Increasing Diversity : Loss of Control or Adaptive Identity Construction?

Diversity has been a leadership topic since at least the 1990’s. Since then, socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, religious and ethical diversity continues to increase through massive migration and digital media. This increasing complexity of diversity is now labeled as “superdiversity.”

Organizations become complex adaptive systems to respond to these challenges. Some organizations thrive, achieving new levels of creativity and innovation. Other organizations are overwhelmed, losing control, threatened to the core of their identity. How can organizational identities be adapted to incorporate healthy levels of diversity without losing vision, direction and control? Which organizational and leadership skills are needed to enhance creativity and productivity in a superdiverse environment?

An international conference at the ETF (Leuven, Belgium) addressed these challenges. This volume sketches the contours of the diversity leadership debate, its ethical and spiritual dimensions and the shape of diversity leadership in religious institutions such as faith communities and schools of theology.