudies,butnotforexploringparticipants’livedexperienceofaphenomenon,

whichwasmyintentinthisstudy.

Theresearchdesignchosenforthisstudywasphenomenology.Moustakas(1994)

notedthatphenomenologyisrootedinquestions,givingadirectionandfocustomeaning.

Whenstudyingaphenomenon,researchersexamineparticipants’livedexperiencesintheir

ownwords(Vagle,2014).Afteranextensivereviewoftheliterature,phenomenology

appearedtobethebestapproachtoanswertheresearchquestion.

Patton(2014)proposedmultipledesignsthatcaninformqualitativeinquiries.A

fewofthesedesignsincludenarrative,phenomenology,groundedtheory,ethnography,and

12

heuristicinquiry.Ireviewedcasestudy,hermeneutics,andgroundedtheorytodetermineif

thesedesignswouldprovideabetterapproachtoexploringthephenomenonofspiritual

intelligence.Inacasestudy,Iwouldlookatthebehaviorofagroupovertime,notthe

behaviorofanindividualinthegroup(Patton,2014).Hermeneuticsisinterpretiverather

thandescriptive(Patton,2014).Groundedtheoryistheprocessofdiscoveringatheory

fromextensivedatacollectionandanalysis(Patton,2014).Phenomenologywastheonly

designappropriateforscholarlyanalysisofthelivedexperiencesofspiritualintelligencein

leadersandhowthatmightinfluencetrust(Moustakas,1994).

Definitions

Emotionalintelligence:“Theabilitytomonitorone’sownandothers’feelingsand

emotions,todiscriminateamongthemandtousethisinformationtoguideone’sown

thinkingandactions”(Koohbananietal.,2013,p.315);theabilitytounderstand,perceive,

anduseemotionstoenhancethoughtandrelationships(Knightetal.,2015).

Executiveleaders:C-levelemployeesasdefinedbytheorganization’shierarchy.

ExamplesincludeCEO,CFO,CIO,andChiefTechnologyOfficer(CTO).

Generalemployee:Employeesholdingatitleofvicepresidentorbelowasdefinedby

theorganization’shierarchy.Theseemployeescouldholdamanagerialpositionorno

leadershiprole.

Interpersonalintelligence:Understandinghowtocommunicatewithandunderstand

otherpeopleandhowtoworkcollaboratively(Gardner,1983).

Intrapersonalintelligence:Understandingtheinnerworldofemotionsandthoughts

andtheabilitytocontrolthemandworkwiththemconsciously(Gardner,1983).

Organizationaltrust:Anemployee’sbeliefthattheorganizationwillactasheorshe

hasanticipated(Liu&Wang,2013).

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Seniorleaders:Employeesholdingatitleofseniorvicepresidentoraboveasdefined

bytheorganization’shierarchy.Theseleadersalsoholdatitleofexecutivevicepresident,

president,CEO,CIO,orCFO.

Spiritualintelligence:“Theabilitytobehavewithcompassionandwisdomwhile

maintaininginnerandouterpeaceregardlessofthecircumstances”(Wigglesworth,2012,p.

8).

Spiritualleadership:“Thevalues,attitudes,andbehaviors...necessaryto

intrinsicallymotivateone’sselfandothers...throughcallingandmembershipand

encompassesqualitiesoffaith,love,vision,inspiration,service,anddiscipleship”(Fry,2003,

p.695).

Assumptions

Therewerethreeassumptionsinthisstudy.First,Iassumedthatthedifference

betweenspiritualityandreligionwasclearlycommunicatedandunderstood.Second,I

assumedthatparticipantswouldanswerinterviewquestionscandidlyandhonestly.

Maintainingconfidentialityoftheparticipantswasintendedtopromotehonestresponses.

Third,Iassumedthattheparticipantshadexperiencedthephenomenonofspiritual

intelligence.Theinclusioncriteriacalledforexecutiveorseniorleaders,andemployees

whoreportedtothembutdidnotrequireleaderstohaveself-proclaimedexperiencewith

spiritualintelligence.

Scope and Delimitations

Thescopeofthisstudyincludedbothexecutiveorseniorleaders,andemployees

whoreportedtotheminalargeglobalfinancialorganization.Iintendedtoincludeatleast

20participants,anddatasaturationwasachievedafter16interviews(seeSaundersetal.,

14

2017).Theparticipantsincludedseniorleaderswithatitleofseniorvicepresidentorabove

andemployeeswhoreportedtothemwithatitleofvicepresidentorbelow.

Theratioofparticipantswashalfleadersandhalfemployees.Thereasoningbehind

thisratiowastoaccountforpotentialleaderbiasregardingtheperceptionoftrustinthe

organization.Anequivalentsampleofemployeesenhancedcredibilityofthestudy.I

conducted1-hoursemistructuredinterviewsusinganinterviewscriptwithalistofopen-

endedquestions.

Theselectioncriteriaforthispopulationwerebasedontheparticipant’spositionin

theorganization.Seniorleadersweredefinedasholdingajobtitleofseniorvicepresident

orhigher.Generalemployeesweredefinedasholdingajobtitleofvicepresidentorlower.

Theinclusioncriteriacalledforseniorleadersbecausetheywereperceivedashavingthe

powertoinfluenceorganizationaltrust.Anequivalentsampleofgeneralemployeeswas

includedtoaccountforthepossibilityofbiasinleaders’perceptionoftrustinthe

organization.Thestudyaddressedtheroleofspiritualintelligenceinseniorleadersand

theirinfluenceontrust.Theperspectivesofseniorleaders,basedontheirlivedexperiences

withspiritualintelligence,providedinsightregardingtheroleofspiritualintelligencein

influencingtrustwithintheorganization.

Inthisstudy,Iusedasampleofexecutiveandseniorlevelcorporateleadersaswell

asgeneralemployees.Myinitialdesigncalledforexecutivelevelleadersonly,butthere

werefewerthan10executivestochoosefrom,whichdidnotmeetWaldenUniversity’s

recommendedrequirementforaphenomenologicalstudy.Iexpandedthesampletoinclude

seniorlevelleaderstoensuredatasaturation.Irecruitedparticipantsfromonelargeglobal

companyinonespecificindustry.Thiscompanyhasthreemajororganizationalstructures

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withmultiplelinesofbusinesswithdifferentgeographicalU.S.locationstoallowfora

diversepopulation.

Limitations

Thisstudymayhavebeenlimitedbytheparticipants’understandingofthe

differencebetweenspiritualityandreligion.Understandingthedistinctionwascriticalfor

datacollection.Mylackofcontroloverparticipants’honestyinansweringquestionswas

anotherlimitation.Thestudymayalsohavebeenlimitedbyparticipantsnothaving

experiencewiththephenomenon.

Inaddition,participantselectionbiascouldhaveinfluencedtheoutcomesofthis

study.Limitingthesampletoexecutiveandseniorleadersintheorganizationmayhave

resultedinabiasedviewpoint.ThiswastakenintoconsiderationwhenIdesignedthestudy

toincludetheexperiencesofseniorleadershipandemployees.Addinggeneralemployees’

perceptionoftrustintheorganizationhelpedaccountforthepossibilityofbiasinthe

leaders’perceptionoftrustintheorganization.Researcherbiaswasalsoaconcerninthis

qualitativestudy.Ilimitedtheriskofpersonalbiasbytranscribinginterviewsexactlyand

usingtheparticipants’wordstoobtaintheresults,notmyinterpretations.

Significance of the Study

Theresultsofthisstudyaddedtothebodyofknowledgeonspiritualintelligence.

Whilescholarsdebatetheoperationaldefinitionforspiritualityandspiritualintelligence,

thisstudymayfurthertheunderstandingoftheinfluenceofaleader’sspiritualintelligence

onthedevelopmentoforganizationaltrust.Studiesonspiritualleadershipindicatedthat

spiritualintelligenceandacombinationofotherleadershipfactors(e.g.,emotional

intelligence,servantleadership)worktogethertoformatransformationalleadershipstyle

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conducivetobuildingacultureoftrustwithinanorganization(Bligh,2017;Gieseke,2014;

Gilbertetal.,2016).

Significance to Practice

Thepotentialcontributionofthisstudywasthatitmightnotonlybringnewinsight

tothestudyofspiritualintelligence,butitmayinfluenceleadershipdevelopment.

Organizationsthatexperiencelowtrustlevelsmightconsiderspiritualintelligence

developmentprogramstochangetheircorporateculture.Theresultsofthisstudymaybe

thecatalysttoinspireleaderstotakeanewapproachtowarddevelopingtheirleadership

skills.

Significance to Theory

Forscholars,theresultsofthisstudymayinspirefutureresearchintospiritual

intelligence.Researchonthefactorsthatcreateandmaintaintrustinorganizations,servant

leadership,andtheelementsthatformaspiritualleaderareallpositivesocialchange

initiatives.Theresultsofthisstudymayalsoaddtothescholarlyknowledgeof

organizationaltrust.

Thisstudyfilledthegapintheliteratureonhowthespiritualintelligenceofleaders

influencestrustintheirorganizations.Asignificantrelationshipexistsbetweenspiritual

intelligenceandtransformationalleadership(Gieseke,2014).Thisstudymightprovide

insightintofutureresearchonspiritualintelligenceandtransformationalleadership.

Significance to Social Change

Researchintothespiritualintelligenceofleadersmayresultinfindingsthatcould

producebolder,wiser,moreself-awareandcompassionateleaders.Insightsfromthisstudy

mayimprovethequalityoforganizationalleadersandmayalsoleadtopositivesocialona

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broaderscalebybringingthesequalitieshometofamiliesandcommunities.Theresultsof

thisstudymightbethecatalystfororganizationalleaderstolearnhowtobehavewith

greaterwisdomandcompassion.

Summary and Transition

InChapter1,Iintroducedtheneedtoresearchspiritualintelligencefromthe

perspectiveofleaders’livedexperienceofthephenomenon.Thelackoftrustbetween

leadersandemployeeswastheresearchproblemaddressedinthestudy.Ihopedtogaina

betterunderstandingoftheinfluenceofleaders’spiritualintelligenceonorganizational

trust.

Theconceptualframeworkforthisstudywasbasedonvariousintelligencetheories.

Becausetheinterestinspiritualityintheworkplacehasgrownandleadershavegained

interestinworkplacespirituality,itbecamenecessarytodevelopabetterunderstandingfor

spiritualleadershipdevelopment.Thepurposeofthisstudywastoidentifytheroleof

spiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrustandreportthelived

experiencesofseniorleadersofaglobalinsurancecompanyregardingtheirspiritual

intelligenceandtrust.Datacollectionwasaccomplishedthroughsemistructuredinterviews

usingopen-endedquestionswithapopulationof16employeesinaglobalinsurance

organization,whichresultedindatasaturation(seeSaundersetal.,2017).Researchonthe

factorsthatcreateandmaintaintrustinorganizations,servantleadership,andtheelements

thatformaspiritualleaderareallpositivesocialchangeinitiatives.

InChapter2,Ipresentareviewoftheliteraturethataddressedleadershiptheories

andspiritualintelligence.Theliteraturereviewprovidesbackgroundonspirituality,

servantleadership,transformationalleadership,emotionalandspiritualintelligence,and

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organizationaltrust.Thesetheoriesformedasoundconceptualframeworktoconductan

analysisoftheroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’sinfluenceonorganizationaltrust.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

Thepurposeofthisphenomenologicalstudywastoidentifytheroleofspiritual

intelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrustandreportthelivedexperiencesof

seniorleaderswhoareemployedinaglobalinsurancecompany.Distrustandsuspicionare

growing,andconfidenceinmanyinstitutionsislacking(Carucci&Hansen,2015).The

problemappearstobealackofspiritualintelligencetocreateanenvironmentthat

promotesethicalbehaviorandorganizationaleffectiveness(Ajike,2016)

Alackoforganizationaltrustcannegativelyimpactorganizationaleffectiveness,

degeneratemoralandethicalbehavior,anddeterioratetheintegrityofanorganization

(Bansal,2016;Jason,2014;Zuppaetal.,2016).Oneoftheoutcomesofthisstudywasto

provideadeeperunderstandingofaleader’sspiritualintelligenceandthepotential

applicationinleadershipdevelopment.Muchoftheresearchonspiritualintelligencehas

beenfocusedondefiningthephenomenonandexplaininghowtotapintospiritual

intelligence,ratherthandemonstratingpracticalbusinessapplicationstoleadership

development.

Myprofessionalexperiencespansmorethan30yearsinmilitaryandcivilian

leadershiproles.Throughoutthistime,Ipersonallyexperiencedthephenomenonof

spiritualintelligenceandobserveditinotherleaders.Ialsoexperiencedwork

environmentsthathadhighlevelsoforganizationaltrustandothersthathadlowlevelsof

organizationaltrust.Inoticedtheorganizationswithhighlevelsoftrustalsohadleaders

withaperceivedhighlevelofspiritualintelligence.Conversely,organizationswithlowtrust

hadleaderswithlowornosignofspiritualintelligence.

Researchershavestudieddifferentaspectsofleadershiptheories,styles,and

behaviorssuchastransformationalleadership,servantleadership,andemotional

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intelligence(Amram,2007;Greenleaf,1970;Hildebrant,2011).Inthisliteraturereview,I

examineleadershiptheories,styles,andbehaviorsandexpandonthetheoryofspiritual

intelligenceasanimportantaspectofleadershipdevelopment.Forthisstudy,spiritual

intelligencewasdefinedasaleader’sabilitytothink,judge,andreacttoeachsituationwith

propheticinspiration.Thetermpropheticwasusedbecauseithadnoreferencetoaspecific

religion,butreferredrathertoafundamentalbeliefinsomepowergreaterthanhumans.

Thisliteraturereviewwasstructuredtoprovidebreadthanddepthtothestudyof

spiritualintelligenceincludingdifferentleadershiptheoriesandstyles.Thereviewincludes

theliteraturesearchstrategyandtheconceptualframeworkusedtosupportthestudy.The

bodyofthisreviewincludestheconceptsofeffectiveleadership,leadershiptheories,and

organizationaltrust.Thereviewconcludeswithasummaryofthefindings.

Literature Search Strategy

ResearchforthisstudywasconductedthroughWaldenUniversity’sonlinelibrary

andtheGoogleScholaronlinesearchengine.Thefollowingdatabaseswereusedtosearch

theliterature:ABI/INFORMComplete,AcademicSearchComplete,Dissertations&Theses

atWaldenUniversity,EBSCOeBooks,EmeraldInsight,ProQuestCentral,SAGEPremier,and

Thoreau.

Thekeysearchtermsusedinthisresearchincludedspiritualintelligence,

spirituality,spiritualleadership,servantleadership,transformationalleadership,

organizationaltrust,spiritualleadershipandtrust,spiritualintelligenceandtrust,spirituality

andtrust,servantleadershipandtrust,spiritualleadershipandtransformationalleadership,

spiritualintelligenceandtransformationalleadership,spiritualityandservantleadership,

spiritualintelligenceandservantleadership,spiritualleadershipandservantleadership,

emotionalintelligence,emotionalintelligenceandtrust,emotionalintelligenceandspiritual

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intelligence,emotionalintelligenceandspirituality,emotionalintelligenceandspiritual

leadership,emotionalintelligenceandtransformationalleadership,multipleintelligenceand

trust,multipleintelligence,effectiveleadership,leadershiptheories,leadershiptrust,

leadershipintegrity,leadershipethics,andmoralleadership.Additionally,Isearchedfor

authorsofimportantarticlestofindrelatedarticlesbythesameauthors.Lastly,Ireviewed

thereferencepagesofarticlesanddissertationstofindrelatedsources.Thesearchresulted

inover300articles,dissertations,andbooksfromasrecentasthecurrentyearandgoing

backtoover30yearsago,allrelevanttothisstudy.Inthisstudy,Ireferenced157sources,

and87%werepublishedwithinthelast5years.

Conceptual Framework

Manypsychologistsandscholarshaveexploredthephenomenonofspirituality.

Overthelasttwodecades,researchershaveexaminedspiritualityasaformofintelligence.

Spiritualintelligence(SQ)hasbeendefinedmanywaysandcontinuestobedebatedasa

legitimateformofintelligence.Inthisstudy,IdefinedSQastheabilitytothink,judge,and

reacttoeachsituationwithpropheticinspiration.Iusedthetermpropheticbecauseithad

noreferencetoaspecificreligion,butreferredrathertoafundamentalbeliefthatthereis

somepowergreaterthanhumans.

Intelligenceisacomplexconceptandhasbeenthefocusofresearchformanyyears.

Studyingintelligence,sharingthemeaningofintelligence,andapplyingthisknowledgeto

thefieldofeducationisattributedtotheworksofGardner(1983,1999),Sternberg(1988,

1997),andPerkins(1995).Gardner(1983)proposedatheoryofmultipleintelligences.

Originally,Gardner(1983)identifiedseventypesofintelligence(kinesthetic,interpersonal,

intrapersonal,linguistic,mathematical,musical,andspatial).Gardnerneverlegitimized

spiritualintelligencebutconsideredaddingexistentialintelligencetothelist.In1999,

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Gardneraddedtheeighthintelligence,naturalistic,whilealsosuggestingaphilosophical

intelligencethatwouldincorporatethespiritual,moral,transcendental,andreligious

intelligences.

Toexaminethecomplexityofhumanintelligenceandimagination,researchers

shouldconsidermorethanIQandEQ(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Theabilityforhuman

beingstobecreative,insightful,anddiscerningtakesspiritualintelligence(Radhika,2014).

Gardner(1999)viewedspiritualityasareligious,theological,mystical,andtranscendent

phenomenon.Conversely,heviewedexistentialismasanunderstandingofselfinrelationto

thecosmos,includingthesignificanceoflifeandthemeaningofdeath.Gardnerdecidednot

toincludespiritualintelligenceinthelistofintelligences.Gardnerarguedthatcognitive-

basedconversationsofspiritualitywereproblematicbecausetheessenceofspiritwas

primarilyseenasphenomenological.

ZoharandMarshall(2001)definedSQas“theintelligencewithwhichweaddress

andsolveproblemsofmeaningandvalue”(p.3).Inthesimplestterms,SQprovides

directionandtheabilitytochooserightfromwrong.SQallowspeopletovoice,defend,and

applytheirpersonalmoralstandards.PeopleuseSQtoexpandtheircapacitytomake

greatercontributionstotheserviceofothers(Radhika,2014).Zohardefined12principles

ofspiritualintelligence,andfivearefrequentlyaddressedintheliterature:self-awareness,

compassion,humility,askingwhy,andbeingvalueled.Emmons(2000)definedSQusing

fivecoreabilities:

thecapacityfortranscendence;theabilitytoenterintoheightenedspiritualstatesof

consciousness;theabilitytoinvesteverydayactivities,events,andrelationships

withasenseofthesacred;theabilitytoutilizespiritualresourcestosolveproblems

23

inliving;andthecapacitytoengageinvirtuousbehaviorortobevirtuous(toshow

forgiveness,theexpressgratitude,tobehumble,todisplaycompassion).(p.10)

SQincludesdeepinnerresourcestogivepeoplethecapacitytocareandthepowerto

tolerateandadapt(Radhika,2014).SQalignspersonalvalueswithaclearsenseofpurpose

(Radhika,2014).

Wigglesworth(2012)definedSQas“theabilitytobehavewithwisdomand

compassion,whilemaintaininginnerandouterpeace,regardlessofthesituation”(p.9).SQ

isseparatefromspiritualityandreligion.SQisviewedasskillsdevelopedovertime.

WigglesworthbrokedownSQinto21skillsarrangedintofourquadrants:egoself-

awareness,universalawareness,egoself-mastery,andspiritualpresence/socialmastery.

SQallowspeopletostaycalmandfocusedinthefaceofcrisisandchaos,tomaintaina

selflessandaltruisticattitudetowardothers,andtohavearelaxedperspectiveonlife

(Radhika,2014).

Aservantleaderseekstofilltheneedsoffollowersbyprovidingthemwiththetools

andsupportnecessarytoaccomplishtheirgoals(Zimmerer,2013).Servantleaders

influenceorganizationalculturethroughexampleandbycreatingacultureoftrust.Oneof

thefactorsincreatingatrustcultureistheabilitytogeneratequalityinterpersonal

relationships(Korsgaardetal.,2015).Alackoforganizationaltrustcouldbeaddressed

throughthedevelopmentofservantleadershippatternswithintheorganization.Low-trust

organizationsresultindecreasedjobfulfillment,poorworkquality,lowmotivation,and

highemployeeturnover(Sinclair,2013).

Thephenomenonoftrusthasbeenexploredbysocialscienceresearchersincluding

Fukuyama,Deutsch,andBarber(Balliet&VanLange,2013).Deutsch(1958)providedone

oftheearliestobservationsoftrustinsocialsituationsinwhichoneperson’slossorgainis

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dependentonanotherperson’sbehavior.Trustisadynamic,interpersonalconnection

betweenanemployeeandaleader(Le&Lei,2018).BallietandVanLange(2013)argued

thattrustisessentialtoinitiate,establish,andmaintainsocialrelationships.

Effective Leadership

Aframeworkthatintegratestransformational,servant,andspiritualleadership

theoriesisneededtocreateafutureforcogentleadershiptheories.Latham(2014)

proposedaroadmapforfutureleadershiptheoryresearchtoaddressaninadequate

definitionofeffectiveleadership.Lathamarguedthateffectiveleadershipmustoperatefree

ofcontext,includemeasurablevariables,andpresentpredictablerelationships.Latham

pointedoutthathumanbeingsarenotpredictableanddonotalwaysobeytheimmutable

naturallawsofscience.Spiritualitycouldbeacompetitiveadvantagewhenitcomesto

organizationaleffectivenessandperformance(Latham,2014).

