Some people actively embrace the term spiritual, whilst some people are indifferent and others are actively against it. We do some exploration here.
Spiritual wellbeing relates to our capacity to experience and integrate meaning and purpose in life through a person's connectedness with oneself and others and a power greater than oneself.
It relates to aligning our inner life and its relationship with the wider world. It includes our relationship with the environment, our relationships with others and with ourselves. Spiritual wellbeing does not just reflect religious belief although for people of a religious faith it is obviously a central feature.
It's about community and a sense of belonging to something thats important to oneself and others. Its about building positive relationships and feeling inspired by something thats bigger than us. Its about creative expression through innovation at work and through our own or others music, literature and other media. Its about our connection with nature. Its about ensuring our need for control, security/safety, belonging, autonomy as well as meaning and purpose are met. Its about standing up and out for something, being different, accepting and growing from the challenges and changes in life.
The Human Givens Institute takes a more human centric approach preferring to refer to many of these points as 'innate emotional needs'. Their 9 innate emotional needs:
Security: A sense of safety and security; safe territory; an environment in which people can live without experiencing excessive fear so that they can develop healthily.
Autonomy and control: A sense of autonomy and control over what happens around and to us.
Status: A sense of status - being accepted and valued in the various social groups we belong to.
Privacy: Time and space enough to reflect on and consolidate our experiences.
Attention: Receiving attention from others, but also giving it; a form of essential nutrition that fuels the development of each individual, family and culture.
Connection to the wider community: Interaction with a larger group of people and a sense of being part of the group.
Intimacy: Emotional connection to other people - friendship, love, intimacy, fun.
Competence and achievement: A sense of our own competence and achievements, growing and stretching towards that
Meaning and purpose: Being creative, striving towards meaningful goals, feeling a sense of purpose whether that be in role or for a higher calling.
When we seek to meet all of our emotional needs in balance it has the potential to increase our connection with others and also tap more into our individual and collective potential.
In a different way perhaps spirituality is also talking about wholeness and whilst encompassing all the dimensions of wellbeing. It doesn’t mean however that we must be well in every area to be spiritually well but by giving attention to them in balance it will help to make ill-health or dis-ease somewhat easier to cope with and even may help us turn what appears to be an adverse situation into an opportunity.
Spirituality in the workplace: Good idea or not?
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Spirituality in the workplace is about individuals and organisations seeing work as a spiritual path, as an opportunity to grow and to contribute to society in a meaningful way. As a way of getting our need for meaning and purpose met.
Critics argue that organisations have no business imposing spiritual values on employees. This criticism is undoubtedly valid when spirituality is defined as bringing religion and God into the workplace.
When however it involves active care, compassion and support of others, when it involves integrity and people being true to themselves and others, who could argue this? When it means individuals and organisations attempting to live their values more fully in the work they do, who could argue with this? When it is about providing an inspiring place to work in which employees feel a sense of meaning and purpose, who can argue about this?
Examples of organisational spirituality include:
Meditation or Havening time at the beginning of meetings
Retreat or spiritual training time set aside for employees
Appropriate space for employee prayer practices
Feeling able to to openly ask questions about whether the organisations actions are aligned with higher meaning and purpose.
We have to ask what are these approaches seeking to achieve?
Quietening the busy mind to allow creativity thoughts to come through - supporting optimal performance from meetings
Developing self healing practices which help to reduce the inner tension and interference in ones performance and engagement
Enabling people to maintain contact with a higher being of choice to support them to bring the best of themselves to work
Helping to ensure the activities of the business are win win win
When we break it down in this way, the objective of both a spiritual or humanist approach is somewhat the similar. Except that those who are spiritual may feel that they bring an added advantage when allowed to integrate their spiritual practices into work, for the benefit of their own life, for work performance, for the team and the organisations output, and with the short and long term in mind.
How else might this look in the workplace?
Providing services that help people let go of trauma, loss and bereavement in their lives (knowing that its a part of every day life)
Wellness information displayed and distributed
Employee Assistance Programs
Management policies and practices that give space for employees to meet their personal transformation (ie lifestyle pillars) and spiritual transformation
Service oriented leadership – the desire to serve others first in preference to self supported through the use if DiSC
Stewardship – leadership practices that support active growth, development and wellbeing of employees and externally.
Diversity programs that create inclusive cultures
Integration of core values and core business decisions and practices from the top dow to the bottom
So is it is a good or not?
In this sense embracing spirituality in this way only seeks to embrace all people and respect people for the difference they bring including whether they are actively spiritual or not. Perhaps there is scope for a more sophisticated discussion in the workplace how they integrate different approaches that resonate with people in different ways yet help in similar ways. This kind of respecting diversity when done properly can help with improving business outcomes.
Next time we explore and compare Spirituality and Quantum physics.