Spirituality in the Workplace – What’s that?
Spirituality in the workplace? What is that? Is it Christian evangelism in disguise? Or converting break rooms into yoga and meditation rooms? The topic is being covered by everyone from Business Week to bloggers and we’re seeing an explosion of books about the topic. In books like Jesus as CEO to Your Soul at Work, more and more authors are talking about living out your faith and values at work. I spent one day this week talking to the SC EAP professionals (http://www.sceapa.com/ ) about this topic at their state meeting and I thought I would share a little bit of what we talked about with my blog readers.
My topic was Spirituality in the Workplace: Living Your Values. First up was the challenge of defining what we are talking about when we talk about spirituality. What is that nebulous thing we refer to as spirituality? Is it Religion? Belief? Faith? Actions? Caring for the environment? Yes. Author Jennifer Laabs says that defining spirituality in the workplace is “like capturing an angel, ethereal and beautiful, but perplexing.” Spirituality is one of those words with many definitions and decidedly different nuances. When I asked the group to define spirituality, I got answers like ”faith and values,” “living out your inner faith in connection with others in the world around you” “living your life with meaning,” ”connecting with the source” and single words like mystery, grace, wisdom. Ian Mitroff defines spirituality as the “desire to find ultimate purpose in life, and live accordingly.” Spirituality recognizes that there is something sacred at the core of all existence, an underlying commonality in human life. Paul Tillich calls this the “ground of being.” Spirituality is multi-layered and multi-dimensional, but it clearly has to do with connecting with a deeper source of wisdom and knowing and living out our values in our everyday lives.
But how do you do that at work? The workplace is now very much a center of community for many people. We spend more hours at work than any other one place. With 40 or 50 + hours at work each week, our co-workers often become our community. We eat lunch with co-workers, share cubicle walls, struggle together with absurd corporate directives and impossible work loads. Think the number of Maslow’s needs which are met in your life at work - $ for food, water, shelter; security; friendship; feelings of accomplishment, respect of others, self-esteem. If we can’t live out our spirituality at work, then we have severely limited time outside work to get it all in.
In their book, Spirituality in the Workplace, authors Joan Marques, Satinder Dhiman and Richard King offer this definition of spirituality in the workplace:
“an experience of interconnectedness among those involved in a work process initiated by authenticity, reciprocity, and personal goodwill, engendered by a deep sense of meaning that is inherent in an organization’s work; and resulting in greater motivation and organizational excellence.”
Our group spent some time dissecting that rather wordy definition and liked most of the pieces found. “Interconnectedness” resonated deeply as participants shared the deep relationships they had developed with their co-workers. (Granted, I was talking to a group of mostly therapists and counselors – of course, they are going to “connect” each other).
We discussed working with a deep sense of meaning – easy if you are a counselor or therapist and spend your days helping others cope a little better with life, but as one person asked “How do you work with meaning when your work is making widgets?” I thought the guys at Gerald’s Tires here in Mt. Pleasant. Maybe they are faking it – but those guys always seem to be high energy, great at customer service and genuinely caring about the best tires for my ancient Toyota Sienna van (with over 200,000 miles – I’m trying to keep it rolling to 300,000). They rotate my tires for free and even quick fix a flat – gratis. They get it – tires are important so that people can go about their lives without hassle – and they’re always “just having fun!”
After a survey of the literature, I came up with a list of words and phrases – all of which are used in some place or another to define a piece of that thing we call spirituality in the workplace. Here’s the list. See what you think
- Provides vision for growth - both personal and corporate
- Articulates purpose
- Promotes creativity
- Is life-fulfilling
- Promotes service – not just profits
- Meaningful work/vocation
- Works out of passion
- Congruent with life values
- Values contribution
- Emphasizes sustainability
- Cultivates inclusion
- Develops principles for ethical workplace practices
Part two: Should I stay or should I go? Questions for getting unstuck in your career
Questions for Getting Unstuck in your Career
These five sets of questions won’t tell you if you should become a novelist, go to nursing school, open your own coffee and book shop, or work in IT. Your own answers to these questions will, however, suggest whether you should stay in your ho-hum job and give it all you’ve got or get up the gumption to follow your bliss in a different direction.
