The Congruent Life: Following the Inward Path to Fulfilling Work and Inspired Leadership.(Review)

The Congruent Life: Following the Inward Path to Fulfilling Work and Inspired Leadership C Michael Thompson San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2000 292 pp., cloth, $28.00

C. Michael Thompson is an attorney, consultant, and management professor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He currently heads a private consulting practice that focuses on organizational and individual assessment, leadership development, and executive coaching. His more than thirty years of experience in business has culminated in the writing of this book. The book is designed for professional managers and other members of the workforce. It is based on the author's quest to find deeper meaning and purpose in his own work. While the author has been heavily influenced by the works of C.G. Jung, Max Dupree, M. Scott Peck and Steven Covey, the primary basis of the book draws from the human development findings of Lawrence Kohlberg.

The book is divided into four parts which cover topics related to the meaning of work and leadership. In Part One, "Work and the Search for Meaning in Our Age", the author provides an evolutionary description of the transition from work with meaning to a state of meaningless work. The first part continues with a chapter about personal impressions of the nature of work as depicted by the perceptions of current day workers. In the next chapter, the author considers the various aspects of the meaning of work. He describes the concentric circles that carry the meaning systems of individuals into larger levels of transcendence. The chapter takes the reader through various aspects of meaning to include developmental perspectives, service aspects, vocational approaches, and negative conceptions maintained in western societies. Numerous examples of individuals who adopt proactive responses that provide positive meaning to seemingly low skilled types of work are cited. The author provokes thoughtfulness from the reader by closing each chapter with a section entitled, Questions and Exercises for Further Reflection.

Part Two, "Spirituality: An Answer Ancient and Ever New", describes the nature of spirituality associated with one's vocation. The author begins with a definition of what spirituality is and is not, by describing the many abuses of the term in society. He follows up with antithesis statements to present the reader with the contrary thoughts concerning spirituality held by many individuals. He clearly identifies the concept of spirituality as the high level relationship with self and others (p. 52). The title of this part rings true in this section, as it brings together the knowledge of the ancients that is espoused as well by the practitioners of "new science" thinking. Examples are taken from eastern and western dogma to describe the essence of spirituality, which includes the transcendence beyond personal needs and fulfillment. In this conversation of transcendence, the author touches upon the misunderstandings of Abraham Maslow's concept of self-actualization (p. 85). He acknowledges that the external success factors held by western societies have twisted the term to a point where it is a euphemism for financial success; clearly this is not Maslow's intended meaning. Other excellent thinkers in the field including Ken Wilber and Victor Frankl are cited to support the author's contentions. This part transitions nicely into the psychological aspects of spirituality, which is the topic of the next part.

Part Three, Psychospiritual Growth and Organizational Leadership, blends modern thinking in the areas of personal development and leadership integrity. It is this section that extensively articulates the developmental theories of Kohlberg and Piaget (p. 119).

The author presents a synopsis of the Six-stage model of adult personal development in chapter six. He then provides comparative analysis of the Kohlberg model to a study of developmental character traits ...