Effectiveleadershipwasdefinedasachievinghighquantityandqualitystandardsof

jobperformancethroughpeople(Popoola&Zaid,2015).Researchershavefounda

relationshipbetweenspiritualvalues,spiritualpractices,andeffectiveleadership(Rahal&

Rimsr,2016).PopoolaandZaidpositedthatadditionalcompetenciesofeffectiveleadership

include:integrity,self-efficacy,andemotionalintelligence.Effectiveleadershipisthekeyto

organizationalsuccess,andidentifyingtheappropriateleadershipmodelisalsoessentialto

organizationalsuccess(Raddanipour&Siadat,2013).

Acomprehensivedefinitionofsuccessisnecessarytoassesseffectiveleadership.

Researchershaveexaminedhowtoleverageleadershiptheoriesandstylestocreatean

environmentbeneficialtoallstakeholders(Latham,2014).Latham(2014)arguedthatthe

increaseinworkforcediversityinaglobalenvironmentcomplicatestheleadershiprole.

Successisoftenmeasuredfinanciallyandoftenatthecostofotherstakeholders,society,or

25

theenvironment(Latham,2014).Themosteffectiveleaderscombinedifferentstylesof

leadershipdependingonthesituation,allowingthemtoactquicklyinemergencysituations

andincludethewholeteamintheprocess(Hamstra,VanYperen,Wisse,&Sassenberg,

2014).

Leadersuccessismeasuredbysubordinateloyalty,organizationaleffectiveness,and

theabilitytobuildpsychologicalcapitalandwell-beingwithemployees(C.Chenetal.,

2013).C.Chenetal.(2013)confirmedthatservantleadershipinfluencesasubordinate’s

eudemonicwell-being.C.Chenetal.specifiedthatthroughthecreationofapositivework

environment,servantleadersenableemployeestodevelophigherprofessionalgoals.The

resultisincreasedmotivationandgreaterproductivity(C.Chenetal.,2013).

Virtue-basedleadershipprinciplesareausefulapproachforleaders(Caldwell,

2017).Ethicalleadershipinvolvestheadvancementofmoralconductwhiledeveloping

followercommitment(Skubinn&Herzoz,2016).Transformativeleadershipisamodelthat

enablesleaderstodemonstratetheirethicalcommitmenttoemployeesandintegratethe

ethicalelementsofotherleadershipperspectivessuchastransformationalandservant

leadership(Caldwell,2017).

Researchershaveexaminedhowthespirituallyintelligentleaderimproves

leadershipeffectiveness.Hyson(2013)lookedathowleadersusetheirspiritualintelligent

skillsettostayfocused,motivateothers,andproducemoreeffectiveresults.Borrowing

fromWigglesworth’s(2012)researchonthe21skillsassociatedwithspiritualintelligence,

Hysoncomposedthefourcornerstonesofspirituallyintelligentleaders(SQLs).Thefirst

attributeistheawarenessoftimeandspace.SQLsknowhowtotaketimeout,refresh,and

returnrefocusedonthesituationathand.Thesecondattributeisatolerancefor

imperfection.TheSQLknowsthatnooneisperfect,andmistakessometimeshappen.

26

Fosteringanatmosphereoflearninghelpsothersfeelmorecomfortabletotakesrisksand

bevulnerable.Thethirdattributeisservantleadership.SQLsmakeaspecialefforttohelp

others.Thefourthattributeisradiatingpeace.TheSQLhasinnerpeaceandcanmaintainit

underpressure(Hyson,2013).WhatmakesSQLsspecialistheylivetheseattributesevery

day(Hyson,2013).

Toaddresstheleadershipchallengesofthe21stcentury,aconvergenceof

leadershiptheoriesisnecessary.Bass(1985)positedthattransformationalleadership

occurswhenleadersfocusontheinterestofemployees,gaintheiracceptance,andinspire

themtolookbeyondthemselvesandworktowardacommongoal.Transformational

leadership,althoughsuccessful,doesnotpreventabuseofpower(Bass,1985).Servantand

spiritualleadershipareemergingalternativeswithquiteabitofoverlap;however,research

isstillbeingdonetovalidatethesetheories(Latham,2014).Latham(2014)arguedfor

theoriesthataddresshowleaderscancreatevalueformultiplestakeholders.Lathamalso

challengedresearcherstohavethecouragetothrowoutthetheoriesthatdonotaddress

valuecreation.

Leadership Theories

Leadershiptheoriesincludetheemotionalandmoralaspectsofleadership

behaviors(Pawar,2014;Spector,2014).Bass(1985)introducedtransformational

leadershiptheory,focusedonleadershipbehaviorslikeinfluenceandmotivation.Fry

(2003)introducedspiritualleadershiptheory,focusedonleadershipbehaviorslikevalues

andattitudes.Servantleadershipisaphilosophy,introducedbyGreenleaf(1970),that

focusedonservingfollowers’needs.Researchersconsiderservantleadershipatheorythat

showsconcerntowardsfollowersandhelpsthemdevelopandgrow(Kashyap,2016).

27

Transformationalleadershipisaneffectiveleadershipstylebecauseithas

significanteffectsonfollowerperformance(Le&Lei,2018).Bass(1985)arguedthat

transformationalleadersmotivatefollowersbyemphasizingthevalueofgoalsandworking

withtheorganizationtowardacommongoalandperformbeyondexpectations.Leadership

behaviorhasadirectinfluenceonfolloweroutcomes(Breevaartetal.,2014)andgoal

achievementcanbepredictedbyleadershipstyle(Hamstraetal.,2014).Thedevelopment

ofspiritualleadershipispositionedinthemiddleofothervalue-basedleadershiptheories

liketransformationalleadershipandservantleadership(Gotsis&Grimani,2017).

Thereisgrowinginterestinstudiesonthelinkbetweenspiritualityand

organizationalleadership(Geh,2014;Mohla&Aggarwal,2014;Yusof&Mohamad,2014).

Studiesoverthepast10yearshaveshownthattheeffectivenessofleadersisassociated

withtheirspirituality(Yusof&Mohamad,2014).Whenhighlightingtheimportanceof

spiritualityintheworkplace,howspiritualityimpactsemployeesandtheorganizationare

themainareasofempiricalresearch(Yusof&Mohamad,2014).Theemphasisofspirituality

inleadershipisimportanttofutureleadersbecauseitprovidesnewknowledgeandskillas

wellasdevelopsahigherlevelofemotionalandspiritualmaturity.Aheightenedinterestin

spiritualityalsoopensusuptoagreaterunderstandingofthemeaningofourownlives

(Geh,2014).

Leadershipstyleaffectstheeudemonicwell-beingofsubordinates(C.Chenetal.

2013).Leadershipstylealsoillustrateshowanindividualchoosestomanageanygiven

situationtodriveemployeemotivationandsatisfaction(Walker,2015).Leadersshould

becomemoreawareoftheirownstyleandmakethenecessaryadjustmentstocreatea

morepositiveworkenvironment.Additionally,leaderswhocreateanenvironmentof

28

autonomywillencourageemployeestointernalizetheirmotivationtoproduceeudemonic

well-being(C.Chenetal.2013).

Servantleadershipreferstoabehaviorthatdemonstratesleaders’desiretoserve

first(Chan&Mak,2014).Whenservantleadershipwasfirstintroduceditbroughtamoral

dimensiontotheleadershipfield(Sousa&vanDierendonck,2017).Servantleaders

embodyethicalvalues,inspiretrust,offerempathyandemotionalsupport,actasrole

models,andplacethesatisfactionofsubordinateneedsbeforetheirown(Chiniara&

Bentein,2016).Leaderswhodesireapersonalapproachtoleadership,quality

relationships,andopencommunicationseektocultivateaservantleadershipculture

(Flynn,Smither,&Walker,2015).

Transformational Leadership Theory

Bass(1985)definedtransformationalleadershipasleaderswhocreateacultureof

helpingothersandinfluenceotherstowardorganizationalgoals.Transformational

leadershiptheoryalsoemphasizeshowleaderselevatefollowerperceptionsofthemselves

inwaysthatenablethemtoperformandachieveatlevelsthatexceedexpectations

(Schaubroecketal.,2016).Transformationalleadershiptheoryfocusesontheleader’s

influenceonfollowersbywayofintellectualstimulation,inspiration,andindividual

attentiontomotivatetowardgoalachievement.ResearchfindingsbySchaubroecketal.

(2016)indicatedthattransformationalandethicalleadershiparebothinfluential

behaviors,evenamongleaderswithnoformalauthority.

Pallas(2016)foundastatisticallysignificantcorrelationbetweenemotional

intelligenceandtransformationalleadership.Additionally,Potter,Egbelakin,andPhipps

(2018)foundarelationshipbetweenemotionalintelligenceandtransformational

leadership.Thesefindingsmightimplythatemotionalintelligenceisanantecedentto

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transformationalleadership.Leaderswhounderstandemotionsarebettersuitedtodevelop

relationshipswithfollowers(Seena,Suresh,&Ravindranadan,2017).Followerswantto

knowthattheirleaderscareaboutthem.

Ethicalleadership,spiritualleadership,andservantleadershipcanallbeclassified

astransformational(Gieseke,2014;Gilbertetal.,2016;vanDierendonck,Stam,Boersma,de

Windt,&Alkema,2014).MahembeandEngelbrecht(2013)referredtotransformational

andservantleadershipasexamplesofvalue-basedtheoriesofleadership.Thesevalue-

basedleadershipmodelscanbeconsideredtransformationalbecauseoftheirfocuson

leaderbehavior,emotions,andmoralvalues;unlikethetraditionalleadershipmodelsthat

arebasedstrictlyoncost-benefitandleaders-followerexchangerelationships(C.Chenet

al.,2013).Spiritualorspirit-centeredleadershiphasbeenahottopicinbusinessliterature

forthelastdecade(Crossman,2011;Fry,2013;Hyson,2013;&Maharanaetal.,2014).

Spiritualleadershipischaracterizedbyhighmoralsandethics,makingspiritualleaders

idealtoinfluenceandmotivateemployeestogobeyondself-interestsforthegoodofothers

andsociety(Afsaretal.,2016).

Spiritual Leadership Theory

Spiritualleadershiptheoryisassociatedwithformingalearningorganization,

bringingpeopletogether,andcreatingasenseofcallingandmembershiptothe

organization.“Aspiritualleaderisapersonwhoprovidesspiritualsurvivalof

organizationalmembersusingvalues,attitudes,andbehaviorsthatareessentialforhis/her

internalmotivationandthatofothers”(Raddanipour&Siadat,2013,p.186).Spiritual

leadershaveanimportantroleinorganizationaleffectiveness(Zavvareh&Samangooei,

2013).Followersbecomemorewillingtoshareintheresponsibilityofharmonizing

compassionandwisdominamoreethicalworkenvironment(Zavvareh&Samangooei,

30

2013).Theexpectedresultisincreasedmotivation,higherperformance,andgreater

organizationalcommitment(Mohla&Aggarwal,2014).

Auniversaldefinitionofspiritualitycontinuestobeopenforinterpretation.

Crossman(2011)positedthatspiritualitycanbedistinguishedfromreligioninwhichitis

anunsystematic,individuallyinterpreted,privateexperiencewhereasreligionisapublic

andinstitutionalizedprocessbasedonsacredtexts,rituals,andpractices.Researchershave

examinedthatspiritualityimpactsanindividual’sattitude,behavior,anddecision-making

process(Kaur,Sambasivan,&Kumar,2013).Spiritualleadershipcombines

transformationalandservantleadershipwithspiritual,ethical,andvalue-basedleadership

modelstocreateacombinationofcorecompetenciesthatdevelopintoabehaviormodelfor

thespiritualleader(Hildebrant,2011).

Crossman(2011)highlightedtherelationshipbetweenspiritualleadershipand

othervalue-basedleadershiptheoriesliketransformationalandservantleadership,while

contributingtothetheoreticalunderstandingsnecessarytodevelopspiritualleadership

intoaworkableparadigm.Spiritualleadershipispartofthevalue-basedleadershiptheories

thatserveasaresponsetodisturbingsituations,non-ethicalleadership,andabuseinan

unhealthyorganization(Zavvareh&Samangooei,2013).Spiritualleadershipbuildsan

environmentofrespect,ethics,valuesandintegrity.However,itbeginswiththeleader’s

ownethicsandintegrity.Thebenefitspiritualleadershipbringstotheorganizationincludes

increasedperformance,greateremployeejobsatisfaction,andhigherratesofreturnon

investment(Hildebrant,2011).

Leadershipisdefinedasthedecisionsandactionsofaleaderthatareintendedto

influencefollowers(Longest,2017).Spiritualleadershiptakesintoconsiderationthesocial

goodwithahistoryoftiestocorporatesocialresponsibility.Therefore,spiritualleadersare

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motivatedmorebytheircontributiontothesocialgoodratherthanthemoneytheyearn

(Zavvareh&Samangooei,2013).Thepurposeofspiritualleadershipistodevelopthe

spiritualwell-beingofbothleadersandfollowersthroughmakingadifferenceinlifeanda

senseofbelonging(Fry,2003;Mohla&Aggarwal,2014).Thistypeofleadershipbringsreal

meaningandimportancetoanemployee’sjob(Raddanipour&Siadat,2013).Spiritual

leadershavethecapacitytobuildorganizationaltrustandcompassion(Crossman,2011).

Aleaderisaninfluentialrolemodelwithintheorganizationandinstrumentalin

fosteringthedevelopmentofspiritualorganizations(Geh,2014).Dougherty(2011)

examinedspiritualleadershiptheory(SLT)andfoundthatthequalitiesofaspiritualleader

increasedorganizationalproductivityandcommitment.Geh(2014)positedthat

organizationalspiritualleadershipisaboutmanagingthespiritualenergyofan

organizationstartingwiththepowertofeelinaleader,thenspreadingitthroughoutthe

organization.SpiritualleadershipcanalsobeconnectedtoServanthood(Crossman,2011).

ServanthoodwasfirstcomposedbyGreenleaf(1970)asaleaderwhoconsidersthe

commongoodortheinterestofpeoplebeforethemselves.

Servant Leadership

Greenleaffirstintroducedtheconceptofservantleadershipinhis1970essay,The

ServantasLeader,whereserviceandmeaningwerebroughttogether.Servantleadership

hasbeendefinedas“aleaderwhohasasenseofvaluesandconsciouslyservesthesevalues

inhisorherleadershipstyle”(Zohar&Marshall,2001,p.33).InAmericanbusiness,values

aredefinedasdemonstratingexcellence,fulfillingpotential,andshowingacommitmentto

neverendinggrowth.Overthelastfewdecades,valueshavestrayedfromthosetraditional

easternvalueslikecompassion,humility,gratitude,andservicetofamilyandearth(Zohar&

Marshall,2001).

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Theconceptofservantleadershipinspiressubordinatestogeneratebetter

awareness,trust,learning,andspiritualfulfillmentatwork(C.Chenetal.,2013).Theterm

serviceisatthecoreofservantleadership.Thefunctionofaservantleaderistoput

people’sinterestbeforeself-interest(vanDierendoncketal.,2014).Theresultisgreater

tolerance,open-mindedness,patience,optimism,proactiveness,andawillingnesstolearn

bytheemployee.Fromanethicalstandpoint,aleaderwhorecognizesthevalueofmoral

andethicalbehaviorisworthyofthetrustofemployees,customers,andbusiness

stakeholders(Fry,2003).

C.Chenetal.(2013)discoveredaninterestingdiscrepancybetweensupervisorand

subordinateperceptionofservantleadership.Ahighproportionofsupervisorsrated

themselveshigherthantheirsubordinates,suggestingthatsupervisorsoverestimate

themselves,oremployeesdonotperceivetheleadershipvaluesasmuchastheir

supervisorsperceiveinthemselves(C.Chenetal.,2013).Althoughservantleadershiphas

mostlypositiveeffectsonfollowers,someservantleaderscouldbecomeobsessedwiththe

needsoffollowersandlosesightoftheorganization.Aspiritualortransformationalleader

focusesontheneedsoftheorganization(Geh,2014).

TheconceptofservantleadershiphasitsrootsintheBible.“ForeventheSonof

Mancamenottobeservedbuttoserve,andtogivehislifeasaransomformany”(Mark

10:45,EnglishStandardVersion).Greenleaf(1970)introducedtheconceptofservant

leadershiptotheworldofleadershipstudies.Aservantleaderistheoppositeofan

authoritarianstyleleaderwhoisprimarilyconcernedwithpowerandwealth(Lynch&

Friedman,2013).Lynch&Friedmansuggestedthatspiritualindividualsaremuchmore

likelytobecomeservantleaderssincetheconceptsaresoverycloselyrelated.

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Academicstudiesonservantleadershipfocusedonfollowergrowth,empowerment,

andethicalbehavior(Chiniara&Bentein,2016).Crossman(2011)foundaclear

relationshipbetweenservantleadershipandspiritualleadership.Trust,humility,visionand

integrityaredescriptorsfoundinbothservantleadershipandspiritualleadershipliterature

(Winston&Fields,2015).Crossman’sbigpictureviewofthecommonalitiesbetween

spiritualleadershipandothervalue-basedleadershiptheorieshelpedtodevelopthe

conceptofservantleadershipandbuilditsapplicationtoorganizationmanagementand

addedtotheliteratureonleadershiptheories.

Crossman(2011)examinedthesynergiesthatappeartoexistbetweenspiritual

leadershipandenvironmentalleadership.Commonalitiesincludesocialresponsibility,good

stewardship,servanthood,andasenseofconnectedness(Crossman,2011).Crossman

establishedtherelationshipbetweenbusinessandspiritualitythroughtheearlyworksof

Tawney,Weber,andMaslow.TawneyarguedthattheChristianvaluesofthrifty,diligence,

sobrietyandfrugalityaretheveryqualitiesvaluedinbusiness(Crossman,2011).Weber

focusedonspiritualmattersandtherelationshipwitheconomiclifeandrationality

(Crossman,2011).Maslowbelievedthateverythingwedoistiedtosomesortofspiritual

values(Crossman,2011).

Aspiritualortransformationalleaderfocusesontheneedsoftheorganization,

unlikeaservantleaderwhofocusesonboththeneedsoffollowersandtheneedsofsociety

(Lynch&Friedman,2013).Littleisknownabouttheantecedentsorleadertraitsassociated

withservantleadership(Flynnetal.,2015).Theidealleaderisaservantbutmustalsohave

amoralcompasstobeaspiritualservantleader.ZoharandMarshall(2001)positedthata

personhighinspiritualintelligenceisalsolikelytobeaservantleader;someonewhois

34

responsibleforbringinghighervisionandvaluetoothersandshowingthemhowtouseit.

Apersonwithspiritualintelligenceinspiresotherpeople(Zohar&Marshall,2001).

Researchershaveexaminedtherelationshipbetweenservantleadershipand

organizationaltrust.Researchersfoundthatservantleadershipwasanantecedentof

organizationaltrust(Sinclair,2013).Highlevelsoftrustincreaseemployeemotivationand

decreasescostforcontrolmechanismsduetotheimprovedself-controlofemployees.

Emphasisisplacedonleadershiptocreateastimulusfordrivingtowardorganizational

goals.Oneleadershipmodelthatharmonizesinterpersonalskillswithorganizationalgoals

isservantleadership(vanDierendoncketal.,2014).

Intelligence Theories

Emotional Intelligence

EmotionalIntelligence(EQ)istheabilitytoidentify,assess,andmanagethe

emotionsofone’sselfandothersintelligently(Gardner,1983).Understandingtheemotions

ofothersandtheabilitytomanagethoseemotionscanhelpwithleadersuccessand

followerjobsatisfaction(Gardner,1983).Emotionalintelligenceistheabilitytounderstand

behavioralreactionsandthemotivationbehindthosepatterns(Yadav&Punia,2016).

Leaderswhocanregulatetheirownemotions,readothers’emotions,andeffectively

communicatetypicallyexhibithighlevelsofemotionalintelligenceandfacilitatehigh

performanceintheirorganization(Nikoui,2015;Seenaetal.,2017).

Goleman(2014)arguedthatemotionalintelligenceconsistsoffour

multidimensionalcomponentssuchasempathy,socialskill,self-awarenessandself-

regulation.Emotionalintelligenceisdifferentfromotherintelligencesbecauseitfocuseson

skillsandabilitiesintheemotionalrealmlikeself-awareness,empathy,andquality

35

communication(Freed,2016;Seenaetal.,2017).Authenticleaderswhodemonstrate

empathy,compassionandsupportforothersdevelopstrongrelationshipswiththeirteam.

Buildingrelationshipsandencouragementarecharacteristicsofbothservantleadersand

emotionallyintelligentleaders(Chan&Mak,2014;Goleman,2014).

Therearethreeskillsofemotionalintelligencethatinfluencethepersonalityof

leaders:self-awareness,recognizingtheemotionsofotherpeople,anddealingwiththe

emotionsofotherpeople(Cic,Mulej,&Zizek,2018).Theseskillsintertwinepersonalityand

socialskills.Self-awarenessiskeybecausealeadershouldbeawareoftheirownemotions

andbeabletomodifypotentialnegativebehavior(Zhang,Cao,&Wang,2018).Dealingwith

theemotionsofotherpeopleisaleader’sabilitytounderstandhowtoreacttocertain

feelingsandtheimpactonotherpeople(Cicetal.,2018).Lastly,successfulleadersare

awareofemployee’sneeds,concerns,andfeelingswhileprovidingthemguidanceto

achievetheirprofessionalgoals(Goleman,2014).