So, sit down with a cup of something hot and soothing, and write out the answers to the questions. You don’t have to write complete sentences. The grammar police won’t care. You can even use bullet points to get your ideas down – but it is important to write down the answers. You can see where you are in black and white and begin to look for patterns and possibilities. Write the date at the top of the page (yes, just like you did in school) so you will remember just how you were feeling on this particular date in your life.
1 – Do you have to pretend to be someone else to get through your work day? Do you have to put on a persona or can you just be yourself? Does your job allow you to work with people who share your ideas and values?
2 – Does this job fit you so well that sometimes work feels like play? Do the actual tasks you carry out day-to-day energize you and feed your soul or leave you feeling drained and burned out? What values do you find yourself living out in your work?
3- What compromises do you find yourself making to stay in this job? Think about family, personal growth, achievement, stability, etc.
4- How do feel about what you accomplish each day – the end result or product of your work? Are you proud of what you do? Does this job open the door for promotions or more appealing future jobs – or is it a career dead end?
5- Pull out your crystal ball and look into the future. Is this really what you want to be doing for the rest of your life? In five years, what would you like to be doing? In ten years, where do you want to be in your career?
Getting unstuck
I always have a bit of an existential crisis when someone asks “what do you do?” I’m trained as a therapist with years of experience helping individuals and families through various life crises. But I have transitioned into the fuzzy world of life and career coaching and sometimes it’s hard to put that into the proverbial nutshell or the trendy “elevator speech.” What do I do? Well, I’m finding more and more that what I do is help people get unstuck.
We all run into sticky places in our lives. We’re stuck in a job that feels meaningless and never-ending – or we’ve just been let go from a job we loved and are facing a rough and rocky job market. We’re burned out from too much stress or from too much caretaking. A life disappointment has turned into grief that has turned into paralysis and we can’t seem to move ourselves forward. We’re trying to breathe life back into our tired old situation and it’s just not working. We’re paralyzed by a big decision and unsure what choice to make. We’re just stuck in the muck of our life and feel stymied, stagnant, at a loss. We’re stuck.
So, how do you get unstuck? The first step in getting unstuck is actually not a step. The first thing to do is sit down right in the middle of the mud and muck of your life and take stock of where you are. As we thrash and struggle to get out of the mud, we are often just digging the hole deeper. So, stop fighting the mud and just sit down and consider where you are – in your life, relationships, career, finances, health.. Each stuck place is an opportunity to look a little deeper and understand who you are and where you really want to be going. Consider these three questions:
1. What are the positives in my life right now? Your job is terrible but you had dinner with a good friend last night who made you laugh. Your finances are a shambles but you have a roof over your head and your blood pressure is holding steady. Make a list of all the positives you can think of in your life right this minute. At least, the dog loves you, right? Write down your list and tape it to your bathroom mirror. Now breathe. If you can’t think of anything at all, call me.
2. What is it about this situation that has to change? Be specific. Not just, I hate this freaking job and I need to quit – but what is it about the job that you hate? Be specific… no, more specific. Don’t say “I hate this work environment,” say ”I hate that my co-worker burns the popcorn in the microwave every afternoon and it smells terrible.” ”I hate spending five hours a day in front of a computer.” “I really don’t like making cold calls.” “I hate commuting an hour each way.” Make a list of the specifics.
3. Who’s on your team? Make a list of the people who care about you and support you. Start with your mother, even if she’s crazy. Add your friends, siblings, co-workers, that old teacher who believed in you. Who are the people you can call on for support? Find one person, call them up and tell them what’s going on in your life and that you are in the process of getting unstuck.
In the next series of posts, I’m going to be writing about ways to get yourself unstuck from the muck in your life. Stay tuned.
What big problems are you trying to solve?
