DEBRA AND WILLIAM MILLER ON
SPIRITUALITY
 Interview with Debra and William Miller
"Increasing interest in spirituality in the workplace
is due to an overall evolution in consciousness, which we are experiencing as
human beings."
Interview by - Pradip
Sinha,
Associate Consultant,
ICMR (IBS Center for Management Research).
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Debra founded Masterful Mission in
1991 as a coaching organization working with executives, business owners and
entrepreneurs to bring out their deepest values and most natural talents. As
a US-based national speaker and workshop leader, Debra has spoken to
thousands of people about the topics of her two books, Beyond Motivation and
Beyond Prospecting and her coaching methodologies, "Business by Design" and
"Spiritual Life-Design". Before founding Masterful Mission, Debra managed
corporate accounting, finance, and information technology departments for
two oil and gas firms, one international and the other US-based. |
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William has been an internationally
recognized expert on values driven corporate renewal and innovation since the
mid-1980s, when he was a senior consultant for innovation management at SRI
International (Stanford Research Institute, USA). As president of the Global
Creativity Corporation since 1987, he has explored with clients-who have
included over 100 corporations in more than a dozen countries worldwide -how
creativity, business, and spirituality are all facets of the same jewel. Two
of his four books have been rated among the top 30 business books of the
year in the US and his 4-CD audio program, The Art of Spiritual Leadership
in Business, was released in the US in 2003. He has been a guest faculty
member at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (India) and the
Stanford University Graduate School of Business (USA). Throughout his
career, William has maintained his devotion to his most deeply-held
spiritual values, continually finding ways to create work as worship. |
Debra and William Miller co -founded the US
based Global Dharma Center (www.globaldharma.org) as a non-sectarian,
non-profit spiritual institution in May, 2000. As a way to focus on
leadership in the South Asian region, they co-founded an India-based NGO,
the Center For Dharmic Leadership, in January, 2005. Together, Debra and
William have dedicated more than 50 years of their combined corporate and
consulting experience to inspiring and empowering people of all professions
to live and work from a spiritual basis. They have authored numerous books
and audio programs and currently co-author a column on "Spirituality at
Work" for the spirituality website of the Times of India (http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articlelist/8365009.cms)
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Many of us fail to distinguish between religion
and spirituality. Is there a difference between the two? If yes, what
according to you is the difference?
Each religion has its own understanding of the nature of creation and the
Creator; this diversity provides people with different avenues for
realizing the one unifying spiritual basis that we all share. But a
religion that only focuses on the outer form of rites and rituals has lost
its essence. When rituals become the prime focus in a religion rather than
the spiritual nature it is intended to unite us with, then the differences
become all-important. The result can be outright warfare, rather than the
inclusive, unifying nature of spirituality.
Because spirituality is the single essence of all religions, it is by
nature inclusive of all people and religions, rather than exclusive. From
a spiritual (unity) view, the differences in religious understanding and
practices deserve respect. The role of any religion is to help people tap
into their spirituality, and to support that spirituality in the shared
circumstances of life and work. Spirituality allows people of all
religions to work together in harmony, even in the "secular" world of
business. |
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What are the challenges faced by the world of
business today? Can spirituality play a role in overcoming these challenges?
Regarding the challenges of globalization: Spirituality is relevant to
globalization in that it is naturally inclusive. Since spirituality is the
thread that connects all beings and all religious/ spiritual traditions, it
allows us to connect at a deeper level in order to overcome language and
cultural barriers. The inclusive nature of spirituality allows us to respect the
local cultures while reaching across cultures to promote greater collaboration.
It also supports us to harmonize diversity and generate goodwill solutions that
benefit everyone.
While speaking at the 2004 World Urban Forum in Barcelona, Spain, we were
acutely aware of the global consciousness that is fast becoming a reality in our
world. But how do business leaders embrace this global consciousness from a
spiritual basis? While pondering over this, we found a speech given by Steven C
Rockefeller in August, 2004, at the University of the Philippines. Steven
Rockefeller, Chairman of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, worked with a large
number of international groups to produce the Earth Charter, a UN initiative
calling for establishing "a sound ethical foundation for the emerging global
society and to help build a sustainable world based on respect for nature,
universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace." In his speech,
he gave a unique perspective about globalization:
"A new planetary civilization is beginning to emerge, and it is interconnecting
all cultures. The communications, transportation, and economic systems that are
creating this global society are expressions of an industrial-technological
society. In order for this new planetary civilization to fully realize its
potential, it must generate a spiritual and ethical consciousness consistent
with its geographical, ecological, intellectual, social, and economic situation.
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