Researchershaveexaminedtherelationshipbetweenemotionalintelligenceand

transformationalleadership(Potter,Egbelakin,Phipps,&Balaei,2018;Zhangetal.,2018).

Transformationalleadersdisplayinspirationalmotivation,demonstrateeffective

communicationskills,andcreateavisionofthefuturethatinspiresfollowerstocommit

(Echevarria,2015).Transformationalleadersareconsideredagentsofsocialand

organizationalchange.Researchersexaminedtherelationshipbetweenemotional

intelligenceandotherleadershipbehaviorsandfoundthatmanagerswithhigheremotional

intelligencepreferopencommunicationandproactiveleadershipstyles(Zhangetal.,2018).

Barbuto,Gottfredson,andSearle(2014)examinedemotionalintelligenceasan

antecedenttoservantleadership.Theirresultssuggestedthatemotionalintelligenceisa

goodpredictorofservantleadershipfromaleader’sperspective,butnotfromafollower’s

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perspective.DuPlessisetal.(2015)conductedasimilarstudytoinvestigatethe

relationshipsbetweenservantleadership,emotionalintelligenceandtrust.Theirresults

providedevidencefortherelationshipbetweenemotionalintelligenceandservant

leadership.Thesignificanceofthesestudiesisimportantintheunderstandingofservant

leaderbehaviorsandhowemotionalintelligencetrainingmightbeanecessarystepinthe

developmentofservantleaders(Beck,2014;duPlessisetal.,2015).

FindingsfromSeenaetal.’s(2017)studyrevealedspiritualintelligenceashaving

crucialimportanceonaperson’semotionalintelligenceandwell-being.Peoplewithhigher

emotionalintelligencebenefitfromagreatersenseofcreativity,criticalthinking,lower

anxiety,andabilitytodevelopstrongrelationshipswithothers(Nikoopour&Esfandiari,

2017).Wills(2018)replicatedpreviousstudiesofEQandSQ(Yadav&Punia,2016)and

althoughsheconfirmedtherelationshipbetweenEQandSQ,WillsfoundthatSQfactorsto

predictEQandEQfactorstopredictSQweremuchlessintheU.S.versusIndia.The

significanceofthesefindingsisthatpredictiverelationshipsbetweenEQandSQmaybe

influencedbydifferentcultures(Wills,2018).

Spiritual Intelligence

Spiritualintelligence(SQ)hasbeenanemergingtopicforoveradecade.Scholars

arestillindebateonwhetherSQshouldbeconsideredalegitimateintelligenceorremain

anelusiveconstruct.FryandWigglesworth(2013)arguedtheexistenceofamulti-level

ontologythatcouldserveasafoundationforabeing-centeredtheoryofspiritual

intelligence.Spiritualintelligenceis“theabilitytobehavewithaltruisticlovethrough

wisdomandcompassionwhilemaintaininginnerandouterpeaceregardlessofthe

circumstances”(Fry&Wigglesworth,2013,p.34).Futureresearchisstillneededon

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workplacespiritualityaswellastheroleofspiritualintelligenceanditsinfluenceon

spiritualleadership.

Spiritualityisanindividualexperience,searchingforthemeaningoflife,aquestfor

existentialunderstanding,lookingforpersonaltruths(Crossman,2011).Spiritualityhasno

classsystemordoctrine,whereasreligionischaracterizedbyaclasssystemandadoctrine

(Crossman,2011).Thedefinitionofspiritualintelligencethroughouttheliterature

referencesmanyofthesamecharacteristicsasspiritualityandsimilarlycontrastswiththe

definitionofreligion.Itisimportanttonotethiscontrastwhilestudyingthephenomenonof

spiritualintelligence(Hildebrant,2011).“Spiritualintelligencehasbeenproposedasa

measureofanindividual’spropensitytowardspiritualleadership”(Hildebrant,2011,p.

61).

Wigglesworthleftherfull-timejobinhumanresourcestocreateherownconsulting

companyfocusedonspiritualdevelopment(Wigglesworth,2012).ShedesignedtheSQ21

spiritualintelligenceassessmentinstrumenttoidentify21measurableSQskills.Theseskills

presentedinfaith-neutralterms,helppeopleunderstandandincreasetheirownspiritual

intelligence(Wigglesworth,2012).Amodelforspiritualleaderdevelopmentwasthen

introducedinaco-authoredpaper(Fry&Wigglesworth,2013)basedontheirtheoryof

spiritualintelligence.

AsWigglesworth’sownspiritualgrowthoccurred,sherecognizedadirectimpacton

hereffectivenessasaleader(Wigglesworth,2012).Workinginhumanresources,she

understoodthesensitivityoftalkingaboutreligionoranythingthatsoundsreligiousinthe

workplace(Wigglesworth,2012).ThiswasthebeginningofWigglesworth’sworkin

translatingspiritualintelligenceintouniversaltermsthatarefreefromreligious

38

associations.Throughthisprocess,spiritualskillsandcompetencieswereidentifiedalong

withascientificwaytomeasuretheseskills(Wigglesworth,2012).

WigglesworthstudiedtheworksofDanielGoldmanonemotionalintelligence

(EQ)(Wigglesworth,2012).Goldmanhighlightedthreeskillsforbuildingrelationships:

emotionalself-awareness,empathy,andemotionalself-control(Wigglesworth,2012).

Theseskillsareimportantbecausetheyarethefoundationforworkingwithspiritual

intelligence(Wigglesworth,2012).Althoughspiritualintelligenceislessacceptedthan

emotionalintelligence,itisslowlymakingitswayaroundphilosophicalandpsychological

scholarsaswellasthebusinessworld.Covey(2004)identifiedspiritualintelligenceasa

keycomponentofleadership.“Spiritualintelligenceisthecentralandmostfundamentalof

alltheintelligencesbecauseitbecomesthesourceofguidancefortheothers”(Covey,2004,

p.53).

WigglesworthbecamecertifiedintheGoldmanandBoyatismethodologyof

emotionalintelligenceandattendedmanyemotionalintelligenceconferences

(Wigglesworth,2012).ShebelievedsomeoneshoulddoforSQthatGoldmanandBoyatis

didforEQ.Wigglesworthsearchedforresearchersandscholarsandfoundnooneworking

ondevelopingaspiritualintelligencemethodology.Thiswasthemotivationforhertoleave

herfull-timeemploymenttostartherownbusiness.Thefirststepwastodevelopsome

hypothesesandbegindescribingthesespiritualintelligenceskillsfromalow-levelnoviceto

ahigh-levelexpert(Wigglesworth,2012).Theseskillswouldfallintofourquadrantsjust

likeGoldman’sEQcompetencyframework,exceptSQskillswouldbeastepup

(Wigglesworth,2012).

Wigglesworth(2102)createdacharttoidentifythe21skillsofSQandpresented

theseskillsaslevelsfromonetofive.Shecreatedaquestionnaire,validatedit,testedit,

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madeadjustments,andtesteditagain.Theresultwasaself-assessmentonlineinstrument

thatasksapproximately130questionstomeasure21skills(Wigglesworth,2012).

ZoharandMarshall(2001)exploredspiritualintelligencefromapsychology,

neurology,anthropology,andcognitivescienceviewpoint.ZoharandMarshallarguedthat

spiritualintelligenceisviewedashowweaddressandsolveproblemsofmeaningand

value.IQ,knownasintelligencequotient,isourintellectualorrationalintelligence(Zohar&

Marshall,2001).EQ,knownasemotionalintelligence,isourawarenessoffeelingsbothself

andinothers(Zohar&Marshall,2001).SQ,knownasspiritualintelligence,isourabilityto

answerthequestionwhyandallowsustobecreativeandcompassionate(Hacker&

Washington,2017;Zohar&Marshall,2001).

ItisSQthatgivespeopletheabilitytodiscernrightfromwrong(Zohar&Marshall,

2001).SQgivespeopletheirmoralsense.SQisusedtochallengethequestionofgoodand

evil.SQisusedtoenvisionunrealizedpossibilitiesandtodreamandaspire(Zohar&

Marshall,2001).SQisatransformativepower(Zohar&Marshall,2001).WhileEQfocuses

onhowtobehaveinanysituation,SQallowspeopletodetermineiftheywanttobeinthat

situation(Zohar&Marshall,2001).“SQmustshowupinouractionsandourbehaviors”

(Wigglesworth,2012,p.9).

ZoharandMarshall(2001)examinedthreepsychologicalprocesses.Freuddefined

theprimaryandsecondaryprocesses(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Theprimaryprocessis

associatedwiththeid:instinct,body,emotion,andtheunconscious(Zohar&Marshall,

2001).Thesecondaryprocessisassociatedwiththeego:consciousandrationalmind

(Zohar&Marshall,2001).ZoharandMarshalllinkedthesecondaryprocesstoIQbasedon

theserialneuralwiringinthebrain.TheylinkedtheprimaryprocesstoEQbasedonthe

associativeneuralwiringinthebrain.Therefore,SQwouldbeconsideredthethirdneural

40

systembasedonthesynchronousneuraloscillationsthatunifydataacrossthewholebrain

(Zohar&Marshall,2001).

“Conventionalreligionisanexternallyimposedsetofrulesandbeliefs”(Zohar&

Marshall,2001,p.9).SQisaboutaperson’sinnerself.SQistheintelligencethatrestsinthat

deeppartoftheselfthatisconnectedtowisdomfrombeyondtheego;itistheintelligence

withwhichpeoplenotonlyrecognizeexistingvalues,butwithwhichnewvaluesare

creativelydiscovered(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Developingthatwisdomandlearninghow

tofollowitsguidanceisthemostvitalpartofspiritualintelligence(Wigglesworth,2012).

Beforethe1990’s,researchersonlyexaminedtwoformsofbrainneural

organization:serialandparallel.SerialneuralconnectionsarethebasisofIQ;allowing

peopletofollowrules,thinklogicallyandrationally(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Parallel

neuralnetworkorganizationbundlesahundredthousandneuronsandconnects

haphazardlytootherbundles(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Thisneuralnetworkisthebasisof

EQ;givingpeopleemotion-driven,patternrecognizing,habitbuildingintelligence(Zohar&

Marshall,2001).Bothhavedifferentabilities,butneitheroperateswithmeaning;neither

canaskthequestionwhy(Zohar&Marshall,2001).ThisiswheretheworkofAustrian

neurologist,Singer,onunifyingneuraloscillationsoffersathirdkindofthinking,unitive

thinking,orspiritualintelligence(Zohar&Marshall,2001).

Hildebrant(2011)examinedtherelationshipbetweenspiritualintelligenceand

moraldevelopment.ThreemeasurementinstrumentsforSQwereevaluatedandtheSISRI-

24instrumentwasselected(Hildebrant,2011).ThePerceivedLeaderIntegrityScale(PLIS)

wasusedtomeasuremoraldevelopment.HildebrantvalidatedSISRI-24asareliable

measurementinstrumentforSQ.ShefoundthatthelevelofSQwasnotaffectedbyage,

gender,oreducationallevel.Religiousaffiliationandspiritualpracticeswerefoundtobe

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linkedtotheconstructsusedtomeasureSQ(Hildebrant,2011).Hildebrant’sresultsare

consistentwiththeliterature.ThelevelofSQandthestageofmoraldevelopmentwere

correlated(Hildebrant,2011).LeaderswithhighmoralcharacteralsohavehighlevelsofSQ

(Hildebrant,2011).

Dougherty(2011)exploredtherelationshipbetweenspirituality,spiritual

intelligence,andleadershippracticesandfoundrecurringthemesinthedefinitionsand

interpretationsofspirituality.Thesethemesincluded:connectednesstoorarelationship

withahigherpower,asearchforthemeaningoflife,andbeliefsandpracticesrelatedto

religion(Dougherty,2011).Doughertyfocusedoncollegestudentsandtheliterature

confirmedaconsiderableinterestinspiritualitywithintheacademicenvironment.

“Spiritualintelligencehasbeencharacterizedasadistinctsetofmentalcapacities

contributingtorefinedself-awareness,enhancedpersonalmeaning,heightenedspiritual

statsofconsciousness,andvirtuousbehavior”(Doughterty,2011,pp.1-2).

Dougherty(2011)reviewedtheliteratureandfocusedonthemajorcontributorsin

thestudyofspiritualintelligence(Emmons,Kwilecki,Mayer,Gardner,Wolman,Zoharand

Marshall,Vaughan,RogersandDantley,Covey,AmramandDryer,KingandDeCicco).The

generalthemefocusedonthemeaning,value,andpurposeoflife.Doughertyoffered

multipledefinitionsofspiritualintelligenceandintroducedtwoinstrumentsdevelopedto

measuretheconstruct.

Dougherty(2011)concludedthatasignificantcorrelationwasmeasuredbetween

spirituality,spiritualintelligence,andleadershippractices.TheSISRI-24instrumentwas

usedinthestudytomeasurethelevelofSQ(Dougherty,2011).Doughertyfoundthis

instrumenttobereliable.However,becausethepopulationstudiedwaslimitedtoonlyBYU

42

students,generalizedstatementsaboutspiritualitycannotbemadeacrossallpopulations

(Dougherty,2011).

“Tohavehighspiritualintelligenceistobeabletousethespiritualtobringgreater

contextandmeaningtolivingaricherandmoremeaningfullife,toachieveasenseof

personalwholeness,purpose,anddirection”(Zohar&Marshall,2001,p.111).

Wigglesworth(2012)arguedthatphysical,cognitive,emotional,andspiritualintelligences

shouldbedevelopedtomeetthedemandsoflifeandfulfillthedesiretogrow.These

intelligencesareinterconnectedinthesamewayMaslow’shierarchyofneedsare

developed(Wigglesworth,2012).Lowerlevelneedsmustbefulfilledbeforemovingupto

thehigherlevels(Wigglesworth,2012).

Organizationalvaluesarecriticaltobusinesssuccess(Hildebrant,2011).

Organizationsaremadeupindividualsanditisthoseindividualsthatinfluencethevaluesof

theorganization(Hildebrant,2011).Personalvaluesshapehowleadersrespondintimesof

conflict.Peoplewiththeclearestpersonalvaluesmakechoicesbasedonprincipleandcan

identifyethicalconcernsevenwhentheyarenotclearlyvisible(Hildebrant,2011).

Organizational Trust

Trustisacommontermbutcanhavedifferentmeaningsdependingoncontext.Ina

socialcontext,trustcanbedefinedasageneralwillingnesstobevulnerable(Zuppaetal.,

2016).Trustisadynamic,interpersonallinkbetweenpeople(Bligh,2017).Trustisalso

typicallyviewedasreciprocal,expectingthatotherswillexhibitthesamebehavior(Lusher,

Kremer,&Robins,2013).Trustistheframeworkforleader-followerrelationshipsinthe

workplace(Le&Lei,2018).

Trustistherootofallgreatleadership(Bligh,2017).Tofostertrustamongthe

followersofanorganization,leadersneedtopaymoreattentiontopracticing

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transformationalleadership(Le&Lei,2018).Researchersfoundthatemotionalintelligence

isanimportantelementfortrusttoexist(Ansari&Malik,2017).Trusthasbecomeakey

componentinmostcoreleadershiptheories(Bligh,2017).Trustinaleaderisbuiltonthe

characterofaleaderwhichisfocusedonhowfollowersperceivealeader’scharacteristics,

suchasability,integrity,dependability,andbenevolenceintheworkplace(Goh&Low,

2014).

Trustisakeyprocessinethical,servant,andauthenticleadershipstyles(Bligh,

2017).Transformationalleadersbecomerolemodelsfortheirfollowersandthrough

observation,theydeveloptrustinthem.Overtime,followerslearnmoreabouttheirleaders

providingevidencefortheirtrustworthiness.Choietal.(2015)positedthatemotional

intelligencecreatesthetrustworthinessandauthenticityofaperson.Cognition-basedtrust

isestablishedthroughanindividual’sperceptionofanotherperson’strustworthiness,

whichisbasedonthatperson’sintegrity,behavior,capability,andreputation(Pishdad-

Bozorgi&Beliveau,2016).Miaoetal.(2014)foundthathigherlevelsoftrustworthiness

maybeestablishedthroughservantleaderbehavior.

Researchershaveexaminedwaysthattrustcandevelopcloserelationships(Ansari

&Malik,2017).Communicationiskeytobuildingstrongtrust-basedrelationshipsinthe

workplace(Seifert,Brockner,Bianchi,&Moon,2016).Goodworkingrelationshipsare

developedwhenvaluesandattitudesareshared(Seifertetal.,2016).Awillingnesstobuild

stronginterpersonalrelationshipsandbeinggenuinelyconcernedaboutthewell-beingof

subordinatesmediatetheimpactofservantleadershiponaffectivetrust(Miaoetal.,2014).

Integrityisestablishedwhenleadersandfollowersabidebyastandardsetofrulesand

ethicalconduct.Honestyandintegrityareethicalvaluescharacterizedbyspiritual

managers(Faraji&Begzadeh,2017).Leadersmustdevelopandsustainperceptionsof

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integritythroughjustice,actinginwaysthatareconsistentwiththeirvaluesand

accountability(Bligh,2017).

Perceptionsofjusticeareimportantindeterminingtrustinaleaderorthe

organization.Theabilitytoexpresspersonalviewshasapositiveimpactontheperception

offairnessandproductivityintheorganization(Vanhala&Ritala,2016).Theperceptionof

anethicalworkclimateisdirectlyrelatedtoleadertrust,implyingthatorganizational

elementsmightinfluencetheperceptionsofaleader’strustworthiness(Bligh,2017).

Organizationaltrustreferstobothtrustinindividualsandtrustintheorganizationasa

whole(Vanhala,Heilmann,&Salminen,2016).

Trustinorganizationalleadershiptendstohaveagreaterimpactonorganizational

outcomes,suchaswhetherornotanemployeeiscommittedtothecompanyevenifthey

receiveamoreattractiveoffersomewhereelse.Thisexamplesuggeststhatfollowersmight

developdifferenttrustrelationshipswiththeirimmediateleadersversusleadershigherup

intheorganization(Bligh,2017).Vanhalaetal.(2016)examinedemployeetrustintheir

organization,theirfutureinthatorganization,andemployeesupportfortheevolutionof

interpersonaltrust.Researchershavefoundthatbothorganizationaltrustandleadertrust

werepositivelyassociatedwithservantleadershipstyleandconcludedthatservant

leadershipwasanantecedentoforganizationaltrustandleadertrust(Kashyap&

Rangnekar,2016).

Trusttheoriesarebasedonsocialexchangetheory,suggestingthattrustforms

throughrepeatedexchangeofinterestsbetweentwoentities,orthroughtheinteractionofa

person’svalues,attitudes,andemotions(Liu&Wang,2013).LiuandWang(2013)found

thatmanagersneedtoearnemployeetrusttosustainlong-termrelationships.Establishing

employeetrustwillaidinthedevelopmentoftheorganization(Liu&Wang,2013).

45

Researchershaveexaminedmutualtrustandsupportthenotionthatwhenonepartyacts

inatrustworthymanner,bothpartiesareapttohavehigherlevelsoftrust(Koorsgaard,

Brower,&Lester,2015).Tomaintainatrustrelationshipwithemployees,organizations

shouldfocusoncontrollingthework-relatedrisktocreateaneffectiveworkenvironment

(Liu&Wang,2013).

Trustisamulti-facetedcomponent,andtheleveloftrustisrelatedtothelevelof

perceivedrisk(Knightetal.,2015).Theconnectionbetweentrustandriskcomesfroma

reciprocalrelationshipinthatriskcreatestheopportunityfortrustthatcansubsequently

leadtorisktaking(Vanhalaetal.,2016).Twoconditionsmustbemetfortrusttoexist,risk

andinterdependence.Riskcreatestheopportunityfortrust(Vanhalaetal.,2016).The

greatertherisk,thegreaterthetrust(Knightetal.,2015).

Summary and Conclusions

InChapter2,Ipresentedareviewoftheliteraturethataddressedleadership

theoriesandspiritualintelligence.Theliteraturereviewprovidedbackgroundon

spirituality,servantleadership,transformationalleadership,emotionalandspiritual

intelligence,andorganizationaltrust.Thesetheoriesformedasoundconceptualframework

toconductananalysisoftheroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’sinfluenceon


Idividedtheliteraturereviewintofoursections:effectiveleadership,leadership

theories,intelligencetheories,andorganizationaltrust.Iexaminedstudieswithafocuson

spiritualintelligence,emotionalintelligence,servantleadership,andorganizationaltrust.

Eachofthesestudiesdemonstratedapositiverelationshipbetweenemergingleadership

theoriesandorganizationaltrust.IalsoreviewedtheseminalworksofGardner,Emmons,

Fry,Zohar&Marshall,andGreenleaftoexplorehowspiritualintelligence,emotional

46

intelligence,andservantleadershipcontributedtoleadershipdevelopmentandthe

developmentoforganizationaltrust.Ajike(2016)concludedthatorganizationaltrustand

spiritualintelligenceareeffectivefactorsthatenhanceorganizationalperformance.Ajike

validatedtheimportanceofresearchingtherelationshipsbetweenspiritualintelligenceand

organizationaltrust.Kaya(2015)positedthatspiritualleadershipisnotonlylinkedwith

organizationalcitizenshipbehaviors,buthealsoagreedwithresearchersonthe

relationshipbetweenspiritualleadershipandothervariablessuchasjobsatisfaction,

morale,productivity,andtrust.