Follow your bliss. Find your passion and pursue it. Do what makes you happy. Countless books have been written on the topic. Career coaches often start with those kind of questions. But for this generation of job seekers,
we may need to change the questions.
They’re calling them the “jobless generation.” As more and more students graduate from college and graduate school, weighed down with student loans which seemed quite reasonable a few short years ago and facing an economy with fewer and fewer jobs, it’s time to start asking some big questions.
Oliver Segovia, a 2010 graduate of Harvard Business School, offers these words of wisdom for all of us. Do we focus on finding our passion, that career that will bring us joy and fulfillment – or do we focus on solving the “BIG” problems of the world? Can we find a blend of the two?
Segovia writes
“I propose a different frame of reference: Forget about finding your passion. Instead, focus on finding big problems.
Putting problems at the center of our decision-making changes everything. It’s not about the self anymore. It’s about what you can do and how you can be a valuable contributor. People working on the biggest problems are compensated in the biggest ways. I don’t mean this in a strict financial sense, but in a deeply human sense. For one, it shifts your attention from you to others and the wider world. You stop dwelling. You become less self-absorbed. Ironically, we become happier if we worry less about what makes us happy. ”
Frederick Buechner said it a different way for an earlier generation: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
― Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC
Read Segovia’s article here To Find Happiness, Forget About Passion and let me know what you think. I’ve always asked this question in some form – but maybe I need to lead with: What big problem do you want to solve?
Are there any good careers left out there? Predicting the Top 5 Growth Career fields for 2012 and beyond
Today, I’m putting on my psychic scarf and looking into my crystal ball. Well, actually, I don’t own a crystal ball so I’ll just use the cat’s water dish. It’s time to predict the future!
In this difficult economy, one question that I am frequently asked is “Where are the jobs?” People are asking… What are the fields that show continued growth even in these troubled times? What are the hot jobs? What are the fields students can enter which have a positive outlook for job prospects in the next few years?
From students struggling to choose a college major that will actually net a job in four years to displaced workers seeking training in a new field, I’ve talked with lots of people asking these questions. I decided to try to find some answers.
After an admittedly unscientific survey of several information sites, including the Bureau of Labot Statistics, O*Net, several college career websites, Faith Popcorns future trends, and a host of other sites, here are the top jobs for the next few years, as predicted by the great career psychic, Anita Sees All Flowers
Top Five Growth Career Fields for 2012 and beyond
And the number one field on almost everyone’s list… you guessed it..
- Technology and computers. Network systems and data administrators, data mining specialists, computer programmers, computer software engineers, video game software developers, web designers, social media specialists, computer repair specialists, and other computer technology jobs are in demand. Just today on Monster.com alone, over 1000 jobs were posted for IT specialists. You can increase your chances of finding a job even more if you specialize in fields like cybersecurity or health information technology. Biomedical engineering (those folks who invent and improve things like cochlear implants, fake knees and other things we haven’t even imagined yet) is predicted to experience 72% growth in the next few years. Biomedical equipment technology (those people who fix all the machines we use to get and stay healthy) is another area with high growth prospects.
- Health care. Yes, we’re all getting old and everyone still gets sick. Even with the continuing changes in the way we pay for health care, we will still need doctors and nurses and health care providers. The hottest jobs in the field look to be home health aides, B.S.R.N.s, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, social workers, pharmacists, physician assistants and anyone who specializes in working with the elderly. In some areas of the country, there are shortages and recruitment bonuses for some of these fields.
- Trades. Jobs are being outsourced to the cheaper labor market overseas at the speed of sound, but it’s just not possible for someone in India to cut my hair and…shhh, get rid of the gray. No, that job goes to Mary Anne Aimar at Courtyard and Company right here in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Ditto the guys who keep my ancient Toyota Sienna van running – with almost 217,000 miles. These are the jobs that are not going to go away – hair stylists, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, HVAC service techs, auto mechanics, etc. Think about the jobs that are hands-on and can’t be outsourced and you’re probably looking at a growing field in this country. For those trained and certified in green technology, the outlook is positive and, on not such a green note, the demand for truck drivers continues to rise as well.
