“Spiritual Lives of Leaders” engages in a conversation that we seldom have at Harvard Business School – or across Harvard generally – that we believe you’ll find fascinating, inspiring, challenging, and useful. We invite everyone to participate equally in this conversation – whether you describe yourself as interested and curious, spiritual but not religious, an atheist or agnostic, a charismatic believer, or a lapsed fill-in-the-blank.
Students who experienced the three-year J-Term origins of this course came brimming with deeply personal and practical questions: What is spirituality? How can it be cultivated? What does spiritual leadership look like? How can I reconcile apparent tensions between my faith and the demands and aspirations of career and life? What do I need to know about the faith traditions of others to succeed as a leader operating in different communities around the world? Why do the institutions of religion so often fall short – or do real damage, contributing to deep division and conflict?
In “Spiritual Lives of Leaders,” we aim to create a space apart from the high hurry of our day-today lives to explore these questions. We’ve curated an amazing community of leaders, scholars, and thinkers from around the world to help us. Many of the leaders we invite fit us into very crowded calendars precisely because this area is important to them, and yet they don’t often get asked about their deepest commitments and influences that inform their leadership.
Also offered by the Business School as HBS 1563. Please note, this is a jointly offered course hosted by another Harvard school and, accordingly, students must adhere to the academic and attendance policies of that school.