Leading Spiritually

Ten Effective Approaches to Workplace Spirituality

J. Marques, S. Dhiman, J. Marques, S. Dhiman

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781137455628
• eBook ISBN: 9781137455635
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Ethics
• Index: Business

Leading Spiritually reviews workplace spirituality from revered streams such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism, but also from a stance of personal reflection, self-leadership, and powerful interpersonal relationships.

CHAPTER 1

WAKEFUL AT WORK: A SPIRITUAL APPROACH

Joan Marques

A DEEPER LOOK INTO SLEEPWALKING AND WAKEFULNESS

Wakefulness is a concept we don’t often think about, because it seems logical that when we have our eyes open and walk, talk, brainstorm, and perform, we are wakeful. Yet, this is not how wakefulness will be interpreted in this chapter. Rather, we will consider wakefulness as a psychological state of alertness, or awareness, which goes beyond the apparent non-sleeping mode we experience through the day. Looking at wakefulness this way helps us understand that we may have our eyes wide open, perform our daily tasks, and still be mentally asleep. This “autopilot” behavior may therefore best be described as “sleepwalking.” There are many people who sleepwalk through life. Some wake up for short or longer times, but doze off again after a while. We will now first explain sleepwalking, the mental state in which so many people reside, in some more detail.

Sleepwalking is what we do when we go through the motions, day after day, year after year, without really questioning ourselves or our circumstances, and without considering our actions in a larger scope. In professional terms, it is a long-term, mechanical way of performing for an income in order to cover our expenses and hopefully have some extra disposable funds left, without considering factors such as meaning, purpose, or long-term satisfaction. When you sleepwalk, you don’t entertain the possibility of a connection between your actions and your passion. Work is just a dreadful requirement, and you don’t think of ways to make it more enjoyable. In personal terms, sleepwalking is the enduring, mechanical dwelling in a relationship, neighborhood, or other situation without reflecting on any possible change.

Sleepwalkers tread through their personal and professional life without questioning whether their circumstances are fulfilling to them. Their actions are often provoked by habit or tradition, or as a response to popular trends of the moment. Unfortunately, sleepwalkers don’t reflect on the possible link between their actions and their passions. People who continue traditions without examining their usefulness, but simply because they have been done this way for the longest time, are sleepwalking.

Mental Models

The sleepwalking mode manifests itself in many ways, and definitely in our perceptions of the world. We may think that everybody sees the world the way we do, but such is not the case. All people have mental models. Mental models are our internal pictures of how the world works.¹ They are our personal, deeply ingrained ideas about all that we see and experience, and can become tremendous impediments in tolerating or embracing new ways of thinking and behaving. When we are unaware of our mental models, we have a tendency to cling to old, established, comfortable paths of thinking and behaving.

Our mental models surface through the things we believe and the convictions we hold. This may clarify why two people can hear the same phrase, but interpret it very differently: one may hear a compliment, while the other may hear a sneer. Due to the fact that mental models are not just cultural or ideological, but also character driven, we don’t just find them differing between people from different cultures, but sometimes between people from the same society, workplace, or even family!

Even though our mental models are flawed, we need them, because they help us formulate simple and acceptable explanations for complex situations.² That is why mental models have a rather vague foundation, so that we can apply them, even if they are actually incorrect.³ We develop behavioral patterns on the basis of our mental models. We develop beliefs about how our devices work, for instance, and take extra measures because of those beliefs. If your computer is frequently crashing, you may develop the mental model of shutting it down in a particular way to prevent another crash. When you purchase a new computer, you may apply the same mental model to this new machine, even if it is unnecessary.

There are numerous ways in which our mental models are formed. Culture and tradition are powerful mental model prompters. In America, for example, members of society have developed the mental model that individualism is the most logical way for humans to perform. Selfish gain is therefore considered very normal. In this society, a person who can swiftly acquire wealth or revenues demonstrates great understanding of the dominant mental model. This is to show that mental models, or perceptions, are not always internally formed. While they may become our internal pictures of how the world works over time, our mental models are often prompted externally by people and circumstances that influence us.

Two other external instigators of mental models are culture and religion. While culture and religion often create long-term bonds between members of a society, and help keep peace and order, they also facilitate viewpoints that are difficult to overcome. Unfortunately, some cultures, as well as some religions, instill an “us” versus “them” mind-set within their members, thus causing a sense of separation between the followers and non-followers of the conceptual cohort: this mind-set, then, becomes a fertile ground for discrimination.