Addressingthegapintheliteratureofthespiritualintelligenceofleaderswho

influenceorganizationaltrustandspecifically,thelackofspiritualintelligencethathelps

createtheenvironmentforethicalbehaviorandorganizationaleffectivenesswillextendthe

knowledgeofspiritualintelligenceanditsroleinleadershipdevelopment.Roberts(2013)

arguedthatfuturestudiesareneededtolinkservantleadershipandspiritualintelligenceto

organizationaloutcomeslikeproductivity,jobturnover,andjobsatisfaction.Fryand

Wigglesworth(2013)arguedthatorganizationsandtheirleadershaveavestedinterestin

betterunderstandingspiritualintelligenceanditsroleinleadershipdevelopment.She

recommendedfutureresearchonworkplacespiritualitytoexploreincreasedorganizational

performance.

InChapter3,Iwilloutlinetheresearchdesignandmethodology.Iwillprovide

detailsonwhythephenomenologicaldesignwaschosenandhowtheresearchquestion

guidedthedirectionofthisstudy.IwilldescribetheroleIplayedastheresearcher,andthe

processIusedtoselectparticipants,collectdata,andthedataanalysisplan.

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Chapter 3: Research Method

Thepurposeofthisphenomenologicalstudywastoidentifytheroleofspiritual


seniorleadersofaglobalinsurancecompanyregardingtheirspiritualintelligenceandtrust.

Theimplicationsforsocialchangeincludecreatingadeeperandbroaderunderstandingofa

leader’sspiritualintelligence,howspiritualintelligencemightplayaroleinaleader’s

influenceontrustwithinanorganization,andthepotentialbusinessapplicationfor

leadershipdevelopment.Inthischapter,Iprovideadetaileddescriptionoftheresearch

methodologyusedinthisphenomenologicalstudy.

Phenomenologyisaformofinquirythataddressesparticipants’livedexperienceof

andperceptionofaphenomenon(Patton,2014).Researchersshouldexamineparticipants’

descriptionsintheirownwords,distinctfromtheresearcher’sperceptionofthe

phenomenon(Saldana,2009).Theparticipantsareviewedassubjectiveepistemological

beingstopreventcontaminationofthedatawithextraneousworldviewassumptions

(Dahlberg,Dahlberg,&Nystrom,2008).ThisHusserlianmethodisintendedtocreatepure

presentationsanduninterpreteddatabasedonhumanexperience(Koopman,2015).

Thischapterincludesanoverviewoftheresearchdesignandtherationalefor

choosingthisdesign.Thisisfollowedbyadescriptionofmyroleastheresearcher.Iexplain

howparticipantswereselected,thedatacollectionmethodthatwasused,andthe

recruitmentplan.Lastly,Isummarizethedataanalysisplanandaddressethical

considerationsandcredibilityofthestudy.

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Research Design and Rationale

Theresearchquestionguidedthisqualitativestudyandinformedthe

phenomenologicalapproach:Whatistheroleofspiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceon

organizationaltrustwithinaglobalinsurancecompany?Severaltheoristsandresearchers

haveidentifiedspecificcharacteristicsandbehaviorsrelatedtospirituality(Crossman,

2011;Fry,2003;Geh,2014;Yusof&Mohamad,2014).Workplacespiritualityappearstobe

gainingmoreinterest,andleadersarebecomingmoreawareofthevalueitbringstothe

organization(Millimanetal.,2016).Thissuggestedaneedforleaderstolearnmoreabout

spiritualleadershipandfororganizationstodevelopleadershipprogramsaroundit

(Hacker&Washington,2017).

Gardner(1999)viewedspiritualityasareligious,theological,mystical,and

transcendentphenomenon.Zohar(2001)definedspiritualintelligenceas“theintelligence

withwhichweaddressandsolveproblemsofmeaningandvalue”(p.3).Transformational

andservantleadershipstylesareexamplesofvalue-basedtheoriesofleadership(Mahembe

&Engelbrecht,2013).Crossman(2011)classifiedspiritualleadersasinspirationaland

notedthatspiritualintelligenceshouldbelinkedtotransformationalleadership.Spiritual

leadershavethecapacitytobuildtrustandcompassionwithinanorganization(Crossman,

2011).Theobjectiveofthisstudywastoexploretheinfluenceofaleader’sspiritual

intelligenceonthedevelopmentoforganizationaltrust.

Patton(2014)describedseveraltheoreticalandphilosophicalperspectivesthat

informqualitativeinquiriesandresearchdesigns.Afewoftheseperspectivesinclude

narrative,phenomenology,groundedtheory,ethnography,andheuristicinquiry.Each

designhasaspecificfocusandaddressesissuesinauniqueway.Inthecurrentstudy,a

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phenomenologicaldesignwaschosentocaptureandanalyzethelivedexperiencesof

spiritualintelligenceamongexecutiveleaders.

Inphenomenologicalstudies,theresearcherfocusesonexploringthehuman

experienceofthephenomenonandtransformsthatexperienceintoreal-worldmeaning

(Patton,2014).Moustakas(1994)classifiedphenomenologyas“rootedinquestionsthat

giveadirectionandfocustomeaning,andinthemesthatsustainaninquiry,awakenfurther

interestandconcern,andaccountforourpassionateinvolvementwithwhateverisbeing

experienced”(p.59).Theintentofusingphenomenologyinthecurrentstudywasto

understandleaders’perceptionandperspectiveonspiritualintelligenceandhowspiritual

intelligencemightplayaroleinleaders’influenceontrustinorganizations(seeLeedy&

Ormrod,2010).

Iusedadescriptivedesignbasedonthetheoreticalframeworkgroundedin

lifeworldphenomenology.Theresearchprocesswasguidedbythephenomenological

approachofreflectivelifeworldresearch,whichwasbasedonthephenomenological

philosophyofHusserlandMerleau-Ponty(Lindberg,Hörberg,U.,Persson,E.,&Ekebergh,

2013).Thisapproachallowedmetoidentifytheexperiences,thoughts,andfeelingsof

leaders.Ichosephenomenologybecauseitwasarigorousalternativetothetraditional

methodsusedinthenaturalsciencesthatwerenotappropriateforexamininghuman

experience(seeBrooks,2015).

Aqualitativeapproachallowstheresearchertoexploretheperceptionsand

perspectivesofaparticulareventratherthandeterminingtherelationshipbetween

variables(Leedy&Ormrod,2010).Theresearchdesignofphenomenologywasmost

appropriatebecauseitallowedmetoexplorethelivedexperienceofthephenomenon.A

narrativestudyaddressesparticipants’experiencestoldthroughstories(Leedy&Ormrod,

50

2010).Agroundedtheorystudyisusedtocreateatheorybasedontheexperiences(Leedy

&Ormrod,2010).Anethnographicstudyinvolvesaculturalgroupandaddressesthe

sharedexperiencesofmembers(Leedy&Ormrod,2010).Acasestudyaddressedaspecific

issueusingonecaseormultiplecaseslookingforcommonthemes(Leedy&Ormrod,2010).

Inthecurrentstudy,Iusedaphenomenologicaldesignto“contemplateandtheorizethe

variouswaysthingsmanifestandappearinandthroughourbeingintheworld”(see

Moustakas,1994,p.22).

Role of the Researcher

Inqualitativestudies,theroleoftheresearcherisimportanttotheaccuracy,

authenticity,andreliabilityoftheobservationsbeingmade(Patton,2014).Theresearcher

istheinstrument(Marshall&Rossman,2014;Patton,2014).Myroleasresearcherwasto

collectdataastheinterviewer.Asaqualitativeresearcher,myrolewastolearnfromthe

experiencesofmyparticipantsandmaintainastanceofempathicneutrality(Patton,2014).

Theinterviewerinfluencestheworthofthedatacollected(Marshall&Rossman,2014).

Phenomenologicalresearchgrowsoutofanintenseinterest,excitement,and

curiosityoftheresearcher,butMoustakas(1994)cautionedtheresearchertocontainhisor

heropinions,beliefs,andsuppositionstoreducepotentialbias.Bracketing(orbridling)

allowstheresearchertoremovepersonalbeliefs,judgments,andpreconceivedideas

(Moustakas,1994).Planningtheinterviewsisessential.Theinterviewprocessincludes

establishingrapport,showingrespect,buildingtrust,showinginterest,takingnotes,and

recordingthesession(Patton,2014).Theresearcherneedstoechothevoiceofeach

participantandsynthesizethevoicesofallparticipantswhenanalyzingthedata(Patton,

2014).

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Thesampleforthisstudywaspurposelydrawnfrommycompany.Theparticipants

includedexecutiveorseniorleaderswithatitleofseniorvicepresidentorabove,and

employeeswhoreportedtothemwithatitleofvicepresidentorbelow.Theratioof

participantswerehalfleadersandhalfgeneralemployees.Therationaleforthisratiowas

toaccountforpotentialleaderbiasregardingtheperceptionoftrustintheorganization.An

equivalentsampleofgeneralemployeesaddedcredibilitytothestudy.

Participantswhowereleadersinsidemychainofcommandwereallseniortome;

therefore,Ihadnopowerorinfluenceoverthem.Ididnotchoosegeneralemployeeswithin

mychainofcommandtoremoveanypossibleconflictofinterestorbiasregardingtheir

participation.However,Ineededtoaddresstheperceivedbarrierscreatedbythe

hierarchicalrelationshipofleadersaboveme.Thefirststepwastoconfirmthe

confidentialityoftheconversation.Next,Iofferedacopyofthetranscriptsandresultsso

theparticipantswouldhavefulldisclosureofthecompletedstudy.Lastly,Ifollowed

Moustakas’s(1994)suggestiontobegininterviewswithasocialconversationtocreatea

relaxedandtrustingatmosphere.

Choosingtheresearcher’sworkplaceasthefocusofresearchcanpresentethical

concerns,includingconflictsofinterestandpowerdifferentialissues(Leedy&Ormrod,

2010).Iheldaleadershiproleinmyorganizationanddevelopedprofessionalrelationships

withmanyseniorlevelleaders.Thetopicofmystudydidnotinvolveanyoftheinternal

workingsofthecompanyoranyproprietaryinformation.Myresearchaddressedthe

leadershipstylesofexecutiveandseniorlevelmanagersthroughoutthecompany.

Participationwasconfidential,andnonamesorotheridentifyinginformationwasusedin

thestudy.

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Methodology

Becausephenomenologywasthechosendesignforthisstudy,Iimplemented

strategiesrelatedtothisdesign.Thesestrategiesstartedwithhowparticipantswere

selectedandthemethodthatwasusedfordatacollection.Inthefollowingsections,I

describethestrategiesusedforrecruitment,participation,datacollection,anddata

analysis.Ialsoaddressthecredibility,transferability,dependability,confirmability,and

ethicalproceduresforthisstudy.

Participant Selection Logic

Theglobalinsurancecompanychosenforthisstudyisa95-year-oldcompanydoing

businessin100countrieswithover65,000employees.Theorganizationissplitinto

corporateandbusinessstructures.Iworkinthecorporatestructure,butIwantedto

includethebusinessorganizationaspartofthesample.Thestrategybehindselecting

participantsfrombothcorporateandbusinessorganizationswastoexploreleaders’

spiritualintelligenceandtrustacrosstheentirecompanyandnotinonesiloofleadership.

Thefirstcriteriontoparticipateinthisstudywastoholdanexecutiveorsenior

levelleadershippositioninthecompany.Aseniorleaderwassomeoneholdingthetitleof

seniorvicepresidentorabove.Thesecondcriteriontoparticipateinthisstudywastobean

employeereportingtotheseseniorleaderswithajobtitleofvicepresidentorbelowandin

areportingstructureoutsideofmychainofcommand.Ipurposelyexcludedgeneral

employeeswithinmychainofcommandtoeliminateanypossibleconflictofinterestor

bias.Asacorporateemployee,Ihadaccesstoorganizationalchartstoconfirmthat

participantselectioncriteriaweremet.Additionally,myemploymentwiththecompany

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providedaccesstotheseparticipantsandtheirofficelocationswithpropernotification

priortoarrival.

Patton(2014)explainedthereasoningbehindpurposefulsampling,whichiswhyI

recruitedleadersfrombothcorporateandbusinessorganizations.Demographicand

geographiccriteriawerenotimportantforthisstudyandwerenotusedtoselectthe

sample.Phenomenologicalresearchhasnospecificguideforparticipantsamplesize.

WaldenUniversitysuggestedaminimumof20participantsoruntildatasaturationoccurs.

Mystudyincluded16participantswithanevenmixofseniorleadersandgeneral

employeeswhoreportedtothem.

Saturationisthepointindatacollectionwhennoneworrelevantinformation

emerges(Saundersetal.,2017).FuschandNess(2015)indicatedthatstructuredinterview

questionswouldhelpachievedatasaturation.FuschandNessalsorecommended

interviewingpeoplewhowouldnotnormallybeconsideredtoenhancedatasaturation.To

determinesaturation,Iconducted10interviews,codedandanalyzedthedata,andnoted

theemergingthemes.ThenIconductedtwomoreinterviews,analyzedthedata,andlooked

fornewcodesornewemergentthemes.Irepeatedtheprocessuntilnonewthemes

emergedandsaturationwasconfirmed.Nonewcodesorthemesemergedfromthedata

afterthe16thinterview.Datasaturationwasdeclared,andtheinterviewsstopped(see

Morse,2015).

Theparticipantselectionprocessincludedpurposivesamplingofseniorleadersand

employeeswhoreportedtothemusingorganizationalchartsandsendinglettersof

cooperation.Initially,20participantswereselected(10leadersand10generalemployees),

withacontingencyof10additionalparticipants(fiveleadersandfivegeneralemployees)in

theeventsomeoftheoriginalparticipantswereunableorunwillingtoparticipate.

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Participantswerechosenfromboththecorporateorganizationandthebusiness

organization.BecauseIhadarapportwithmanyoftheseniorleaders,recruitmentwasnot

anissue.Iwasalsoabletoleveragemyrelationshipswithseniorleaderstofoster

participationattheexecutiveleveloftheorganization.Allparticipantsweretoldthattheir

contributiontothisstudywouldbecompletelyvoluntaryandconfidentialandtheycould

withdrawfromthestudyatanytime.

Irecruited20employeestoparticipateinthisstudywithoutcoercion.Eachofthe

leaderparticipantshadatitleofseniorvicepresidentoraboveandwasemployedineither

thecorporateorbusinessorganization.Thegeneralemployeesheldvariouspositionsinthe

company,reportedtooneoftheseniorleaders,heldajobtitleofvicepresidentorbelow,

andwerenotwithinmychainofcommand.Ichose20participantsacrossthecorporateand

businessorganizationstoensuremaximumvariationsamplingandabalanceofleaderand

employeeparticipationinthestudy.Nootherdemographicfactorswereconsidered,andI

didnotexcludeanyonefromthestudyexceptthosewithinmychainofcommand.

Data Collection Method

Theprimarysourceofdatacollectionforthisstudywasinterviewdriven.The

interviewswerecomprisedofopen-endedquestionsbasedonthetheoreticalframeworkof

lifeworldphenomenology.Husserlisacknowledgedasthefoundingfatherof

phenomenology(Vagle,2014).Husserlbelievedtheonlywaytounderstandthehuman

experienceintheworldistobegroundedinthehumanexperience,focusingonwhat

peopleperceiveratherthanhowitisperceived(Brooks,2016).

Inlifeworldresearch,datagatheringisanactivitywhereresearchersseekout

narratives,descriptions,utterances,andanyotherexpressionofthephenomenonbeing

studied(Dahlbergetal.,2008).Theresearcherisresponsibleforunderstandingthe

55

meaningsthatbelongtothelifeworldandtherelationshipbetweenthesubjectandthe

phenomenon(Dahlbergetal.,2008).Researchersshoulduseanopenandbridledapproach

tofindtheirwaythroughthesemeanings(Moustakas,1994).Researcherstakenforgranted

perspectivesoflivedexperiencesarereplacedwithaglimpseofthephenomenonasitwas

trulylived,nottheorized(Vagle,2014).

Thelevelofknowledgetheresearcherhasaboutthephenomenoncanhavea

negativeimpactontheresearchproject(Dahlbergetal.,2008).Dahlbergetal.(2008)

advisednottoreadtoomuchexistingliteratureaboutthephenomenontoavoidmakingit

difficulttobridlenewinformationfromtheresearch.Lifeworldresearchdoesnothave

specificmethodsortechniques;instead,ituseseverydaymeansofunderstanding(Brooks,

2016).

Instrumentation

Thedatacollectioninstrumentsusedforthisstudyincludedaninterviewprotocol,

aninterviewguidewithscript,audiotapeofinterviews,andfieldnotes.Allinstruments

wereresearcherproduced.Icreatedtheinterviewprotocoltoconsistentlyrecordthe

participantsinmystudy.Theinformationrecordedincludedtheirname,contactinfo,

positionintheorganization,location,interviewdateandtimeandtheuniquecodeusedto

confidentiallylabeltheirdata.Ialsocreatedaninterviewscripttomaintainconsistency

witheachofmyinterviews.Lastly,Iusedadigitalrecorderandtookfieldnotesto

documenteachinterview.

ThebasisforinstrumentdevelopmentcamefromliteraturesourcessuchasVagle

(2014)andDahlbergetal.(2008).Theseliteraturesourcessuggestedthatunstructured

interviewsarethemostcommonmethodfordatagatheringinaphenomenologicalstudy

(Dahlbergetal.,2008;Vagle,2014).Validitywasestablishedbyfield-testingtheinterview

56

questionstoassuretheywouldproducethenecessarydataforthisstudy(Leedy&Ormrod,

2010).Apaneloffourqualitativeexpertswereassembledtoreviewmyproblemstatement,

purposestatement,researchquestionandthelistofinterviewquestionstovalidate

alignment.AftermakingtherecommendedchangesbythepanelandtheURR,theinterview

questionsandphenomenologicaldesignwereinalignment.

Field Test

Tovalidatethatmyresearchmethodanddesignwerealignedtomyresearch

questionsandinterviewquestions,Iconductedafieldtestwithfourqualitativeresearch

experts.IextendedinvitationstosevenWaldenUniversityfacultymemberswithfourwho

agreedtoparticipateandthreewhocordiallyabstained.Isenteachparticipantacopyofmy

problemstatement,purposestatement,researchquestionandlistofinterviewquestions.I

requestedeachparticipanttoreviewthedrafttodetermineifmyinterviewquestions

alignedwithmyresearchmethod,design,andresearchquestion.

Allfourparticipantsconcludedthatmyinterviewquestionsweretoopointedand

mightleadintervieweestoaspecificanswerratherthanidentifytheirexperiencesand

perceptionsofthephenomenon.Onesuggestionwastobreakdownthequestionsto

simplifytheunderstandingofthephenomenonIwastryingtoidentify.Asuggestionmade

bytwopanelmemberswastofocusonaskingquestionsaboutthelivedexperience.One

panelmemberbelievedsomeoftheinterviewquestionsdidnotsupportthepurposeofthe

studyandotherquestionsneededmorefocusandclarity.Iadoptedthesuggestionsand

revisedtheinterviewquestionsaccordingly.

Ireceivedmixedreviewsonthealignmentofmystudy.Twopanelmembers

believedmyproblemstatement,purposestatement,andresearchquestionwerein

alignment.OnepanelmemberbelievedIshouldnarrowdownthepopulationandtighten

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thelinkbetweenproblem,purposeandresearchquestions.Thefourthpanelmember

believedIwassayingthreedifferentthingsinmyproblem,purposeandresearchquestion.

Since50%ofmypaneldidnotseealignment,Iworkedwithmychairandcommitteetoadd

clarityandfocusonaligningtheproblem,purposeandresearchquestion.Iadoptedpanel

recommendationsandincorporatedthemintomyproposal.

Uponthesecondreviewofthisproposal,theURRfoundthattheresearchmethod

anddesignwerenotalignedtotheresearchquestionandinterviewquestions.After

confirmingafewrecommendationswiththeURR,Iadjustedtheresearchquestionand

interviewquestionstobetteralignwiththeresearchmethodanddesign.Thenewinterview

questionsarealignedtothephenomenologicaldesignandshouldproduceanexpected

alignedoutcome.TherevisedinterviewquestionsarelistedinAppendixF.

Procedures for Recruitment and Participation

Asspecifiedintheprevioussection,Iusedtheinterviewastheprimarysourceof

datacollectionforthisstudy.Nocollectionofdataoccurreduntilpermissionwasreceived

fromWaldenUniversityIRBon2017.02.1417:26:46-06’00’.TheIRBapprovalnumberfor

thisstudyis02-17-17-0138797.Datawascollectedfromtheinterviewsof18employees

withinthecorporateandbusinessorganizationsandresultedindatasaturation.

Foreachinterview,Ihadplannedtotraveltotheparticipant’soffice,someofwhich

requireoutofstatetravelortosetupavideoconferenceforparticipantswhowereunable

tomeetpersonally.Ischeduledone-hourappointmentswitheachparticipanttorespect

theirtimeandeachinterviewlastednolongerthanonehour.Theinterviewswere

recorded,andItookfieldnotes.Theinterviewswereconductedovera9-weekperioddue

toparticipantavailability.

