Benedictine Helmsmanship

A spiritual toolbox for sustainable and meaningful leadership Wil Derkse

Achieve prosperous growth, personally and as an organization This book is the result of hundreds of lectures and seminars for managers New title by bestselling author Will Derkse

In times of crisis there’s often a call for leadership and strong governance. Numerous leadership theories and organisational models answer that call. In this book Wil Derkse contradicts established methods by introducing Benedictine spirituality, which, after successfully being used for 15 centuries, has proven to be sufficiently sustainable and tested in practice. It’s a learning pathway that’s primarily aimed at ‘doing the right thing’, both in your personal life and within the context of living and working together in a society.

Instead of ‘leadership’, which is so often associated with incisiveness and natural charisma, Wil Derkse prefers the term ‘helmsmanship’, which can be learned like any art by training and practice. The ‘helmsman’ is a member of the crew with a specific role, just like the other crew members. He or she is in the service of the community.

As an associated member of the Benedictine St. Willibrord’s Abbey Wil Derkse familiarized himself with this source of spiritual vitality. He used it to shape his daily life and to work as a manager for 30 years, including as a chemistry professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, Radboud University and Open University.

140 x 210 mm | 264 pages | 73,100 words paperback | all rights available

A Rule of Life for Beginners

French and English rights sold