Leadership Questions and Forms of Working in the Anthroposophic Medical Movement

Rudolf Steiner is known around the world as an author, speaker, and the creator of Anthroposophy, yet few are aware of him as an inovater of new ways of working together. As a result, questions of management and leadership are especially challenging, even in institutions whose work is based on Anthroposophy.

Here the model for forms of collaboration created by Steiner in 1923/24 can serve as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Using this social concept as an orientation, the authors show how the social framework of the anthroposophic medical movement has evolved and stood the test of time since 1988. "Leadership style with heart" is needed to unite the principles of individual responsibility, collegial leadership, and democratic codetermination.

Dr. Michaela Glöckler has been Leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, the School of Spiritual Science in Dornach, Switzerland since 1988. She attended the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, then studied German language, literature, and history in Freiburg and Heidelberg. She studied medicine in Tübingen and Marburg and trained as a pediatrician at the community hospital in Herdecke and at the Bochum University Pediatric Clinic. Until 1988 she was a colleague in the children’s outpatient clinic at the Community Hospital in Herdecke and served as school doctor for the Rudolf Steiner School in Witten, Germany. Michaela has many publications in German, many of which have been published in English.

Rolf Heine (b. 1960) is a certified nurse and anthroposophic nursing specialist (IFAN). He completed his training at the Filderklinik Independent Nursing School in Filderstadt, near Stuttgart, Germany. From 1986 to 2016, Heine worked as a nurse at Filderklinik hospital, initially on the ward for internal medicine, followed by a teaching position at the Filderklinik Independent Nursing School and head of a nursing research project on the external applications of mustard and ginger. As a member of the nursing management at Filderklinik hospital, Mr. Heine was responsible for the gynecology–obstetrics, internal medicine, and oncology wards. He has many years of experience in the areas of quality assurance and nursing development. In 2012, he founded the Academy for Nursing Professions at the Filderklinik hospital and served as its director. Today he maintains the Network for Anthroposophic Nursing Care in Germany. He was a member of the board of the Association for Anthroposophic Nursing for 18 years, a member of the German Nursing Council (DPR), and a member of the board of the umbrella organization for Anthroposophic Medicine in Germany (DAMiD). He is also active as the coordinator of the International Forum for Anthroposophic Nursing (IFAN) in the Medical Section of the School for Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum and is a member of the International Coordination of Anthroposophic Medicine (IKAM). He is president of the International Council of Anthroposophic Nursing Associations (ICANA). He has published numerous contributions on the topic of anthroposophic nursing in books and professional journals. He lectures and teaches seminars in Germany and abroad.

Christian von Arnim is the founder and Editor in Chief of News Network Anthroposophy (NNA), "a news agency which covers news and events of interest to anyone wishing to develop a spiritually objective view of the world." He is an experienced radio and print journalist who has worked with news such organizations as the BBC (World Service) and The Scotsman (Foreign Leader Writer). Christian is the founding Editor of NNA. He has translated and contributed to several books, including Eclipses 2005-2017 and Moon Rhythms in Nature.