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Atthestartofeachinterview,Ireviewedtheprotocolsoutlinedintheinterview

script,reviewedtheconsentletter,andlettheparticipantsknowthattheycouldstopthe

interviewatanytimesincethiswasstrictlyvoluntary.Ireinforcedthattheinterviewwould

berecorded,Iwouldbetakingnotes,andnoinformationwouldbesharedwithanyone,nor

wouldtheirnamesorpositionsberevealedinthestudy.Iconfirmeddataconfidentiality

andthatthisinformationwouldonlybeusedformystudy.Ialsoofferedtoprovidea

summaryofthefindingsafterthestudywascomplete.Lastly,Iprovidedeachparticipant

withthecontactinformationfortheDirectorofWaldenUniversity’sInstitutionalReview

Board.

Theinterviewswereguidedbythelistofopen-endedquestionsrelevanttohelp

answertheresearchquestion.Probingquestionswereaskedtoobtaindetailsorclarifying

unclearstatementstogainagreaterunderstandingofthephenomenon.Therevisedlistof

questionsusedduringtheinterviewisattachedinAppendixF.Aftereachinterview,the

recordingsweretransferredtoalargestoragedevicewithacopyinthecloudasabackup.

AccesstothisdatawaspasswordcontrolledandIamtheonlypersonwithaccess.

Namesandpositionswerenotusedtolabelthedata.Asanadditionalprecaution,Iused

dateofinterview,initialsandthesequencenumberoftheinterviewforfilename

identification.Inadditiontorecordings,Ialsotooknotestohelpverifythedatacollected.

Interviewswereconductedinperson,intheprivateofficeoftheparticipantorbya

conferencecallintheeventaface-to-facemeetingwasnotconducive.Thisenvironment

waschosentohelpparticipantsfeelcomfortableintheirownoffice.Interviewswere

recordedusingadigitalrecorderwithabackuprecorderintheeventonefails.Isetone-

hourappointmentstorespectparticipanttime,butalwaysallowedtheinterviewto

continuebeyondtheallottedtimeiftheparticipantwascomfortableanditdidnotinterfere

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withotherengagements.AlthoughIhadinterviewquestionstoguidetheconversation,I

attemptedtokeeptheinterviewmoreconversationaltoallowparticipantstoopenand

sharetheirexperiencesfreely.Moustakas(1994)describedtheinterviewerasbeing

responsibleforcreatingaclimateinwhichtheresearchparticipantwillfeelcomfortable

andwillrespondhonestlyandcomprehensively.

Inlifeworldresearch,thequestionofsamplesizecannotbedecidedinexact

numbersbeforethestudybegins(Dahlbergetal.,2008).Dahlbergetal.(2008)arguedthat

themorecomplexphenomenonmayrequirealargerparticipantpool.Alternatively,aless

complicatedphenomenonmayonlyrequireafew(Dahlbergetal.,2008).Forthisstudy,a

participantpoolof20employeeswaschosen.Intheeventsaturationwasnotmetwith20

participants,anadditional10participantswerechosenandrecruitedasstandby

participants.Intheeventsaturationoccurredearly,theremainingparticipantswouldbe

contactedandinformedthatIcollectedsufficientdatatocompletethestudyandthanked

themforvolunteeringtoparticipate.After16interviews,nonewthemesemerged,and

saturationwasdeclared(Morse,2015).

Interviewsweretranscribed,andacopyofthetranscriptwasmadeavailabletothe

participants.Ihadplannedtoaskeachparticipanttoreviewthetranscriptandnotes,

checkingforaccuracyandcompleteness.However,theIRBindicatedthathaving

participantsreviewtranscriptsforaccuracyplacesanunnecessaryburdenonthemin

termsoftheirtimeandeffort,asmostpeopledonotaccuratelyrememberwhatwassaidin

theinterview.Theyrecommendedcheckingthetranscriptagainsttheaudiotapesto

validateaccuracy.

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Data Analysis Plan

Allrecordedinterviewdataweretranscribedverbatimbyhand.Accuracywas

validatedbyfollowingalongwiththetranscriptionastherecordingwasplayedback.

AnalysissoftwaresuchasNVivowasnotusedinthisstudy.Handwrittennoteswereadded

tothetranscriptiontovalidatethedata.Transcriptswerezippedandstoredsecurelyforthe

allottedperiodrequiredbyWaldenUniversity.Alldatawasstoredelectronicallyusing

passwordswhereonlyIhaveaccess.Abackupofthisdatawasstoredinthecloudand

passwordprotectedaswell.Transcribeddatawasorganized,codedandanalyzedmanually.

Thefirststepindataanalysiswasreadingandrereadingthedatatounderstandthe

interviews(Marshall&Rossman,2014).Verbalandnonverbal(considersilenceand

hesitation)listeningandtranscribingcontributedtobecomingfamiliarwiththematerial

(Lindberg,2013).Isearchedformeaninginthetranscribedinterviews.Iusedbridlingto

pulloutpersonalexperienceandallowedforessentialmeaningstoappear(Kymre,2013).

Steptwoindataanalysiswasorganizingthedataintocategoriesorthemescalled

clusters.Puttingmeaningsintoclusterscreatedtemporarypatternsinsearchforessential

meaning(Vagle,2014).Themostabstractlevelofanalysiswastofindtheessence(Horberg,

2013).Essencewasformulatedbyrereadingclustersandoriginaldata(Horberg,2013).

Thebestmethodforgettingtotherealmeaningoressenceofthedatawastoconstantlyflip

backandforthbetweentheclustersandtheoriginaldata(Lindberg,2013).

Thethirdstepwastotransformthedataintomeaning.“Interpretationbrings

meaningandcoherencetothethemes,patterns,categories,developinglinkagesandastory

linethatmakessenseandisengagingtoread”(Marshall&Rossman,2014,p.162-163).

Reflectivelifeworldresearchrequirestheresearchertohaveareflectiveattitudeandallow

thetruemeaningofthephenomenontocomethrough(Dahlbergetal.,2008).Theactof

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bridlingorbracketingsetsasidetheresearcher’spre-understandingorassumptionsabout

thephenomenon(Lindberg,2013).Bridlinggivesroomfornewandunexpectedmeanings

toshowup.Theresearchermustwaitformeaningstoemergebycontinuallyputting

questionstothedata(Vagle,2014).Oncetheessencewasformulated,analysiscontinuedto

identifycontextualnuancesofthephenomenonknownasconstituents.

Lastly,theresultswerepresentedinstructuresofmeanings.Theessentialmeanings

wereillustratedinawaythatexpandstheunderstandingofhumanbeingsandthehuman

experience(Kymre,2013).Theresearcherappliedawordorphrasetotheconstituents

basedonthesharedmeaningsoftheparticipants.Alltheidentifiedconstituentswerepulled

togetherinadescriptiveparagraph,formingageneraldescriptivepsychologicalstructure.

Issues of Trustworthiness

Credibility

Thecredibilityandbelievabilityofqualitativeresearchrestsonitsvalidity

(Marshall&Rossman,2014).Toensurecredibilityofthisphenomenologicalstudy,I

validateddatasaturation.Saturationwasdeterminedatthepointwhennonewmeanings

wererevealed(seeSaundersetal.,2017).Iusedbridlingtoisolatepersonalexperienceand

biasandallowedtheessentialmeaningsofthephenomenontoappear(Lindberg,2013).

Interviewingasmallpopulationofgeneralemployeeshelpedaddcredibilitytotheleader’s

perceptionoftrustintheorganization.Lastly,tomakesurethisstudyhadcredibility,I

checkedforalignmentbetweentheresearchquestionandtheinstrumentusedtocollectthe

data.

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Transferability

MarshallandRossman(2014)arguedthattransferabilityistheabilityofthe

researchertoarguethathisfindingswillbeusefulinothersimilarsituationsusingsimilar

researchquestions.Inthisstudy,leveragingpurposivesampling,thefindingscouldbe

appliedtoothercontexts.Moustakas(1994)validatedthatphenomenologicalstudiescreate

agreaterinterestandconcernaboutthephenomenon.Thefindingsfromthisstudycould

beusedtobuildaquantitativestudylookingattherelationshipbetweenthelevelof

spiritualintelligenceinaleaderandtheleveloftrustintheorganization.

Dependability

MarshallandRossman(2014)arguedthatinanever-changingworld,theconceptof

replicationisproblematic.Thedependabilityofastudyassumesthatifsimilarsubjectsand

similarcontextwerereplicated,itwouldyieldthesameresult(Marshall&Rossman,2014).

Toestablishdependability,Iutilizedaudittrailsbytakingnotes,recordedinterviews,and

leveragedelectronicjournalingonthecomputer.

Confirmability

MarshallandRossman(2014)alsoarguedthatconfirmabilityissimplyamatterof

determiningifsomeoneelsecanconfirmtheconclusionsandinterpretationsofa

researcher.Thebestmethodforestablishingconfirmabilityinthisstudywastomaintain

clearanddetaileddocumentationforauditorstofollow.Interviewswererecorded,

transcribedandvalidated.Researchernotesfromtheinterviewswerealsoincludedaspart

ofthetranscriptions.Analysisnotesweremaintainedforreviewifsomeoneelsewantedto

confirmmyresults.

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Ethical Procedures

Qualitativeresearchersshouldalwaysbethinkingaboutmoralandethicalconcerns.

“Mostethicalissuesinresearchfallintooneoffourcategories:protectionfromharm,

informedconsent,righttoprivacy,andhonestywithprofessionalcolleagues”(Leedy&

Ormrod,2010,p.101).Qualitativeinterviewscanopenthoughts,feelings,andexperiences

thattheintervieweedidnotknowbeforetheinterview(Patton,2014).Inthisstudy,I

plannedtobediligentabouthavinginformedconsentfrommyparticipants,providingthe

righttoprivacy,andworkinghonestlywithintegritywithmyprofessionalcolleagues.

AsrequiredbyWaldenUniversityIRB,Isentconsentformstoallparticipantsfor

signature.Atthestartofeachinterview,Ireviewedtheinformedconsentformwith

participantstomakesuretheyhadnoquestionsorconcerns.Ireiteratedthattheir

participationwasstrictlyvoluntary,andtheycouldstoptheinterviewatanytimewithout

recourse.

Thenatureofthisstudydealtwiththepersonallivedexperiencesofseniorleaders

regardingtheirspiritualintelligenceandtheroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’s

influenceonorganizationaltrust.Participantscanoftenfeeluncomfortabletalkingabout

thesetopicsanddonotwanttosharepersonalinsights.Privacyisagreatconcernfor

participants.Beforetheinterviewstarted,Ireviewedtherighttoprivacywithparticipants

andletthemknowthatanythingconveyedduringtheinterviewwasheldinstrict

confidentiality.Iletthemknowthatnamesandpositionswerenotusedinmystudy.Lastly,

Iofferedtoshareasummaryofthestudyafteritwascomplete.

Keepingthedatasafewasalsopartoftherighttoprivacy.Interviewswererecorded

andstoredonhighcapacityharddrivesthatwerepasswordprotected.Iamtheonlyone

withaccesstothisstorage.Datawasalsobackedupinthecloud,whichwasalsopassword

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protected.Ireviewedmydatahandlingprocesswitheachparticipantandletthemknow

thedatawillbedestroyedafterthewaitingperioddictatedbyWaldenUniversityIRB.

Lastly,thepopulationIchosetostudywasinmyworkplace.Theparticipants

selecteddonotreporttome,butsomemightbeinmychainofcommand.Thisstudywas

notaconflictofinterestsincethetopicsdidnotinvolvetheinternalworkingsofthe

business.However,Iwasdiligentaboutthepersonalsensitivityoftheinformationthe

leaderssharedduringtheinterview.

Summary

Inthischapter,Iprovidedadetaileddescriptionoftheresearchdesignusedinthis

phenomenologicalstudy.Theresearchquestionguidedthisqualitativestudyandinformed

thephenomenologicalapproach.Isummarizedtheconceptualframeworkthatdrovethe

researchdesignandtherationaleforchoosingthisdesign.Idescribedmyroleasthe

researcherandhowthatroleinfluencestheoutcomeofthestudy.Iexplainedhow

participantswereselected,thedatacollectionmethod,andtherecruitmentplan.Lastly,I

reviewedthedataanalysisplanandreframedallethicalconsiderationsandcredibilityof

thestudy.

Whenstudyingphenomenology,researcherstrytocontemplateandtheorizethe

variouswaysthingsmanifestandappearintheworldastheyseeit(Vagle,2014).By

design,theresearcheridentifiesandreportsthelivedexperienceofthosewhoexperienced

thephenomenon(Vagle,2014).Phenomenologyisaformofinquirythatholisticallyvalues

theparticipantslivedexperienceofmeaningmakingandinformspeopleabouttheir

perceptionofthephenomenon.ThisHusserlianmethodcreatedpurepresentationsand

uninterpreteddatabasedonhumanexperience(Koopman,2015)thatareorganizedin

Chapter4.

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Chapter 4: Results

Thepurposeofthisphenomenologicalstudywastoexploretheroleofspiritual


seniorleadersinaglobalinsurancecompanyregardingtheirspiritualintelligenceandtrust.

Thecentralresearchquestionusedtoguidethisphenomenologicalstudywasthefollowing:

Whatistheroleofspiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrustwithina

globalinsurancecompany?Theimplicationsforsocialchangeincludecreatingadeeper

understandingofaleader’sspiritualintelligence,howspiritualintelligencemightplayarole

inaleader’sinfluenceontrustwithintheorganization,andthepotentialbusiness

applicationforleadershipdevelopment.

Chapter4containsapresentationofthedatacollectedfrominterviewsinthis

phenomenologicalstudy.DatacollectionbeganonMarch10,2017andtook9weeksto

completeandachievedatasaturation.Thedatacollectedfromtheinterviewsreflectedthe

livedexperiencesandperceptionsofspiritualintelligenceandtrustbytheparticipants.This

chapterincludesareviewoftheresearchsetting,participantdemographics,anddata

collectionprocess.Ialsopresenttheresultsofthestudyandaddressissueof

trustworthiness.

Research Setting

Seniorleadersandemployeesofalargeglobalinsurancecompanywereaskedto

participateininterviewslasting30minutesto1hour.Participantswereinvariousoffices

acrosstheUnitedStatesmakingitachallengetomeetface-to-facewitheveryone.Senior

leaderswereverybusy,makingitachallengetoscheduletimeforinterviews.Despitethese

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challenges,14phoneinterviewsandtwoface-to-faceinterviewswereconductedtoreach

datasaturation.

Duringtheperiodofthestudy,thecompanywasgoingthroughchangesin

leadershipandareductioninpersonnelbecauseofbudgetcuts.Whenthestudybegan,the

CIOresignedfromthecompanyandwasreplacedbyaninternalcandidate.Onlyafew

weekslater,theCEOannouncedhisresignation.Throughoutthe9-weekperiodofthestudy,

dozensofemployeeshadtheirpositionseliminated.Severalparticipantssharedtheir

thoughtsaboutthechangesandtheirperceptionsaboutthefuture.Itismyopinionthat

theseorganizationalchangeshadsomeinfluenceonparticipants’perspectives.

Interviewresultsdifferedslightlybetweenseniorleadersandemployees.Budget

cutsandlayoffsseemedtohavemorenegativeeffectsonemployeesthanseniorleaders.I

tooknotesduringtheinterviewstocapturefirstimpressionsoftheparticipant’sattitude,

toneofvoice,andbehaviorsthatmayhavebeenimportantintheanalysisofdata.Ialso

recordedthedate,time,andlengthofinterviewforeachparticipant.Allparticipantsagreed

torecordingtheinterview,andIreceivedasignedconsentformfromeachofthem.After

theinterviewswerecompleted,Itranscribedandreviewedtherecordingstoensure

accuracy.

Demographics

Theparticipantswereselectedfromalargeglobalinsurancecompany.The

inclusioncriteriawereseniorleaderswithatitleofseniorvicepresidentoraboveand

generalemployeesbelowseniorvicepresident.Thedecisiontoincludegeneralemployees

wasmadetomitigatepotentialbiasregardingseniorleaders’perceptionsoftrustwithin

theorganization.

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Data Collection

Theprimarysourceofdatacollectionforthisstudywasinterviews.Theinterviews

includedeightopen-endedquestionsbasedonthetheoreticalframeworkoflifeworld

phenomenology.Iplannedfor20interviewstoensuredatasaturation.Iconducted10

interviews,performedsomeinitialcodingandanalysis,conductedtwomoreinterviews,

andcodedagainlookingforrepeatingthemes.IrepeatedtheprocessuntilIreached

saturation,whichoccurredafterinterviewing16participants(seeMorse,2015).

Mostinterviewswereconductedoverthephonebecauseparticipantswere

scatteredacrosstheUnitedStates.Whenparticipantswerelocal,interviewswere

conductedface-to-face.Interviewswerescheduledandconductedattheconvenienceofthe

participant.Becauseofthebusyscheduleofseniorleaders,someinterviewshadtobe

rescheduled.Interviewslastedbetween30minutesand1hour.Thedatacollectionprocess

tookapproximately9weeks.

Interviewswererecordeddigitally.Duringtheinterviews,Itookfieldnotesto

evaluatemyinitialobservationoftheparticipantregardingeachquestion.Aftereach

interview,Ilistenedtotherecordingandmadeadditionalnotestohelpduringthecoding

andanalysisprocess.Itooknoteofnuancesintheconversationsuchaslongpausesor

difficultyansweringaquestion.Ialsoconsideredwhencertainquestionswerenot

understoodandneededclarification.Oncesaturationwasachieved,Itranscribedthe

interviewsforanalysis.

Purposivesamplingwasusedtorecruitparticipants.Iplannedtoconductmore

face-to-faceinterviews,butparticipantavailabilityandlocationwerechallenges.Ialso

plannedtousevideoconferencingtoaccommodatetheissueoflocation,butthat

technologywasnotavailabletomostoftheparticipants.Icontacted50candidatesand

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scheduled18interviews.Seniorleadersweredifficulttoschedule,andmanydeclinedto

participate.Nonseniorleaderswerehappytoparticipateandeasytoschedule.This

phenomenonwasincludedinmyanalysis.

Data Analysis

Basedonmyreviewofdataanalysispracticesinphenomenologicalresearch,I

discoveredthatmostapproachesincorporatedthewhole-part-wholeanalysismethod

(Dahlbergetal.,2008;Vagle,2014;VanManen,2016).Mydataanalysisconsistedofafour-

stepprocess.Thefirststep,readingthewholedataset,involvedhighlightingkeywords,

phrases,anddescriptions.Thesecondstep,readingpartofthedata,involvedfinding

meaningsbasedonhighlightedwords,phrases,anddescriptions.Thethirdstep,readingthe

wholedataset,includedexploringtheclustersandpatternsinsearchofessentialmeanings

oressencesinrelationtothewholedataset.

Thefirststepofdataanalysis,accordingtoMarshallandRossman(2014),istoread

andrereadthedatatounderstandtheinterviews.Dahlbergetal.(2008)notedthat“to

understandthewholeintermsofthedetailandthedetailintermsofthewholeisa

methodologicalprinciplethattakesresearchintoanartofunderstanding”(p.237).

Listeningtotherecordingsandpersonallytranscribingtheinterviewscontributedtomy

familiaritywiththedata.Theanalysisprocessstartedwithhand-codingeachinterview

transcript.FollowingDahlbergetal.’srecommendation,Isearchedformeaninginthe

transcribedinterviewsandusedbridlingtosetasidemypersonalbeliefsandexperiences

withthephenomenonallowingtheessentialmeaningsofthedatatoappear.

Thesecondstepinthedataanalysiswastoorganizethedataintopatternsof

meaning(seeDahlbergetal.,2008),themes(seevanManen,2016)ormeaningunits(see

Giorgi,2009).Inthisprocess,Ichosetouseadescriptivephenomenologicalmethod.I

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organizedmeaningsintoclusterstocreateatemporarypatternwhensearchingfor

essentialmeanings.Toidentifytherealmeaningoressenceofthedata,Ihadtoflipback

andforthbetweentheclustersandtheoriginaldatamultipletimes.

Thethirdstepwastotransformthedataintomeanings.Inthisstep,Iassessedthe

meaningthatwasdiscoveredasbelongingtothephenomenonandavoidedsupplying

understandingwiththemeaning(seeDahlbergetal.,2008).Theactofbridlinginvolvesthe

researchersettingasideassumptionsorbeliefsaboutthephenomenonandopeningupfor

newandunexpectedmeaningstoappear(Lindberg,2013).Icontinuedmyanalysisby

questioningthetextabout;whatwassaid,howitwassaid,andwhatwasthemeaning

behindwhatwassaid(seeDahlbergetal.,2008).Byquestioningthedata,Iwasableto

revealmoreaboutthephenomenon.Aftermanyiterationsofreadingtheoriginaldata,

listeningtotherecordings,andcomparingtheclusters,patternsgraduallyemerged.

Thefourthstepwastopresentthesestructuresofmeaningsinadescriptiveway

thatexpandedthereader’sunderstandingofthephenomenon.Inthisstep,Iwrotea

narrativetoemphasizetheessenceofthephenomenon.Aftertheessencewaspresented,I

pulledtogetherthegeneralmeaningsaswellastheindividuallivedmeaningsastheywere

expressedbytheparticipantsandpresentedtheminadescriptiveparagraph,forminga

generaldescriptivepsychologicalstructure(seeDahlbergetal.,2008).

Iimmersedmyselfinthedatacollectionandanalysisbypersonallytranscribingthe

recordedinterviews.TakingadvicefromVagle(2014),Iperformedallthecodingand

analysisbyhandtostayascloseaspossibletothedata.Myanalysisapproachincludeda

combinationofstepsfromGiorgi’s(2009)descriptive-oriented,VanManen’s(2016)

interpretive-oriented,andDahlbergelal.’s(2008)reflective-orientedmethods.This

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combinedapproachprovidedresultsthatyieldedanewunderstandingofthephenomenon

ofspiritualintelligenceandtrust.

