Spirituality - RoundTable

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Companies like ServiceMaster in the US states one of its company objectives as: "To honor God in all we do", while Kyocera from Japan has its corporate motto as: "Respect the Divine and Love People." Even leaders from Indian companies are speaking about application of spirituality in business. What is the reason behind this increasing interest in spirituality? Is it a fad?

Prabhu Guptara

It is a fad, but what is wrong with that? Fads can be good and useful! But at least some of the reasons for the fad are negative ones, in that the impact of evolution in the west tore many people away from their spiritual roots in Christianity and the Bible. Now the children and grandchildren of these people are discovering that atheism may be fine as a means of protest against hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty, but atheism provides no answers regarding how to live as an individual or family or how to conduct business or community or political life. So spirituality is coming back....

Wayne Visser

I am not sure that interest in spirituality is increasing. It has always been there, in various forms. Perhaps there is a growing interest in spirituality outside of formal religious structures. The reasons for this could be many. Existential psychologist Viktor Frankl talked about the growing "existential neuroses", especially in affluent industrial nations. "We have the means, but not the meanings", he said. Hence, as people's material needs are met, their existential angst tends to increase. That is one possible explanation. Another is that uncertainty has increased in the world-change has become a constant. And with uncertainty, comes existential angst. Another reason could be that some of the problems we face-like global poverty and climate change-have prompted people to look outside of themselves, to wonder how they can make a difference to others. Such unselfish actions have always been linked with spirituality.

Alex Pattakos

I hope that what you are describing is not simply a fad! I think that part of the apparent increasing interest in spirituality in the workplace is a reflection -or function-of the disenchantment with the "way things are." On the other hand, many of the expressions like those you mention are simply manifestations of what already exists and has existed, albeit beneath the surface. What may have changed is the increasing transparency with which such expressions are now viewed. In other words, people are feeling more comfortable talking about and discussing "spiritual" matters at work. As a past president of Renaissance Business Associates (RBA), an international, nonprofit association of people committed to elevating the human spirit at work, I learned that spirituality in business has always existed and did not need to be created per se. In 1995, while still RBA's President, I helped sponsor an international conference that was entitled, Rediscovering the Soul of Business, and, in 1996, contributed to a book with this title.

Wayne Visser

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