An interesting example of a troublesome religious mental model was portrayed in the death sentencing of Mariam Yehya Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Sudanese woman, who was raised by her mother as a Christian after the Muslim father abandoned the family. Now, after marrying a Christian man, the court declared that Mariam was a Muslim and therefore not allowed to consider herself a Christian. She was accused of apostasy and adultery and sentenced to 100 lashes and hanging until dead, because the local societal mental model did not consider freedom of religious choice an option.⁴

People who are void of a sense of connection with individuals of another group don’t have problems with treating these “outsiders” poorly, especially since their cohort leaders seem to support this mind-set. Now it may also be clear why it is so easy for some leaders to accept salaries that are about 500 times higher than their employees. It is the “us” versus “them” mind-set that enables them to develop this sense of entitlement, born from the notion that others, for some reason, don’t deserve the same.

EFFECTS OF SLEEPWALKING

So, why is sleepwalking such a pervasive trend? It is because human beings prefer to dwell in their comfort zones and become change averse. Once we have developed a pattern, it is just easier and less energy consuming to repeatedly follow the same habitual path. It is like performing on autopilot. But there are limits to everything: performing on autopilot for too long can derail our focus on new trends, and new trends keep emerging, whether we like them or not. Especially in professional environments, it will be self-destructive to behave like a sleepwalker.

Still, many of us fall prey to this mindless trend. We often make choices that feel good at one time. Over the years, however, we change, but fail to thoroughly consider this change process, so we have a hard time accepting that we now dislike something we considered marvelous once upon a time. Yet, nothing is permanent. We live in a world where even our life is not infinite, let alone our relationships or circumstances. We are in constant flux, and regularly move up and down the ladder of progress: sometimes upward, and sometimes downward. In the 2008 economic downturn, many people experienced the reality of this fluctuation: some people lost jobs that they had thought to keep until retirement. Yet, from one day to another, they lost their cherished homes and some even became homeless. Because of life’s unpredictability, we owe it to ourselves to remain mindful and refrain from sleepwalking.

Regardless of the measures we take to safeguard our circumstances, we don’t have the ability to ensure that our life will be a smooth ride. When we face challenges, we may learn to see their purpose, especially when they shake us at our core. This causes us to refocus, snap out of the sleepwalking habit, and start to think creatively.

Thinking creatively is an immediate consequence of wakefulness. As we become more alert of the shifting conditions of things around us, we realize that old solutions will not effectively solve new challenges. Our chance of success increases tremendously when we apply creativeness and stop doing what everybody else does.⁵ As an example, when we lose one job, we should not limit ourselves to looking for another one in exactly the same field. Instead of trying to recapture the old routine, we could consider the fact that we were disconnected from our previous comfort zone as an invitation to explore a different path.

CEASING OUR SLEEPWALK AND GUARDING OUR WAKEFULNESS

Before we can undertake any action toward sleepwalking, we have to become wakeful, thus be aware that we are doing it, and that is often the biggest challenge. It’s almost as challenging as trying to discover that you are sleeping while you are asleep. The tendency to sleepwalk is so widespread, so common, that many people will choose to remain in denial and claim that they are not sleepwalking, but are very wakeful instead. Psychology researchers, however, are in general agreement that most human performance is mindless, and, hence, based on sleepwalking. “Without deliberative and reflective conscious activity, humans are simply mindless automatons.”⁶

Becoming and remaining wakeful is not easy. It might help, therefore, to consider the following:

1. Being wakeful (or mindful) is not a one-time project. It requires ongoing effort, because it can evaporate so easily when we settle into our activities, work, or lifestyles. Fortunately, wakefulness can be polished regularly, for instance, through meditation, or through regular scanning of your thoughts,⁷ and asking yourself whether you are being mindful or mindless. The more you ask yourself that question, the more deliberate your actions will become, and the fewer mindless moments you will have.

2. Life is a continuous sequence of wakefulness disruptions, which may come in many forms: problems at home or work, relationship issues, loss, or illness, which can give rise to old bad habits and distract you from your mindfulness efforts,⁸ thus propelling you back into sleepwalking mode.

3. The many distractions and setbacks in work and private life may cause your mindfulness efforts to stall regularly or progress so slowly that you get discouraged.⁹ Of course, setbacks are the best opportunities to prove your determination and test your mindfulness. But that is easier said than done.

4. Your goals may infringe on your wakefulness efforts.¹⁰ You may get so geared up about reaching a goal that you suddenly realize that you have placed your mindfulness efforts on hold, and have fallen into many of your old sleepwalking habits. Goals are great, but they can also be powerful distractions to remaining mindful.

5. Achieving your goals...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Introduction
• 1. Wakeful at Work: A Spiritual Approach
• 2. The Ethical and Spiritual Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā
• 3. Spirituality at Work: The Umbrella of Trust
• 4. Three-Dimensional Leaders: Complexity, Soul at Work, and Business Success
• 5. Inviting Buddha to Work
• 6. The Relationship of the Bases of Competence Skills to Workplace Spirituality
• 7. A Saint’s Clarion Call to Humanity
• 8. Evolution as a Spiritual Journey
• 9. Wisdom of a Leader
• 10. Influences of Religion on Spirituality in the Workplace
• List of Contributors
• Index