Theinitialcodeswerederivedfromtheconceptualframeworkforthestudy,my

researchquestion,andthelistofinterviewquestionsinmyinterviewguide.Theseinitial

codesincludedemotionalintelligence,spiritualintelligence,compassion,wisdom,empathy,

spiritualleadership,higherpurpose,bigpicture,transformational,authentic,ethical,

inspire,self-awareness,servantleader,andtrust.Afterthefirstroundofanalysis,additional

codeswereaddedtothelist:integrity,moralcompass,communication,vision,risk,and

disruption.

InterviewQuestion1(IQ1)wasdesignedasanicebreakertogetparticipants

warmeduptoansweringquestionsopenly.Thequestionaddressedtheattributesofa

leaderthatwereconsideredimportanttotheparticipant.Thisquestionledtothethemesof

servantleadershipandintegrityemergingfromthedata.Thethemeofservantleadership

wasalsosupportedbyInterviewQuestion7(IQ7)whenParticipant1(P1)reportedthathis

perceptionofspiritualintelligenceinaleaderwas“someonewhohasaheartforservice.”

InterviewQuestion2(IQ2)wasdesignedtoelicithowparticipantsperceived

spiritualleadershipinabusinessenvironment.Thisquestionledtothethemesofemotional

intelligence,moralcompass,trust,andempathyemergingfromthedata.Thesethemes

emergefromIQ4,IQ7,andIQ8.P6summeduphisperceptionsaying,“spiritualleadersare

confident,believeinpeople,supportpeople,workhard,fair,aleaderwhohasyourback,

andsomeoneyoucantrustwithconfidence.”

InterviewQuestion3(IQ3)wasdesignedtoelicithowparticipantsperceivedbig

ideawaysofthinkinginbusiness.Thisquestionledtothethemesofvision,disruption,and

riskemergingfromthedata.Thegeneralperceptionofleaderswhoexhibitbigideawaysof

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thinkingwasthattheyarerisktakersandseedisruptionasapositive.Participantsused

termslikevisionaryandstrategictoclassifythistypeofleader.

InterviewQuestion4(IQ4)wasdesignedtoelicithowparticipantsperceived

empathyintheworkplace.Thisquestioncontributedtotheemergingthemeofemotional

intelligence,integrity,andtrust.InterviewQuestion5(IQ5)wasdesignedtoelicithow

participantsperceivedbusinessdecisionsthatgoagainstpopularproposals.SimilartoIQ3,

thisquestionledtothethemesofvision,disruption,andriskemergingfromthedata.

InterviewQuestion6(IQ6)wasdesignedtoelicitwhatparticipantsbelieveis

learnedwhenthingsgowrongintheworkplace.Thisquestionledtothethemeof

communicationemergingfromthedata.P3summedupthethemebysaying“it’san

opportunitytositandtalkwithoneanother,tohaveclearcommunicationaboutthe

challenges,andhowtoimproveuponthem.”

InterviewQuestion7(IQ7)andInterviewQuestion8(IQ8)weredesignedfrommy

centralresearchquestion.Thesequestionsaddressedparticipants’perceptionofspiritual

intelligenceinaleaderandtheperceptionoftrustintheirorganization.Thedatafromthese

questionswereconsistentwiththethemesidentifiedfromtheprevioussixquestions.

Participantssawarelationshipbetweenanemotionallyintelligentleaderandaspiritually

intelligentleader.

Dahlbergetal.(2008)assertedthattheprocessofanalysisandunderstandingthe

datamightseemendless,anditisuptotheresearchertodeterminewhenitistimetostop.

Byspendingalotoftimeimmersingmyselfinthedata,Iwasabletodevelopabetter

understandingofparticipants’perceptionofthemselves,seniorleaders,spiritual

intelligence,andtrust.Mostparticipantsreportedtheirexperiencesfromapositive

perspective.However,afewparticipantsreportedtheirexperiencesfromanegative

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perspective.Thesenegativeperspectivesmighthaveresultedfromtheorganizational

changesoccurringatthattime.

Evidence of Trustworthiness

Credibility

Thecredibilityandbelievabilityofqualitativeresearchrestsonitsvalidity

(Marshall&Rossman,2014).Ireacheddatasaturationafter16interviewsusingopen-

endedquestionsandaskingformoredetailsasnecessarytoenhancemyunderstandingof

theparticipant’sresponse.Thesamplepopulationwassplitevenlybetweenseniorleaders

andgeneralemployeestoenhancecredibilityofthestudy.Iwascarefultobracketmy

personalexperiencestoallowforthetruemeaningofthephenomenontoappear.Ialso

verifiedtheaccuracyofthetranscriptswiththerecordedinterviews.

Transferability

Marshall&Rossman(2014)proposedthattransferabilityistheabilityofthe

researchertoarguethathisfindingswillbeusefulinothersimilarsituationsusingsimilar

researchquestions.Inthisstudy,Itookasamplefromasingleglobalorganization.The

findingsfromthisstudycouldbeappliedtoothercontexts.Moustakas(1994)arguedthat

phenomenologicalstudiescreateagreaterinterestandconcernaboutthephenomenon.

Thefindingsfromthisstudycouldbeleveragedacrossotherorganizationstoexpandthe

reader’sunderstandingofthephenomenonandbringafreshperspective.Additionally,a

quantitativestudycouldbedesignedtolookatthelevelofspiritualintelligenceinaleader

anditsrelationshiptotheleveloftrustintheorganization.

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Dependability

MarshallandRossman(2014)arguedthatinanever-changingworld,theconceptof

replicationisproblematic.Thedependabilityofastudyassumesthatifsimilarsubjectsand

similarcontextwerereplicated,itwouldyieldthesameresult.Inthisstudy,Iutilized

consistentandsystematicproceduresfordatacollectionandanalysis.

Addingtothedependabilityofthisstudy,Iconductedafieldtestleveragingapanel

ofphenomenologyexpertstohelpvalidateproperalignmentoftheproblemstatement,

purposestatementandresearchquestion.Thefieldnotesfromeachinterview,the

transcriptstakenfromeachrecording,andtheconsistentapplicationofcodestakenfrom

theconceptualframeworkofthisstudyaddedtoconsistency.Afutureresearchercould

repeattheworkusingthesamephenomenologicaldesign.

Confirmability

MarshallandRossman(2014)defendedconfirmabilityassimplyamatterof

determiningifsomeoneelsecanconfirmtheconclusionsandinterpretationsofa

researcher.Thebestmethodforestablishingconfirmabilityinthisstudyistomaintainclear

anddetaileddocumentationforauditorstofollow.First,Iutilizedascriptforeachinterview

(AppendixC),leveragingthesamequestionsforeachoftheparticipants(AppendixF).

Secondly,Itookfieldnotesduringinterviewstoincludeinthetranscripts.Thirdly,I

recordedinterviewsandtranscribedthemlater.Iverifiedtranscriptsagainsttherecorded

interviewsforaccuracy.Lastly,Icomparedthehandcodingandanalysisofthedatawith

theliteraturereviewandconceptualframeworkofthisstudytoconfirmthe

trustworthinessoftheresearchfindings.

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Study Results

Thecentralresearchquestionthatguidedthisstudywas:Whatistheroleof

spiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrustwithinaglobalinsurance

company?Theresultswerereportedasthemesthatdevelopedfromthecodingandanalysis

oftheresponsesfromthe16participantstothe8interviewquestionsposedinthe

interviewguide.Thesectionsthatfollowpresentthefivethemesandfivesub-themesthat

emergedfromthelivedexperienceoftheparticipantstosupportthecentralresearch

question.

Theme 1: Emotional Intelligence

Arecurringthemethatemergedfromtheparticipant’sresponseswasemotional

intelligence(EQ).Thirteen(81%)oftheparticipantsinterviewedstressedtheimportance

ofemotionalintelligenceinaleader.Participantresponsesindicatedthatauthenticleaders

whodemonstratedempathy,compassionandsupportforothersdevelopedstrong

relationshipswiththeirteam.Inaconversationaboutempathyintheworkplace,

Participant2(P2)concluded,“it’sunderstandingtheimpactthatyouhaveonpeopleand

theimpacttheorganizationhasonpeopleandforme,that’sreallyvalidationthatempathy

isimportanttobealeader,tobeateamplayer.”P4summedupthethemesaying:

takingintoaccountjustsortofthatpersonalaspectofunderstandinghowthings

affectpeople’sperformanceintheworkplaceandworkingeitheraroundandwith

that,toensurethatpeoplearemotivatedandhappyandproductiveanddoingtheir

jobisprettyimportant.

EQistheabilitytounderstandbehavioralreactionsandthemotivationbehindthose

patterns(Yadav&Punia,2016).P4reported:

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Ithinkit’sveryimportantforaleadertounderstandwhatmotivatespeopleand

howdifferentpeoplearemotivateddifferentlyandhowpeoplejustinherentlyby

personalityorintellectorwhathaveyouwillrespondtodifferentthingsdifferently.

Ithinkthat’swhenEQbecomesparticularlyimportant,recognizingwhenpeopleare

havingtroublewiththeirenvironmentbecauseofmoreoftheemotionalaspectof

thingsorfromamoraleperspectiveandthatsortofthingwiththembeingableto

actuallyrespondtoiteffectivelyandkeeppeopleonboardandmovingforward.

P8summedupbysaying:

it’sunderstandingwhatmotivatespeople.That’smoreofthepracticalsideofit.

Onceyougetthosetheoreticalconsiderationsdown,understandinghowtomotivate

peopleandhowtointeractwiththemsuccessfullyisthenextbigthing.Atahigh

level,that’swhatIthinkofwhatleadershipis.

EQdiffersfromotherintelligencewithafocusonskillsandabilitiesintheemotional

realmincludingself-awareness,empathy,andqualitycommunication(Freed,2016;Seena

etal.,2017).Inresponsetotheconversationonempathyintheworkplace,P7summedup

hisperceptionbysaying,“Ithinkitcomesdowntoself-awarenessandIthinksomepeople

havemoreself-awarethanothers.”P8added,“Ithinkemotionalintelligenceandbeing

connectedtopeopleemotionally(andIthinkempathyispartofthat)issuper

importantbecauseit’sjustanotherwaythatyouformaconnectionwithpeople.”

Leaderswhocanregulatetheirownemotions,readothers’emotions,andeffectively

communicatetypicallyexhibithighlevelsofemotionalintelligenceandfacilitatehigh

performanceintheirorganization(Nikoui,2015;Seenaetal.,2017).P9summeduphis

perceptionsaying,“IalsobelievethataleaderhastohaveastrongEQbecauseyou’vegotto

beabletoconnectwithpeople,soyourcommunicationsskillshavetobeterrific.”When

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askedaboutimportantattributesofaleader,P13expressed,“prettysimple,theabilityto

communicateclearlytheirthoughtsaboveandbelow.”P16reported,“itcomesdowntohow

theycommunicate,whetheryouwanttocallitcharismaortheirstyleortheirpersonality,

howeveryouwanttoputit,butIthinkhowpeoplecommunicateisabsolutelycriticalfor

themtobealeader.”

Theme 2: Servant Leadership

Theemergingthemeofservantleadershipwasequallyemphasizedby13(81%)of

theparticipantsinterviewed.Academicstudiesonservantleadershipfocusedonfollower

growth,empowerment,andethicalbehavior(Chiniara&Bentein,2016).Servantleadership

isuniquebecauseitcombinesthedriveofaleaderwithafocusonservingfollowerneeds

(vanDierendoncketal.,2014).P2describedtheservantleadersaying,“it’saleader’s

responsibilitytosupporttheirteams,buildanorganization,designanddrivetheirteam’s

successsothataleadertrulyservestheirteam.”P3reported,“Iwillattempt,withthe

organizationI’mresponsiblefor,toprovideavision,adirection,senseofempowerment,to

thefolksI’vebeengiventheopportunityandresponsibilitytodrivethatmissioninmandate

forandthen,toprovidebothsupportandthechallengethatisnecessaryaswegoforward

totrytoachieveandadjusttowardsthoseobjectives.”

Servantleadershiphasbeencomparedwithavarietyofelementsdescribinghowit

works.Somedescriptionsincludehumility,wisdom,vision,trust,andtranscendental

spirituality(Winston&Fields,2015).P5describedtheattributesofaleadersaying,“Ithink

aleader,especiallyinaworkenvironment,wouldhavethebestinterestoftheemployeein

theirpersonalgrowth,toencouragethemtogrowfurther,togainmoreknowledgemore

skillsetseventobroadentheirownbiggerpicturesothattheycanunderstandthebigger

problemandsucceedontheirown.”P6reported,“aleaderissomeoneyoucantrust,whois

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trustworthy,andsomeonewhoisaprotectorofotherpeople.”P8added,“agoodleaderhas

theabilitytocreateasharedvisionforpeopletofollow...peoplefeelliketheleaderhas

theirinterestatheart...theleadercaresaboutwhatitistheirtryingtodo...andyoucan’t

bealeaderwithouttrust.”

Trustinaleaderisbuiltonthecharacteroftheleaderwhichisfocusedonhow

followersperceivetheleader’scharacter(Goh&Low,2014).P9summeduphisperception

saying,“anyoneofuswecangetalotdoneasanindividualbutyou’regoingtogetsomuch

moredoneifyougetateamorgroupofpeople,acountry,theworld,behindyou.Butyou’re

nevergoingtodothatunlessyouwonboththeirheartsandminds.Andso,themost

effectiveleaders,Ithink,aretheonesthatjusthaveanamazingEQ.Theyhaveanamazing

abilitytoconnectwithpeople,toempathizewithpeople,tounderstandwhatmakespeople

tickandtheymakeitwork.”P11added,“Ilookforsomeonewhohasanauthentic

leadershipstyle...somebodywhowalksthewalkandnotjusttalkingthetalk,theyleadby

example...somebodythatpossessesintegrityandishonestintheirdealings.”

SousaandvanDierendonck(2017)concludedthataleader’shumilitywould

moderatetheireffectivenessinmotivatingfollowers.P14reported,“Ireallytryto

incorporateintomystylewithnotjustmydirectreports,butmyentireteam,andletthem

knowmypersonality.IletthemknowthatIamnobetter,I’mnoworse,thananyoneelse.I

justhappentohaveahigherboxonanorgchartandIgettomakethefinaldecision.ButI’m

humanlikeeveryoneelse.”

Theabilitytobecompassionate,wise,andpeacefulshouldmattertoaleader.

Leveragingspiritualintelligencetomotivatepeopletapsintotheirdesireformeaningand

purposeintheirworklife(Wigglesworth,2014).P16reported,“peoplearegoingtoneedto

haveasenseofpurpose.Whenyoulookatwhypeoplestayinajob,andwhypeopleare

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motivatedtogotheextradistance,oraboveandbeyondintheirjob,thereneedstobesome

senseofbelongingorobligationorpurpose...yougottohavethatsenseofpurposeand

theabilitytotranslatetowhoeveritisyou’retryingtogetto.Beingabletoconnectpeople

tothatsenseofpurposeiswhatIwouldinterpretasspiritualleadership.”

Theme 3: Trustworthiness

Trustworthinesswasreportedby11(69%)oftheparticipantsinterviewed.A

willingnesstobuildstronginterpersonalrelationshipsandbeinggenuinelyconcerned

aboutthewell-beingoftheirsubordinatesmediatetheimpactofservantleadershipon

affectivetrust(Miaoetal.,2014).P1reported,“Ithinkit’speoplethatdrivestrustinthe

organization.”P2readuponhowtoturnhiscollectionofdirectreportsintoatrusted

leadershipteam.Hesummeduphisperceptionsaying:

theidealteamplayerhasabalanceof3attributes.Thefirstishumility,whichIlove.

Thesecondishunger,whichhe(theauthorofthebook)equatestoaleader’sdrive,

inthatleaderswanttohavetoworkhard.Thethirdis,he(theauthorofthebook)

callsitsmartsbut,inhisbookit’sEQ.

P3added,“tome,havingsomeleveloftrustthattheorganizationyouworkforcaresforyou

andsupportsyouandthereforethatyouwouldsupportthatorganizationisareally

valuablemeasure.”

Cognition-basedtrustisestablishedthroughaperson’sperceptionofanother

person’strustworthiness,whichisbasedonthatperson’sintegrity,behavior,capability,and

reputation(Pishdad-Bozorgi&Beliveau,2016).P6summeduphisperceptionsaying,“the

keyattributeofaleaderissomeoneyoucantrustwithconfidence.”P7reported,“Ithinkthe

peoplethatyou’redealingwithmakeallthedifferenceasfaraswhetheryoufeelthereis

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trustinyourorganizationbecauseyouknowthey’retheonesyou’reinteractingwith.”P8

added:

Ithinkoperatinginafashionwhereyoudemonstratethatyoucareaboutpeople,

thatyoucareaboutwhatyou’retryingtodo,youoperateinanenvironmentoftrust

andwithintegrity.Ithinkthosecharacteristics,asidefromanypersonal

characteristics,arewhatmakesagreatleader.

Theabilitytoexpressone’sviewshasapositiveimpactontheperceptionoffairness

andproductivityintheorganization(Vanhala&Ritala,2016).Communicationiskeyto

buildingstrongtrust-basedrelationshipsintheworkplace(Seifertetal.,2016).P12

reported,“openandhonestcommunicationleadstotrust.”P14added,“trustisprobably

oneofthemostimportantthingsofapositivecultureandapositiveworkenvironment.It’s

certainlysomethingItrytoinvokeinmystyle.”P15believedthetopthreeattributesofare

leaderare,“empathy,trust,anddetermination.”P16reported:

I’vedealtwithvariouspeoplethroughoutmycareerfromentry-levelmanagersup

toexecutives.Thekeyportionaroundleadershipissomebodyyoucantrust.Andfor

mepersonally,evenmorethanyoucantrustsomebody,theyneedtohaveahigh

amountofintegrity.

Theme 4: Integrity

Integritywasreportedbynine(56%)oftheparticipantsinterviewed.Trustina

leaderisbuiltonthecharacterofaleaderwhichisfocusedonhowfollowersperceivea

leader’scharacteristics,suchasability,integrity,dependability,andbenevolenceinthe

workplace(Goh&Low,2014).Whenaskedabouttheimportantattributesofaleader,both

P7andP12reported,“honestyandintegrity.”P8believedstronglyaboutintegritystating,“I

viewthepoliticalcapitalyouhavewithpeopleisbased,tome,almostentirelyuponyour

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integrity.”Whilereviewingtheimportanceoftrustintheorganization,P3reported,“Ithink

trustisanotherwayofsayingthatthey(employees)trustthattheorganizationhighly

valuestheircontribution,theirintellectualintegrity,andwhattheythinkaboutthe

situationandwhatthey’rewillingtostandfor.”

Honestyandintegrityareethicalvaluescharacterizedbyspiritualmanagers(Faraji

&Begzadeh,2017).IntegritywasnumberoneaccordingtoP9saying:

ifyougivemeintegrityandyougivemegreatcommunicationskillsandthenyou

combinethat,forme,withtheabilitytohaveanintellectualcapacitythatchallenges

peopleandmakespeoplebetter,becausetheyhavetostretchtheirmindstokeep

upwithyou,tome,that’saneffectiveleader.

P11reported,“aspiritualleaderissomebodywhoisgoingtobeanauthenticleaderand

operateswithhonorandintegrityanddoessowithalltheirinteractionswiththepeople

thattheyworkwithandthattheylead.”

Theme 5: Moral Compass

Moralcompasswasreportedbyonlyfour(25%)oftheparticipantsinterviewed,

buttheybelievedastrongmoralcompassleadstothedevelopmentofaspiritualleader.A

leaderwithahigherpurposemightrespondtoeverydaybusinesschallengesinanordinary

mannerbutdemonstratelittlespirituality.Higherpurposedoesnotnecessarilymeana

religioushigherpurposebutmoreofaleader’sbeliefindoingwhatisright(Klaus&

Fernando,2016).P5providedanexampleofspiritualintelligencesaying,“ifyourelay

somethinginconfidence,withtheexpectationthatthereistrustbetweensomeoneand

somebodywhohasastrongmoralcompassorspiritualintelligence,Iwouldassumethey

wouldrespectthat.”P7reported,“somebodycouldhaveallofthosetraitsandhave

absolutelynospiritualbasewhatsoever,theycouldjusthaveaverystrongmoralcodein

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theirupbringingandtheyjustpridethemselvesontryingtolivebythatparticularcode.”P8

added,“partofthatmoralcompassiscreatinganenvironmentwherepeoplecanraise

concernsandwhereyoudealwiththoseconcernsappropriately.”

Spiritualleadershipischaracterizedbyhighmoralsandethics,makingspiritual

leadersidealtoinfluenceandmotivateemployeestogobeyondself-interestsforthegood

ofsociety(Afsaretal.,2016).P9reported,“tome,integrityandmoralcompassgohand-in-

hand.Ibelievetheideaofleading,gettingthepeoplethatyou’releadingtobelievein

something,isanemotionalnotjustfactualexperience.”Inapost-materialisticworld,

people’sbasicneedsandworkplaceneedsarechanging.Toaccommodatethenewhigher-

orderneeds,leadersmustfocusonvaluesoverprofits(Korazija,Sarotar,&Mumel,2016).

P15agreedwiththeneedtofocusonvaluessaying,“Ithinkmostpeoplewouldsay,when

pushcomestoshove,whetherit’slayoffs,asyou’veexperienced,orbonuses,thetimetodo

thingsofqualityorfeelsmorallyright,thoseareoftendecrementedtosomeother

overarchingpriorities.”