- Education. Surprise! Education was on almost everyone’s list as a growth field, even given the cutbacks in funding most schools are experiencing at this time. The Best Degrees ranks a Master’s in Education Administration as the fourth best degree in terms of job prospects and salary outlook (No surprise, the top three degrees were in science and technology – MBA in technology management, Ph.D. in computer science, and B.S. in software engineering.) Other careers noted as having significant growth potential were early childhood teachers and childcare workers, science and math teachers, ESL teachers, and educational administrators in both K-12 schools and colleges and universities.
- Business and finance. Maybe not banking, but there’s a positive outlook for growth for accountants and auditors. Financial analysts and advisors are also expected to be in demand. Other jobs, such as director of sales, HR professionals, and market research professionals are growing. However, the middle management and entry level and administrative positions are harder and harder to find. Many lists also cited international business and the professions that support it – such as international law and international banking specialists – as areas that will experience significant growth. Two interesting areas to keep an eye on are e-commerce (selling over the Web) and forensic accounting (using accounting, auditing, and investigative skills in legal matters).
And that’s just the top five.. two other areas that were frequently noted included:
Arts and Communication. If you can combine talent with technology, you are in business. More and more companies and businesses want multi-media productions for advertising, sales and PR. Graphic designers, directors, producers, videographers, copy writers, musicians are all needed, not to make the next X Men 12, but to create productions for in-house and advertising use.
Hospitality, tourism and the service industry. Good chefs, fitness trainers, and business event planning specialists are in demand. Hotels and restaurants are hiring and continue to grow.
Bonus: Learn to speak Spanish… or another language. That’s a one up in the job market if you are fluent in another language… particularly Spanish for the U.S. market.
If you want to look up the outlook for a particular field, O*Net Online, created by the U.S. Dept of Labor, is a good resource.
So, what do you think? Do I miss a field that you think is gonna be hot? Post a comment and let me know!
Anita’s new blog
Hi friends,
I really don’t know where to start with this so I’m just jumping in. The picture (by photographer Alison Flowers Hollis) says no diving – so I’m going to cannonball into the deep end with a big messy splash. It may not be pretty but at least I’ll be in the water.
I’m jumping in to the blogosphere with a blog that focuses on issues surrounding life and work and the dreams that we all have for our lives. live.work.dream.
I’ll be talking about questions such as:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Can you really balance family and career?
Wouldn’t you love to have a job that makes you look forward to getting out of bed each day?
How do you find a job in today’s difficult economy? What are the job trends for 2012 and beyond? What do I really want to do with my life? I’m a high school senior… what should I major in? You get the picture.
In my work as a life, leadership and career coach and trainer with Pinnacle Leadership Associates, I listen to people struggle with these questions everyday. From high school juniors to mid-life career changers to 60 years olds looking for a “retirement career”, everyone is searching for their authentic work that they hope will lead them to a rich and fulfilling life. How do you begin to find those answers?
So for a jump start, I’ll give you two questions that I often start the conversation with. First, consider:
What are your favorites? Your favorite things to do? These are things that you like to do and do well. What activities make you lose track of time? What are your favorite things to study and talk about? Issues that get you fired up. Topics that you like to read about. What are your favorite hobbies and sports? In essence, what are your favorites? Make a list… a long list of your “favorites.”
The second question:
What would you regret not fully doing, having, or accomplishing in your life? What’s your big dream that you don’t want to give up on? Big dreams aren’t just about writing a bestseller or winning the Nobel Prize. Dreams can be about having a great family life, traveling the world, owning a beach house, gaining your mother or father’s respect, or learning to surf. What are those dreams that you’ve held onto for years? Again, write them down.. make a list… and then ponder.
Look at your list. Are there patterns? things that show up again and again? Sleep on it. Talk about it. Begin the search for the answers. It’s your life – live it!
