Soul at Work cover

Paperback, ISBN 1-59627-013-6
Fall 2005
Seabury Books

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Soul at Work describes the way organizations do business. Soul in the workplace is not a theological abstraction, but a way of being and doing. Each of the organizations that Benefiel profiles in this lively and informative book describes the profound role that awareness of soul, or spirituality, can play in leadership and organizational life.

Divided into three parts, the book looks at the role of individuals in nurturing soul, the organizational reality by which soul is manifest, and the process by which the tension between individual and organization are managed. It is for managers, workers, organization specialists, church groups and anyone involved in the transformation of organizational life. It is for everyone who suspects that there is more to business than the bottom line.

Soul at Work:
Spiritual Leadership in Organizations
by Margaret Benefiel

Click here for reviews of Soul at Work

New! Reading Guide for Soul At Work [PDF].

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants the workplace to become more life-giving for all concerned.

— Parker J. Palmer
Author of A Hidden Wholeness,
Let Your Life Speak, and The Courage to Teach

Evocative, challenging, and compelling. This book is a gift to the imagination of organizations and those who work in them.

— Sharon Daloz Parks
Co-Author, Common Fire:  Leading Lives
of Commitment in a Complex World

This book advances the "spirituality and work" movement to a next level of practicality and social value. It's a joy to read and a source of inspiration for all those looking to glimpse into a life affirming future.

— Alan Briskin
Author, The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace

This wise little book invites the reader into a user friendly conversation that contains memorable, grounded illustrations drawn from contemporary organizational life, focuses the reader on spiritual essentials, and allows the reader (or teacher) to probe at any depth that might be desired.

— André L. Delbecq
Thomas J. and Kathleen L. McCarthy University Professor
Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Both students and managers will find this book practical, understandable, and inspirational.

— Jerry Biberman
Professor of Management, University. of Scranton
Editor, Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion

What is exceptional about this book is Margaret Benefiel’s ability to wed the pragmatic, realistic, and often challenging aspects of creating spirituality in the workplace with the deep wisdom of spiritual traditions passed on for generations. Soul at Work is a creative and most welcome synthesis.

— Elizabeth Dreyer
Professor of Spirituality, Fairfield University

I couldn't put this book down till I had read it all the way through. I found practical tools and techniques and real-life stories to show me the way to incorporate my spirit in my work everyday. Your copy will definitely be dog-eared at the best practices and tools.

— Charlotte Roberts
Co-Author, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

This book is a gift to any organizational leaders who care about their own souls and the souls of the organizations they lead.

— The Rev. Dr. Tilden Edwards
Founder and Senior Fellow
Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation

Soul at Work is destined to take its place in the business, ethics, and values literature right next to the long-time bestseller by Bolman and Deal, Leading With Soul. Both wise and clear, the book includes examples from healthcare and the non-profit sector as well as a giant corporation which has quickly become its industry leader.

 — Lee Robbins, Ph.D., Professor of Managment
Golden Gate University, San Francisco

Filled with practical, workable suggestions, Soul at Work provides a window into the lives and organizations of people who have found many practical benefits in developing the spiritual core of both themselves and their workplace.

— Catherine McGeachy
Vision Consultants Ltd
Limerick, Ireland

In Soul at Work, Margaret Benefiel has captured a diverse set of real world examples of the challenges that today's leadership faces, and how to deal with them on both an organizational and personal level. I know that her writing will be helpful to many as it has been for me, to provide a calibration of my own personal spiritual leadership.

— Ed Mosel, Chief Operating Officer, Stoneridge

Soul at Work avoids the ditch on either side of the road traveled by those who write about spirituality and organizational life. It neither casually affirms leaders who have co-opted religious language while continuing business-as-usual in every other regard, nor does it figuratively shake its finger at leaders in the inevitably imperfect world of organizational life. We are invited to travel into the very center of our lives at work, and to risk venturing the journey as whole persons, accompanied by a trustworthy guide who knows the way.

— David Specht, Program Director
Seeing Things Whole


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Art courtesy of Stefan Killen Design. Photograph of Margaret Benefiel by Anita Bower.
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