Subtheme 1: Communication

Communicationisanimportantattributeforleadersand10(63%)ofthe

participantsinterviewedagreed.Managerscanshapeanorganizationbycreatingan

effectivecommunicationsystemthatallowsemployeestoparticipateinthedecision-

makingprocess(Yusof&Mohamad,2014).P3reported:

youknowwheneverythinggoesright,everybodyfeelsgreataboutit.Andwhen

thingsgowrong,that’swhenyoulearnthemost.Theopportunitytoimprovecomes

whenwewhenwemissstep.So,it’stheopportunitytositandtalkwithone

another,tohaveclearcommunicationaboutwhatarechallengesandhowto

improveuponthem.

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P9added:

IalsobelievethataleaderhastohaveastrongEQ,becauseyou’vegottobeableto

connectwithpeople.So,yourcommunicationskillshavetobeterrific.Youneed

somebodywho’sagoodcommunicator.Interestingly,I’mgoingtosaythatthe

communicationcapabilityisfarmorethespiritualityelementofthis,whichis,I

needtobeabletocommunicatefactsthatIneedtobeabletogetyoutobelievein

thethingyou’rehearinginyourheartandinyourmind.

Whenaskedaboutimportantattributesofaleader,thefirstthingthatcametomind

forP10wascommunication.P12reported:

ifyouhavethatspiritualityinfrontofyou,thatmeansthatyouarealwaysupfront

withyouremployees,right.You’realwaysupfront,you’rehonestwiththem,they

trustyou,right.Theytrustyouropenandhonestcommunicationleadstotrust.

P15summeduphisperceptionsaying,“Ithinkit’stransparency.Maybeyouget

transparencythroughcommunication,butIthinkthere’ssomethingtobesaidfor

understandingalldynamicsintheproblem.”P16reported:

Ithinkit’sprettyhardforsomebodytojustcomeinandleadandnothavesome

experiencebase.So,I’dsayintegrity,experience,andthenitcomesdowntohow

theycommunicate.Whetherthat’syouwanttocallitcharismaortheirstyleortheir

personality,howeveryouwanttoputit,butIthinkhowpeoplecommunicateto

theirteensortheirpeersortheirboss,isabsolutelycriticalforthemtobealeader.

Subtheme 2: Empathy

Theimportanceofempathywasreportedby8(50%)oftheparticipants

interviewed.Goleman(2014)arguedthatemotionalintelligenceconsistsoffour

multidimensionalcomponentssuchasempathy,socialskill,self-awarenessandself-

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regulation.P1reported,“Ithinkpeoplewouldhavehealthierrelationshipswiththeir

positionsiftherewasmoreempathyintheworkplace.”P2added,“it’sunderstandingthe

impactthatyouhaveonpeopleandtheimpactanorganizationhasonpeople.Andforme,

that’sreallyvalidationthatempathyisimportanttobealeader,tobeateamplayer.”P4

summeduphisperceptionsaying,“Idon’tthinkyoucanbeagoodmanagerwithouta

certainlevelofempathy.”

“Empathyandsocialskillsarecorecompetenciesformanagingemotionsin

interpersonalsettings”(Choietal.,2015,p.63).P7reported:

Ithinkempathygivesyoutheabilitytounderstandkindofthehumancomponent.I

thinkthatitspeaksto,sortof,youknow,Iknowit’skindofacatchphrasethat

everybody’susingnow,butsortoflikeyouremotionalintelligenceandwhetheryou

canreallyrecognizewhenyou’recommunicatingwithsomebody.Wheretheright

placestogo,whattherightthingistosay,wheretheboundariesare,andalso,I

thinkithelpsyoutobecompassionate.

P6added,“Ithinkempathytowardothersisreallypowerfulandnecessary.”

Subtheme 3: Vision

Visionwasreportedby7(44%)oftheparticipantsinterviewed.Leadersarticulatea

visionthatinspiresfollowerstocommittothatvision(Echevarria,2015).P2reported,“I

findgoodleadersneedtobeabletonotonlyoperateatthestrategicvisionarylevelbut

beingabletogodownintothedetailsofunderstandingandcomebackup,helpsaleader

inanorganization’seffectiveness.”P3summeduphisperceptionsaying,“Ireallythinkthe

compellingattributeforaleaderaretoprovideavisionandthesupportandchallenge

functionsnecessaryfortheoverallteamtodrivetowardaccomplishingthatandcreating

thatecosystemandenvironmentwhichisnecessary.”P4added:

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Ireallythinkit’simportantforaleadertohaveavisionandhavetheabilityto

communicateeffectivelybecauseifyoudon’thavethatvisioninthefirstplace,

you’rejustwanderingaround.Youmightbeabletogetpeopletofollowyou,but

whereareyougoing?

Transformationalleadersarticulateavisionandinspiremotivationtodevelop

followergoalsandaccomplishasharedvision(Gilbertetal.,2016;Mackington,2015).P6

reported:

Itendtosidewithleaderswhoaremorevisionary,notjustbecauseIbelievethat

changeisalwaysaconstant,andifyou’renotlookingforchange,andyou’renot

lookingatwhatdirectionyoumayneedtobeconsidering,forbetterorforworse,

thenyou’regoingtodieandyou’lljustbeswallowedupbysomebodyelseinthe

company;someotherinnovator,rightorwrong.

P8summeduphisperceptionsaying,“Ithinkthequalitiesthatmakeagoodleaderarethe

abilitytocreateasharedvisionforpeopletofollow.”P15workedforaninnovativeleader

andremembered,“theexperienceIhadwasyou’reeitherverycenteredorfocusedonwhat

thevisionlookslike.”P16added,“Ithinkthejobofaleaderisbeingabletohavesome

visionfortheteamandbeingabletoconnectpeopletothatvision.”

Subtheme 4: Self-Awareness

Theconceptofself-awarenesswasreportedby5(31%)oftheparticipants

interviewed.Thedevelopmentofspiritualintelligencebeginswithstimulatingadeeper

awarenessofself(Wigglesworth,2012).Self-reflectionandinquiryisfundamentalto

spiritualintelligence(Hacker&Washington,2017).P7reported:

Ifyouaresomebodywhohasastrongspiritualbaseorspiritualself,thatisgoingto

bereflectiveinyourwork.Iwouldsaythatprobably,Iwouldbringthatintomyown

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work.IwouldthinkthatitdoesgivemesomewhatofasolidfoundationwhenI’m

dealingwithmyownteamandcoworkers.Ithinkyoucouldalsohavetheperson

whoisthemoredetail-orientedperson,thatyouwouldsaycouldalsohaveavery

strongspiritualkindofsenseofself.Ijustreallythinkitdepends,where

everybody’sunique,sohowthoseaspectsofourselvesarereflectedintheworldare

unique.Ithinkitcomesdowntoself-awarenessandIthinksomepeopleormore

self-awarethanothers.

Spiritualintelligencecontributes44%toworkperformanceandsignificantly

impactsservicequality(Taneva-Veshoska&Drakulevski,2014).Wigglesworth(2012)

assertedthattheabilitytolistentoindividuals’inner-selfcanbelearnedandthenusedto

leadwithwisdomandcompassion.P8reported:

Ithinkoneofthemostimportantthingsthatyouhavetodoasaleaderisbeableto

self-assess.Ithinkthatisabsolutelycriticalforavarietyofreasons.AndwhatI

meanbythatistherearethingsthatI’mgoodatandthere’sthingsthatI’mnotgood

at.Andso,oneofthethingsIalwaystrytodowhenIbuildoutmyteamisIdon’t

hireabunchofpeoplejustlikeme.Ithinkthatspiritualintelligencereallystarts

withself-assessmentandself-knowledge.It’sknowingwhatyoucandoandwhat

youcan’tdo.It’sbringingpeoplearoundyoutohelpyouwiththat.Everyoneshould

stepoutsideoftheircomfortzone,butit’snotsteppingoutsideofyourcompetence

zone.

P14added:

Theindividualleaderhastobeabletobeself-aware.Maybetheyaresomebodythat

doesn’tshowtrust.So,ifI’maleaderthatI’mnottrustingmyteamatall,andIgo

learnthathightrustleadstohighproductivity,butIbelieveI’mgivinghightrust,

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thenI’mnotgoingtomakeanychange.So,Ihavetobeemotionallyintelligent.I

havetobeself-aware.Ihavetobewillingtoacknowledgewheremyfaultsare.

Subtheme 5: Disruption/Risk

Theconceptofcreatingdisruptionorriskwasreportedby5(31%)ofthe

participantsinterviewed.Resilientleadersarethosewhoactandleadwithcouragedespite

therisktheymayface(Ramachandaran,Krauss,Hamzah,&Idris,2017).Emotionally

intelligentleadersarewillingtotakerisksthatothermightviewasimpractical(Freed,

2016).P6reported:

I’mabigbelieverindisruption.Iwanttobeonthereceivingendofthat,quite

frankly,no,sorry,Iwanttobeonthedeliverysideofthatandnotthereceivingside

ofthat.Andtodoso,youneedtoalwaysbelookingatwhat’shappeninginthe

future.AndIlovetalkingtofuturist.AndIlovetalkingtopeoplewhoarelookingat

ideas20yearsoutandtryingtofigureoutwhatmypathisgoingtobe,topotentially

beinvolvedinsomeofthat.Youhavetojustbeabletostandupandsay,I’mgoingto

takeariskandcalltheball.Imayfail,butImaybesuccessfulatthesametime,you

neverknow.Butit’sarisk.Youneedtobeabletotakearisk.Goodleaderstakerisk.

Usuallycalculatedrisks,butsometimestheyareinstinctualrisks.

Servantleadersareeffectiveleaderswhentheyshowinitiative,assumerisk,and

takeownershipfortheiractions(Sousa&Dierendonck,2017).P3reported:

Weareininsideanindustrythateveryoneistalkingaboutbeingripefordisruption.

Wehavemorethan10,000peopleworkingintheITspace.Theopportunityforbig

picturethinkingispeoplewhoareabletokindoflookatourportfolioandlookat

thewaywedothingsandreallyimaginesomethingwhichiscompletelydifferent,

completelyalternativewayofapproachingthewaythatourbusinessgetsdone.

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P8added,“Ithink,intoday’senvironment,therearesomanydisruptivethreatstobusiness

thatIthinkyouhavetogetoutofyourday-to-dayroutineforacertainamountoftimein

theyearandthinkaboutthatstuffbecausedestructioniseverywhere.It’ssoeasynow.”

Twoconditionsmustbemetfortrusttoexist,riskandinterdependence.Risk

createstheopportunityfortrust(Vanhalaetal.,2016).Greatertrustisrequiredwhenthe

riskisgreater(Knightetal.,2015).P14reported:

Ithinkit’simportantthatpeoplefeelit’sokaytomakeamistakeandnotwalkon

eggshellsandbeafraidofmakingmistakesbecausethenthey’renotwillingtotake

risks.Andifyou’renotwillingtotakerisks,you’renotgoingtobeinnovativeor

you’renotgoingtomovethebusinessforward.Icanonlygetthingsdonebythe

powerofthepeoplethatIlead.Andso,forme,it’stheneed,ifIdon’ttrustthem,

thenhowcananythinggetdone.Because,Ican’tgodothejobof50people,andI

thinkit’simportantthattheyfeeltrustedaswell.Because,itgivesthemagain,that

comfortleveltotakesomerisks.Itgiveshimthatcomfortleveltobeempowered.

P15added:

Ithinkmoreandmoreofthosepeoplefindthemselvesnotworkinginlarge

companies.Ithinkthatthere’ssomuchinvolvedinmakingthesafedecisionina

largecompany,thatIthinkifsomeoneistrulywillingtotakeriskslikethat,they

probablylongagodecidedtodoitinasmallcompany,orinastartup.So

unfortunately,it’shardharderandhardertogetthatkindofleadershipor

innovationinalargecompany.Andevenwhenwetalkaboutwillingnesstofailand

stufflikethat,Istillthinkthat’snothowmostpeoplebehaveinalargeorganization.

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Summary

Chapter4includedtheresearchsetting,demographics,datacollection,data

analysis,trustworthiness,andstudyresultsbasedonthedatagatheredfromtheinterviews

of16participantswhoworkedatalargeglobalinsurancecompany.Irecordedand

transcribedtheinterviews.Thedatagatheredwasorganized,coded,andanalyzedusing

onlymanualtechniques.Finally,usingacombinationoftechniquesbyDahlbergetal.

(2008),Giorgi(2009),andVanManen(2016),Ireportedonthelivedexperienceof

participant’sperceptionofspiritualintelligenceandtrust.

Toanswerthecentralresearchquestionofthisstudy,aseriesofeightinterview

questionswerecreatedtoencourageparticipantstotalkabouttheirexperienceswith

spiritualintelligenceandtrust.Usingthewhole-part-wholeanalysistechniqueoutlinedby

Dahlbergetal.(2008),Isawfivethemesemergefromthedata:emotionalintelligence,

servantleadership,integrity,trustworthiness,andmoralcompass.Additionalsub-themes

weredocumented:communication,vision,empathy,self-awareness,anddisruption/risk.

InChapter5,Ipresenthowthefindingsfromthisstudyextendstheknowledgeof

spiritualintelligenceandtrust.Icomparethefindingsfromthestudywithwhatwasfound

inthepeer-reviewedliteraturesummarizedinChapter2.Iexaminethelimitationsto

trustworthinessthatarosefromtheexecutionofthisstudy.Lastly,Ipropose

recommendationsforfurtherresearchbasedonthelimitationsofthisstudyandthegapsin

theliterature.Ievaluatethepotentialimpactforpositivesocialchangewithbothleaders

andorganizations.

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Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations



seniorleadersinaglobalinsurancecompanyregardingspiritualintelligenceandtrust.The

implicationsforsocialchangeincludedcreatingadeeperunderstandingofaleader’s

spiritualintelligence,identifyingtheroleofspiritualintelligenceinaleader’sinfluenceon

trustwithintheorganization,anddescribingthepotentialbusinessapplicationfor

leadershipdevelopment.Phenomenologywasthechosendesignbecauseitprovidedthe

bestapproachtoconstructmeaningfromtheparticipants’experience(seeVagle,2014).

Interviewswereconductedwith16participants,andsaturationwasachieved(see

Saundersetal.,2017).

Theconceptualframeworkthatsupportedthisstudycomprisedintelligence,

leadership,andtrusttheories.Theframeworkwasinformedbytheintelligencetheoryof

Gardner(1983),theleadershiptheoryofBass(1985),thespiritualintelligencetheoryof

Wigglesworth(2012),thetrusttheoryofDeutsch(1958),andGreenleaf’s(1970)servant

leadershipphilosophy.Thesetheoriescollectivelyformedasoundconceptualframeworkto

conductananalysisofaleader’sspiritualintelligenceandidentifytheroleofspiritual

intelligenceinaleader’sinfluenceonorganizationaltrust.

Interpretation of Findings

Thefindingfromthisstudywerereportedasthemesthatdevelopedfromthe

codingandanalysisofparticipants’responsestotheeightinterviewquestions.Usingthe

whole-part-wholeanalysistechniqueoutlinedbyDahlbergetal.(2008),Isawfivethemes

emergefromthedata:emotionalintelligence,servantleadership,integrity,trustworthiness,

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andmoralcompass.Additionalsubthemesweredocumented:communication,vision,

empathy,self-awareness,anddisruption/risk.Thesethemesrepresentedthelived

experienceoftheparticipantstoanswerthecentralresearchquestion.

Seenaetal.(2017)positedasignificantrelationshipbetweenemotionalintelligence

andspiritualintelligence.Spiritualintelligenceisessentialtoindividuals’well-beingand

helpstoprovidemeaningandpurposetolife(Zohar&Marshall,2001).Participant4

reportedthatemotionalintelligencewasparticularlyimportantforleaderstounderstand

howpeoplearemotivated.Thirteen(81%)ofparticipantsbelievedemotionalintelligence

wasimportanttoeffectivelycommunicateandconnectwithpeople.Participant7related

that“beingself-awarewasimportant.”Theparticipants’experienceswithemotional

intelligenceasanattributeofaspirituallyintelligentleaderwassupportedintherelevant

literature.

Servantleadershipisauniqueleadershipstylebecauseitcombinesthedriveofa

leaderwithafocusonservingfollowerneeds(vanDierendoncketal.,2014).Lynchand

Friedman(2013)positedthattheconceptsofservantandspiritualleadershipoverlap.

Participant3reportedthatheisresponsibleforprovidingavision,direction,andasenseof

empowermenttohisteam.Eightofthe16participantsreportedaleadershouldcareforthe

employeesandhavetheirbestinterestsatheart.Participant11addedthat“anauthentic

leaderisonewholeadsbyexample,notjusttalkthetalk.”Theparticipants’experiences

withservantleadershipasanattributeofaspirituallyintelligentleaderwassupportedby

theliterature.

Trustinaleaderderivesfromhowfollowersperceivealeader’scharacteristics,

suchasability,integrity,dependability,andbenevolenceintheworkplace(Goh&Low,

2014).Honestyandintegrityareethicalvaluescharacterizedbyspiritualmanagers(Faraji

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&Begzadeh,2017).Participant8reportedthat“thepoliticalcapitalyouhavewithpeopleis

basedalmostentirelyuponyourintegrity.”Eightofthe16participantsreportedthat

integritywasthemostimportantattributeforaleader.Participant11addedthat“a

spiritualleaderissomebodywhoisgoingtobeanauthenticleaderandoperateswithhonor

andintegrity.”Therelevantliteratureinthisstudysupportedtheparticipants’experience

withintegrityasanattributeofaspirituallyintelligentleader.

Miaoetal.(2014)foundthathigherlevelsoftrustworthinessmaybeestablished

throughservantleaderbehavior.Choietal.(2015)positedthatemotionalintelligence

enhancesthetrustworthinessandauthenticityofaperson.Participant1andParticipant7

reportedthatpeopledrivetrustintheorganization.Participant12reportedthat“openand

honestcommunicationleadstotrust.”Communicationiskeytobuildingstrongtrust-based

relationshipsintheworkplace(Seifertetal.,2016).Theparticipants’experienceswith

trustworthinessasanattributeofaspirituallyintelligentleaderwassupportedinthe

relevantliterature.

Themoralsideofleadershiphasgainedinterestasanessentialmotivatorfor

servantleadership(Sousa&vanDierendonck,2017).People’sspiritualexperiencesserveto

guidetheirmoralcompass(Creighton-Smith,Cook,&Edginton,2017).Participant7

reportedthatpeoplecouldhavenospiritualbasebuthaveastrongmoralcode.Participant

9reportedthat“integrityandmoralcompasswenthand-in-hand.”Spiritualleadershipis

characterizedbyhighmoralsandethics,makingspiritualleadersidealtoinfluenceand

motivateemployeestogobeyondtheirself-interestsforthegoodofothersandsociety

(Afsaretal.,2016).Theliteraturesupportedtheparticipants’experienceregardingmoral

compassasanattributeofaspirituallyintelligentleader.

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Communicationandtransparencyarenecessarytobuildorganizationaltrust

(Bansal,2016).Communicationiskeytobuildingstrongtrust-basedrelationshipsinthe

workplace(Seifertetal.,2016).Ten(77%)oftheparticipantscommentedonthe

importanceofeffectivecommunicationtobeagoodleader.Participant15reportedthat

transparencyisimportant,andyougettransparencythroughcommunication.Participant

12reportedthebestwaytogettotrustisbyopenandhonestcommunication.The

participants’experiencewithcommunicationasanelementofleaderinfluenceon

organizationaltrustwassupportedbytheliterature.

Emotionallyintelligentleadersarevisionarieswhobelieveinavision.Indoingso,

theleadercandecisivelyleadpeopletoachievethatvision(Cicetal.,2018).Only7(44%)of

theparticipantssaidanythingaboutvisionaryleaders.Thoseparticipantsreportedthat

leaderswithavisionwerefocused,innovative,andhadadirectionforpeopletofollow.

AccordingtoFoughtandMisawa(2016),leadersviewedtheirprimaryroleascreatingthe

visionanddirectionfortheirorganization.Participant16assesseditthisway:“Ithinkthe

jobofaleaderisbeingabletohavesomevisionfortheteamandbeingabletoconnect

peopletothatvision.”Theliteraturesupportedtheparticipants’experiencewithvisionas

anelementofanemotionallyintelligentleader.

Oneofthecorecomponentsofanemotionallyintelligentleaderisempathy.

Wigglesworth(2012)identifiedempathyasoneofthreeimportantskillsnecessaryfor

buildingstrongrelationships.Eight(50%)oftheparticipantsinthecurrentstudyreported

thatempathywasimportanttobealeader.Participant8reportedthat“emotional

intelligenceandbeingconnectedtopeopleemotionallywasimportantandempathywas

partofthat.”Leaderswhocanregulatetheiremotions,readothers’emotions,and

effectivelycommunicateexhibithighlevelsofemotionalintelligenceandfacilitatehigh

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performanceintheirorganization(Nikoui,2015;Seenaetal.,2017).Participant9reported

thatastrongEQcamedowntoeffectivecommunication.Theparticipants’experiencewith

empathyasanelementofanemotionallyintelligentleaderwassupportedbytheliterature.

