Spirituality - RoundTable

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Your message to a business leader who would like to tap spirituality at her/his workplace?

Prabhu Guptara

First, go yourself personally to a relatively "neutral" or "non-threatening" or "safe" meeting such as those sponsored by the Trinity Forum in Europe. Then explore the subject in some minimum depth yourself, in order to understand the most common pitfalls and mistakes made in this area, so that you can steer around these. Spirituality is powerful-even Hitler was highly religious!-So don't mess around naively. Study it, and decide the best way forward before moving in public on it.

Wayne Visser

Focus on values. Engage with social, ethical and environmental issues. Create opportunities for employees to get involved in volunteering. Practice servant leadership.

Alex Pattakos

In line with my new book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles at Work, along with my experience as RBA President and as a pioneer for elevating the human spirit at work, I highly recommend that business leaders "tap spirituality at her/ his workplace" in a subtle, yet sustainable, way. In this regard, I suggest that the search for authentic meaning at work be their primary focus and that the language used be respectful of different traditions and belief systems. Building on the wisdom of my mentor, Dr. Viktor Frankl, Prisoners of Our Thoughts offers an antidote to the apparent lack of "spirituality" at work and provides guideposts for bringing spirituality into focus in a meaningful way. In brief, Frankl's System of Logo therapy is both "meaning" focused therapy and "spiritual" therapy. The word "logo" in Logotherapy comes from the same root word in Greek, "logos," that is found in the word, "dialogue." Actually, the origin of the word, dialogue, can be found in two Greek words- dia, meaning "through," and logos, most frequently but only roughly translated as "the meaning." Upon closer examination, the various translations of the word logos, a common Greek word, reveal that it has deep spiritual roots. In this regard, one of the first references to logos as "spirit" came from the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, around 500 BC. Interpreting logos in this way, that is, viewing it as a manifestation of spirit, carries with it significant implications, both conceptual and practical, for business leaders. By engaging employees, for instance, in authentic dialogue, business leaders, in effect, are helping to tap into spirituality at his/her workplace -without even knowing it! All human beings are spiritual beings; and through the process of authentic dialogue, this part of their humanness reveals itself.

Linda Sue Grimes

Do some research. Your function is not to try to convert your associates to a particular religion. Think of spirituality as a way of tapping into the best qualities of your workers their soul qualities. I highly recommend an audiocassette titled How to Spiritualize Business by Dennis Weaver, a long-time member and l ay minister of Self-Realization Fellowship.

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