Introduction and Summary of Themes

A few years before his death in October 2016, Prof. Andre Delbecq (University of Santa Clara) created a heuristic around “spiritually and developmentally mature leaders” in order to stimulate a more expansive understanding of leaders and leadership. He had observed that outstanding leaders often seem to draw strength and wisdom from sources that are not typically studied or taught in leadership courses. He referred to such leaders as “spiritually and developmentally mature,” but without defining his terms.