Self-awarenessandtheabilitytoself-assessarethebasicprinciplesforhavinghigh

levelsofemotionalintelligence(Rubens,Schoenfeld,Schaffer,&Leah,2018).The

developmentofspiritualintelligencebeginswithstimulatingadeeperawarenessofself

(Wigglesworth,2012).Participant8reportedthat“oneofthemostimportantskillstohave

asaleaderistheabilitytoself-assess.”Knowingyourselfandwhatyoucanandcannotdo

areimportanttobeingemotionallyintelligent.Self-awarenessiskeytosuccessful

management(Cicetal.,2018).Participant14associatedself-awarenesswithemotional

intelligenceandorganizationaltrust.Theliteraturesupportedtheparticipants’experience

withself-awarenessasanelementofanemotionallyintelligentleader.

Leadersmusttransformculture,reinventthemselves,changetheorganizational

structure,andencourageinnovationtoavoidgettingdisrupted(Uhl-Bien&Arena,2018).

Resilientleadersarethosewhoactandleadwithcouragedespitetherisktheymayface

(Ramachandaranetal.,2017).Five(31%)oftheparticipantsreportedondisruptionorrisk

duringtheinterviews.Theseparticipantsexplainedthatforleaderstobeinnovativeor

thinkoutsideofthebox,theyhadtotakerisksandbedisruptive.Riskcreatesthe

opportunityfortrust(Vanhalaetal.,2016).Participant14reportedthatitwasimportantto

letpeopleknowitisokaytomakeamistake,sotheywillbewillingtotakerisks.The

participants’experiencewithdisruptionandriskasanelementofleaderinfluenceon

organizationaltrustwassupportedbytheliterature.

Thethemesthatemergedfromthisstudyindicatedthatspiritualintelligenceplaysa

criticalroleinleaders’capacitytomakegooddecisions,buildrelationships,andprovidea

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senseofempowerment.Leaderswiththesequalitiesinfluenceorganizationaltrust.The

literatureshowedalinkbetweenemotionalintelligenceandspiritualintelligence(Seenaet

al.,2017),anoverlapbetweenservantleadershipandspiritualleadership(Lynch&

Friedman,2013),andthattrustderivesfromaleaderwhohasability,integrity,

dependability,andbenevolenceintheworkplace(Goh&Low,2014).Honestyandintegrity

areethicalvaluescharacterizedbyspiritualmanagers(Faraji&Begzadeh,2017).

Limitations of the Study

Onelimitationofthisstudywastheparticipants’understandingofthedifference

betweenspiritualityandreligion.Iattemptedtomitigatethislimitationbyprovidinga

definitionofspiritualityandreligiontohelpexplainthedifference.Iusedadescriptive

designbasedonthetheoreticalframeworkgroundedinlifeworldphenomenology.The

sampleincluded16employeesofalargeglobalinsurancecompany.Thephenomenological

designwaslimitedtotheidentificationandreportingofparticipants’personalexperiences

andperceptionsofthephenomenonofspiritualintelligenceandtrust.Understandingthe

distinctionbetweenspiritualityandreligionwascriticalbecausethisstudyhadno

connectiontoreligion.Providingdefinitionshelpedparticipantsunderstandthedistinction.

Theparticipantswereopenandforthrightintheirresponsestothequestions,but

someparticipantsdidnotunderstandthephenomenonofspiritualintelligenceanddidnot

drawadistinctionbetweenspiritualityandreligion.Inthesecases,Iprovidedthedefinition

ofspiritualintelligenceusedinthestudy.Ialsodifferentiatedbetweenspiritualityand

religiontoletparticipantsknowthatthisstudyhadnoconnectiontoreligion.Some

participantswerenotabletorelatepersonalexperiences,buttheseparticipantsprovided

theirperceptionbasedontheirnewunderstandingofthephenomenon.Ifoundthisdatato

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berelevantbecausetheparticipantsexplainedtheirperceivedexperienceasifitwere

reality.Theirresponsesalignedwithparticipantswhodidexperiencethephenomenon.

Theselectionofparticipantswassplitbetweenseniorleadersandemployeesto

controlforpotentialbiasofleaders’perceptionoftrustwithintheorganization.Participant

responsesappearedtobeopenandhonest,yetInoticedadifferenceinperceptionbetween

seniorleadersandgeneralemployees.Seniorleaderresponsesdidnotappeartobe

inflated.Rather,thedifferenceresultedfromhowtheparticipantsexperiencedthe

phenomenon.Seniorleadersexperiencedtrustamongtheirpeers,theirteams,andtheCEO.

Generalemployeesexperiencedtrustamongtheirpeers,theirteams,andtheirimmediate

managers.However,trustintheorganizationbegantodiminishthefurtherawayan

employeewasfromtheCEOontheorganizationchart.Thedifferencesmaybetheresultof

theorganizationalchangesthatoccurredormightbebasedonpersonalopinionsofthe

participants.Thesedifferencesmaylimitreplicationofthisstudy,anddifferentresultsmay

befoundinotherorganizations.

Researcherbiaswasalsoalimitationinthisstudy.Duringtheinterviewphase,my

employmentpositionwaseliminated,andIlostmyjob.Iwasabletocompletemy

interviewsandbegintheanalysisphaseofmystudy.Theexperienceoflosingmyjob

emphasizedalotoftheexperiences,perceptionsandfeelingsthattheparticipants

expressedintheinterviews.IbegantosympathizewiththeparticipantsbecauseIhadthe

sameperceptionsandfeelings.Whenapersonsympathizes,theybecomeemotionally

involved.WhenIbecameemotionallyinvolved,Iintroducedbiasintomyanalysis.To

managemybias,Ileveragedmynotes,transcriptsandrecordingstofocusontheemerging

themesthatcamefromthedata.Iusedaqualitativereflectivestrategytocontrolpersonal

biasthatmayhaveemergedfrommyexperience.Ibracketedmyexperiencethroughoutthe

96

analysisprocess,referringbacktotherecordedinterviewsasnecessarytoensure

credibilityandreliabilityofthefindings.

Recommendations

Thestudyofspiritualintelligenceisrelativelynewandoftenispairedwithresearch

onemotionalintelligence.Ashortageofresearchontheconstructsofspiritualintelligence

inleadersexists.Thelackofresearchaddressingwhatmightleadtolowtrustinleaders

andloworganizationaltrustcontributedtothemotivationforthisstudy.

Iinterviewedseniorleadersandnonseniorleaderstounderstandtheirlived

experienceofspiritualintelligenceandtrust.Someparticipantsself-identifiedasnothaving

spiritualintelligence,yettheywereaskedtoprovidetheirexperiencesorperceptionsof

spirituallyintelligentleaders.BecauseIdidnotcontrolforthisbiasandparticipantsdidnot

identifyashavingspiritualintelligence,futureresearchcouldaddressindividualswhoself-

identifyashavingspiritualintelligenceandcomparetheirperceptionofspiritually

intelligentleaderswiththatofindividualswhoself-identifyasnothavingspiritual

intelligence.Additionally,researcherscouldexaminewhetherspirituallyintelligent

individualsonlytrustotherspirituallyintelligentindividuals.Thisstudyisneededtohelp

furtherunderstandthetrustphenomenonamongspirituallyintelligentpeopleversus

nonspirituallyintelligentpeople.

Thethemeofemotionalintelligenceemergedfromthedatawith13(81%)ofthe

participantsreportingtherelevancetospiritualintelligenceandtrust.Ifoundvarious

articlesonemotionalintelligence,butnothingthatexploredtherelationshipbetween

emotionalintelligenceandspiritualintelligenceonorganizationaltrust.Futureresearchis

neededtoexploretheperceptionfrombothaleaderandafollowerperspective.

97

Thethemeofservantleadershipemergedfromthedatawith13(81%)ofthe

participantsreportingtherelevancetospiritualintelligenceandtrust.Aneedexistsfor

empiricalworkthatallowsforthediscoveryofhowservantleadershipandspiritual

leadershipworktogethertocreateorganizationaltrust.Futureresearchisneededto

addresstheroleofservantleadershipandspiritualintelligenceindeveloping


Theparticipantsforthisstudywereselectedfromalargeglobalinsurancecompany.

Justpriortoandduringthedatacollectionperiodofthisstudy,thecompanyexperienced

significantorganizationalchangesinseniorleadership.Thesechangesintroducedafeeling

ofuncertaintyandpossiblefearthroughoutthecompany.Participantresponsesto

interviewquestionsmighthavebeenbiased.Futureresearchshouldconsiderchangingthe

demographicstoincludesmallercompaniesindifferentindustriesthathavebeenstablefor

ayear.Changingthedemographicsmayresultinanewunderstandingoftherolespiritual

intelligencehasinleadersinfluenceonorganizationaltrust.

Oneuniqueinterviewwithaparticipantgeneratedanswersthattookonanegative

tone.Theparticipantappearedtoviewleadersthroughanegativelenswhichresultedin

responsesthatdescribedbadexperiencesorleaderqualitiesthatwerenotappreciated.One

exampleistheparticipant’sperceptionofbigpicturethinkers:

I’mkindofdetailedmyself,sothatkindoffallsalongwithmanagersthatgettoo

detailed.I’mgoingtotakecareofthedetails.Ifyougivemesomethingtodo,Idon’t

needsomebodytobepetty.Idon’tneedthemanagertobepettyortogettoo

involvedinthedetails.

Theparticipant’sanswerschangedmyviewofthelivedexperience.Fromthenegative

answers,Iwasabletocreateapositiveviewbycontrast.Futureresearchisneededto

98

explorefollowerswithnegativeperceptionsofleaderstobetterunderstandtheir

perceptionofaspirituallyintelligentleader.

Theresearchmethodologyusedforthisstudywasqualitativewitha

phenomenologicaldesign.Inthistypeofresearch,researcherbiasandinaccurate

interpretationofdatamightskewtheresultsandnotpresentthetrueessenceofthestudy.

Futureresearchshouldconsideraquantitativeormixed-methodsapproachtoaddvalidity

andreliabilitytothedata.

Implications

Positive Social Change

Thecollectionofthemesthatemergedfromthedatainthisstudycontributeto

socialchangebyaddingtotheknowledgeofspiritualintelligenceandorganizationaltrust

thatcouldhelpleadersgainadeeperunderstandingaboutthemselves.Thisstudymightbe

applicabletohumanresourcepersonnelindevelopingleadertrainingprogramsdesignedto

helpcurrentandfutureleadersunderstandtheissuesrelatedtoleadershippracticein

today’sbusinessenvironment.Spiritualintelligencetrainingshouldbecomepartof

leadershipdevelopment.Focusshouldalsobegiventobuildingrelationshipswhen

coachingandmentoringtheirsubordinatesinordertobuildtrust(duPlessisetal.,2015).

Ramachandaranetal.(2015)identifiedtheattributesofspiritualintelligenceasa

proposedprerequisiteofcontemporaryorganizationalleadership.FarajiandBegzadeh

(2017)positedthatspiritualmanagerscreateinsight,theytrust,andtheyshowhumility.

Thepotentialforsocialchangeinseniorleaderswholeveragetheirspiritualintelligenceis

theycreateanorganizationalcultureoftrustandempowerment.Asaresult,these

99

behaviorsbecomearolemodelforotherstofollow.Thesebehaviorstranscendthe

workplaceandcanhaveapositiveimpactonfamilyandcommunitylife.

Vanhalaetal.(2016)confirmedthatimpersonaltrustcanbeusedtoincrease

employees’commitmenttotheorganization.Paliszkiewicz,Koohang,andNord(2014)

acknowledgedthatorganizationaltrusthasasignificantroleinorganizationalperformance.

Thepotentialforsocialchangeissupportedbythefindingsofthisstudyasseniorleaders

influenceorganizationaltrustandcreatestrongerrelationships,improveorganizational

commitmentandperformance.

Methodological

Forthisstudy,Iusedaphenomenologyformofinquirytoholisticallyvaluethelived

experienceofparticipantsontheirperceptionofthephenomenonofspiritualintelligence

andtrust.Itwasimportanttohavepersonaldescriptionsofthephenomenonfromeach

participantratherthanmyinterpretationoftheirexperience.Theresearchparticipants

wereviewedassubjectiveepistemologicalbeingstopreventcontaminationofthedatawith

extraneousworldviewassumptions(Koopman,2015).ThisHusserlianmethodcreatedpure

presentationsandun-interpreteddatabasedonhumanexperience(Koopman,2015).

Thisstudyusedadescriptiondesignbasedonthetheoreticalframeworkgrounded

inlifeworldphenomenology.Ichosetousephenomenologybecauseitwasarigorous

alternativetothetraditionalmethodsusedbynaturalsciencesthatarenotappropriatefor

examininghumanexperience(Brooks,2015).Participantresponsesweremainlybasedon

theperceptionofleadersgroundedontheirinsightofleadershipandexperience.By

enteringintothefieldofperception,Iwasabletounderstandspiritualintelligenceasthe

participantssawit(Ramachandaranetal.,2017).

100

Recommendations for Practice

Radhika(2014)assertedspiritualintelligenceisusedtoexpandthecapacityand

makegreatercontributionstotheserviceofothers.Spiritualintelligenceutilizesourdeep

innerresourcestogiveusthecapacitytocareandthepowertotolerateandadapt.Inan

efforttodevelopleaderswithastrongsenseofindividualpurpose,vision,andvalues,

spiritualintelligenceisbeingaddedtoexecutivetrainingcurricula(Hacker&Washington,

2017).Sincetrainingisavailable,seniorleadersshouldconsidertakingadvantageofthis

self-improvementopportunity.Auniversity-basedleadershipprogramthatincludesSQas

partofthecurriculumisavailableatUniversityofAlberta.

AnotherresourceforleadershipdevelopmentusingSQskillsistrainingthrough

DeepChange(https://www.deepchange.com/about/meet_us),foundedbyWigglesworth.

TheDeepChangeorganizationutilizesaproprietaryapproachcalledDeepIntelligenceto

evaluatetheleaderandtheorganizationandbegintounderstandthesituation.Thisisa

customizedapproachtoleadershipdevelopment.Thepotentialforsocialchangeisthe

developmentofatransformational,self-awareleader.

Conclusion


intelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrust.Interviewswereconductedwith16

participantsandthedatacollectedwasusedtodescribethelivedexperiencesofsenior

leadersregardingspiritualintelligenceandtrust.Theresultswerereportedasthemesthat

developedfromthecodingandanalysisoftheresponsesfromeachparticipantto8

interviewquestions.Thethemesthatemergedfromthedatarepresentthelivedexperience

101

oftheparticipantstosupportthecentralresearchquestion.Thefindingsfromthisstudy

supporttheconceptualframeworkoutlinedinChapter1and2.

Theconceptualframeworkthatsupportedthisstudycomprisedofintelligence,

leadership,andtrusttheories.Theframeworkwasinformedbytheintelligencetheoryof

Gardner(1983),theleadershiptheoryofBass(1985),thespiritualintelligencetheoryof

Wigglesworth(2012),thetrusttheoryofDeutsch(1958),andGreenleaf’s(1970)servant

leadershipphilosophy.Thethemesthatemergedinsupportofthisframeworkincluded

emotionalintelligence,servantleadership,integrity,trustworthiness,andmoralcompass.

Theinterpretationofthefindingssupportedtwostructuresthatemergedfromtheshared

experiencesofthephenomenon.

Thefirststructurethatwasprevalentthroughoutthisstudywasemotional

intelligence.Thirteen(81%)oftheparticipantsinterviewedstressedtheimportanceof

emotionalintelligenceinaleader.Thefindingsindicatedthatauthenticleaderswho

demonstratedempathy,compassionandsupportforothersdevelopedstrongrelationships

withtheirteam.Goleman(2014)describedthathowwellwemanageourselvesandour

relationshipswilldeterminehoweffectiveweareasleaders.Participant9reported,“a

leaderhastohaveastrongEQbecauseyou’vegottobeabletoconnectwithpeople.”The

emergentthemeofemotionalintelligencefromthisstudysupportspreviousresearchthat

suggestedspiritualintelligenceincombinationwithemotionalintelligenceandservant

leadershipmayworktogethertobuildacultureoftrustwithinanorganization(Afsaretal.,

2016;Esfahanietal.,2015,Kashyap&Rangnekar,2016).

Theemergentthemeofservantleadershipwasthesecondstructureprevalent

throughoutthisstudy.Thirteen(81%)oftheparticipantsinterviewedemphasizedthat

leaderswhodemonstratedhumility,wisdom,vision,andtrustweremoreeffectivein

102

motivatingfollowers.Trustinaleaderisbuiltonthecharacteroftheleaderwhichis

focusedonhowfollowersperceivetheleader’scharacter(Goh&Low,2014).Participant11

reported:

Ilookforsomeonewhohasanauthenticleadershipstyle...somebodywhowalks

thewalkandnotjusttalkingthetalk,theyleadbyexample...somebodythat

possessesintegrityandishonestintheirdealings.

Theemergentthemeofservantleadershipfromthisstudysupportspreviousresearchthat

suggestedservantleadershiprepresentsoneofthefourcornerstonesofaspiritually

intelligentleader(Hyson,2013).

Thestructuresofemotionalintelligenceandservantleadershiparethebuilding

blocksforaspirituallyintelligentleader.Servantleadershipwasfoundtocreatefollower

trustinleaders(Chan&Mak,2014).Buildingrelationshipsandencouragementare

characteristicsofbothservantleadersandemotionallyintelligentleaders(Chan&Mak,

2014;Goleman,2014).Interpretingtheresultsfromthisstudyandcomparingittothedata

fromtheliteratureinChapter2,Iconcludedthatspiritualintelligenceplaysacriticalrolein

leaders’capacitytomakegooddecisions,buildrelationships,andprovideasenseof

empowerment.Leaderswhodemonstratethesecharacteristicsinfluenceorganizational

trust.

103

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AppendixA:InterviewQuestions

1. Tellmeaboutyourleadershipexperience.

2. Whatdoyouconsideraretheimportantattributesofaleader?

3. Howwouldyoudescribeaspiritualleader?

4. Whatdeeplymotivatesyou?

5. Whatguidingprinciplesdoyouliveby?

6. Whatareyourperceptionsaboutbigpicturethinking?

7. Whatareyourperceptionsaboutempathy?

8. Howdoyoufeelaboutstandingonyourpositionevenwhenitgoesagainst

mainstreamthinking?

9. Whatareyourperceptionsaboutadversity(inotherwords,whenthingsgowrong

howdoyouusewhatyoulearnfromthosesituations)?

10. Pleasesharewithmesomewordsthatsumupspiritualintelligencetoyou.

11. Tellmeyourthoughtsandideasabouttrust.

12. Howdoyouperceivetrustintheorganizationyouworkfor?

13. Sharewithmesomewordsthatdemonstratetrust.

126

Appendix B: Interview Protocol

ScheduleInterviewTimeandDate:_______________________________________

Interviewer:BillKerstetter_______________________________________________________________________

IntervieweeName:______________________________________________________

IntervieweeCode:_______________________________________________________

IntervieweeContactInfo_________________________________________________

IntervieweePosition:_____________________________________________________

Organization____________________________________________________________

Location________________________________________________________________

ActualInterviewDate:______________Time:____________to__________________

127

Appendix C: The Interview Script

WelcomeHi,mynameisBill;verynicetomeetyou.(Shakehands)Isthisagoodplacetomeet?Areyoucomfortable?(Ifyes,proceed.Ifno,movelocation)Thisinterviewisplannedforonehourtobeconsiderateofyourtime.Ifyouarecomfortableexceedingthattime,Iamhappytocontinuebeyondthehour.Iwillberecordingthisinterviewandtakingnotesaswetalk.Aftertheinterview,Iwilltranscribeourconversationforfurtheranalysis.AspartoftheconsentformthatI’mabouttoreview,areyouokwithmyrecordingthisinterview?Recordingswillbekeptprivateformyuseorfacultyreviewonly.Thisistheconsentformtoparticipateinthisstudy.Doyouhaveanyquestions?Doyoustillwanttoparticipate?(Iftheanswerisyes)Pleasesignhere.(Ifno,thankthemfortheirtimeandleave)NoonewilleverknowyournamebecauseIhaveassignedthiscodetoyourinformation.Let’sbeginnowwiththequestions.FoundationalResearchQuestion

• Whatistheroleofspiritualintelligenceinleaderinfluenceonorganizationaltrust

withinaglobalinsurancecompany?

InterviewQuestions:1. Whatdoyoubelievearetheimportantattributesofaleader?

2. Whatareyourperceptionsofspiritualleadershipinabusinessenvironment?

3. Whatisyourperceptionofinnovative,creative,andbigideawaysofthinkingin

business?

4. Whatareyourperceptionsaboutempathyintheworkplace?

5. Whatisyourperceptionaboutbusinessdecisionsthatgoagainstthepopular

proposals?

6. Whatdoyoubelieveislearnedfromsituationswherethingsgowronginthe

workplace?

7. Whatisyourperceptionofspiritualintelligenceinaleader?

8. Whatisyourperceptionabouttrustinyourcurrentorganization?

ConclusionThisistheendofthequestions,thankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy.

128

Appendix F: Revised Interview Questions

1. Whatdoyoubelievearetheimportantattributesofaleader?

2. Whatareyourperceptionsofspiritualleadershipinabusinessenvironment?

3. Whatisyourperceptionofinnovative,creative,andbigideawaysofthinkingin

business?

4. Whatareyourperceptionsaboutempathyintheworkplace?

5. Whatisyourperceptionaboutbusinessdecisionsthatgoagainstthepopular

proposals?

6. Whatdoyoubelieveislearnedfromsituationswherethingsgowronginthe

workplace?

7. Whatisyourperceptionofspiritualintelligenceinaleader?

8. Whatisyourperceptionabouttrustinyourcurrentorganization?

semantic scholar - role of spiritual intelligence in …...corporate scandals have disrupted the...

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