Randy Siegel builds the people who build organizations.
Organizations hire Randy to transform high-potential employees into a new generation of leaders. Randy gives them the leadership and communications skills they need to rise through the organization.
CEOs hire Randy to help them become more charismatic leaders, spokespeople, and ambassadors for the organizations they serve.
Individuals retain Randy when they find themselves at a crossroads in their career or life. By connecting them with their power, passion, and purpose, Randy helps them rediscover their internal navigation system so that they know which path to take.
His work is based upon a proprietary process that facilitates self-discovery to clarify personal perspective, true purpose, and professional image.
For information on coaching: BuildYourInfluence.com
For information on training: BuildYourLeaders.com
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Randy@BuildYourLeaders.com
Phone: 828.236.0045
If you don’t know about my “Tip of the Week,” you’ll want to check it out. Every Sunday, I post a tip on BuildYourInfluence.com and BuildYourLeaders.com to help you advance your career and enrich your life. I get a lot of positive feedback; readers love them.
Here’s this week’s tip. I hope you’ll continue to check out the tip of the week when you can. It’s free, fun, and full of great information.
This month, we’ll examine whether spirituality has a place in the workplace.
The Power of Spirituality in the Workplace
I believe in altars. Altars invite what we hope to manifest in the physical world. One of my most powerful altar relics is an African mask. It’s not the traditional face mask; rather it’s a carving of a woman’s breasts and pregnant stomach. I am told that when a woman of a certain African tribe becomes pregnant, she straps this mask to her belly and dances.
I bought the belly mask at a time when I was going through a life transition. I now loan it to friends who are experiencing significant change in their lives. A friend whose nonprofit agency is shifting its focus now displays it in a special place at her office.
Soon the mask will return to my altar. I am going through another shift: I am rediscovering and reclaiming my spiritual self. For some, spirituality is a loaded word because many associate spirituality with organized religion. To me, spirituality is the basic desire to find meaning and purpose in one’s life. That means being connected to something larger than one’s self, and can include many paths: religion, nature, art, science, philosophy, or a noble idea. Based upon what I’ve seen in my practice, people are starving for it.
One of the places this hunger shows up most is at work. Many of us get to a point in our careers where we begin to wonder if Peggy Lee wasn’t right when she sang: “Is that all there is?”
I believe work can become spiritual practice, and when it does we become more:
- Energized and enthusiastic
- Creative and innovative
- Connected
- Resilient
- Peaceful
And our organizations benefit, too. Studies have shown that companies who embrace spirituality in the workplace experience improved:
- Absenteeism
- Morale
- Recruitment and Retention
- Profits
In some cases, the more spirited companies have outperformed others by 400 to 500 percent in terms of net earnings, return on investment, and shareholder value.
When work becomes spiritual practice, we take our whole selves to work, and work becomes a place for:
- Inner growth
- Expression
- Service
- Connection to our highest self, highest power or noble ideal, and each other
Recently, I posed the question on Linkedin.com: “Is there a place for spiritual intelligence in the workplace.” My question struck a nerve; many people responded. Here are a few of their comments:
"I believe that the freedom to express your spirituality at work should be respected. It defines who we are as human beings and can certainly define the culture of an organization. I believe the deeper the spirituality of an organization as a whole, the more you will find an associate population dedicated to the company, its mission and to each other."
Andrea Back
VP Marketing, Wells Real Estate Funds
"Living a life with meaning and purpose has very much to do with where or what we do for work. As you pointed out, spirituality is not commonly embraced in the workplace, yet job satisfaction is. So if we are able to recognize that one's unique passions, skills and talents are attached to their purpose, it becomes less about the spiritual and more about the practical nature of how an individual can contribute and thrive in the workplace doing what they love."
Susan Hanshaw
Do you feel spiritual intelligence has a place in the workplace? Let me know your thoughts, and I’ll post your responses. Let’s keep this conversation going.
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Copyright Randy Siegel 2008. All rights reserved.