First of all, let’s get one thing straight: this is not an article debating the existence of God.
Any reference to God, or organised religion, can prove a stumbling block for many and stop them even entering a discussion about spirituality because the topic can be so divisive.
This is exactly what Dr Shaun Davis, Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Director, Belron International, found when tentatively introducing the Wellbeing pillar of ‘spirituality’ to the existing mental, physical, social and financial pillars. As a Catholic who goes to mass, religion plays a part in his particular definition, but he stresses that the idea of spirituality is much wider and more multifaceted than just this.
We are approaching a ‘spiritual’ season
Given we are approaching a particularly ‘spiritual’ season for traditional religions – not just for Christianity, but also Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Paganism – this seems an apt time to start this conversation.
“Spirituality is about how you connect with yourself, with others, with the whole universe, even, and believing in something bigger than yourself,” says Dr Davis. “The reason I love the idea of spirituality is that it can be whatever anybody wants it to be. It’s not binary like physical or financial wellbeing, for example, which you’ve either got or you haven’t.”
He was doing a presentation on spirituality in the workplace once and remembers a colleague chipping in, saying their spirituality was baking. This prompted another to say his was spending time with his grandchildren, another talked about dog walking in nature, and yet another talked about volunteering.
‘Spirituality’ can be jarring
“When I talk about spiritual health, I deliberately use this term interchangeably with ‘emotional health’ because I understand it can be jarring for some,” says Dr Davis. “They think I’m telling them to go to church, or talking about angels and crystals or tarot cards! Your idea of spirituality could be this, of course, but there are many ways you can fill your spiritual bucket.”
The common thread of the activities his colleagues cited is that they make the individual feel good about themselves and their place in the world, even forgetting their ‘self’ as they become absorbed in the moment. Spirituality is also associated with a sense of meaning and purpose, inner growth, compassion and service towards others.
The research showing the link between spirituality and wellbeing is now “incontestable” according to Dr Alistair Appleby, an academic GP and health and spirituality researcher. A plethora of studies have now been done, into both broad spiritual practices as well as more traditional religion, and found positive effects on psychological wellbeing, stress and anxiety levels, physical health, coping skills, social wellbeing and a sense of life’s meaning.
Spirituality linked to altruism
“We know that spirituality tends to create more altruistic behaviour and a recognition that relationships are incredibly important,” he says. “And, on the flipside, it makes sense that if you don’t believe in what you’re doing, and it’s not in line with your values, then when things are tough and unpleasant, you’re going to start feeling unhappy, aren’t you?”
Another key concept in spirituality, which is reflected in many religious traditionals globally, is the idea of the “true self” or “inner self”, sometimes even called “divine self” (though that is bound to make some readers bristle – keep reading for how this is hugely helpful in improving productivity and innovation!).This points to the belief that humans have a “surface” or “false” self – the ego – but, deeper down, a more authentic, spiritual self where full potential can be unlocked.
Proponents of bringing spirituality into the workplace argue that, if we can collectively tap into these true selves, then we can operate much more in-the-moment which leads to better productivity, more creative ideas, more compassion, less unhelpful conflict, better listening, to name just a few attributes.
Putting ‘soul’ back into organisations
Nicholas Brice, Founder/CEO of Soul Corporations, and author of The Mindful Communicator, is one such person. He’s made it his “mission” to “put soul into organisations”, finding that the word “soul” is more readily accepted in corporate environments. He believes that the low rates of staff engagement at work (he quotes 62%, which he says is 8% lower than pre Covid) and the rising rates of mental health problems are largely down to the fact modern digital-hybrid workplaces lack soul and many employees are operating out of ego predominantly, rather than their true selves:
“Our egoic self is task-positive. You may be fighting the waves, wrestling with sharks, and struggling to stay afloat, on the surface of the choppy waters. But, if you go under the water, you’ll find this deeper, more contemplative, centred, grounded self. In that self you can have a deeper, more fruitful connection and conversation. But if you stay in ego, you may be addicted to getting tasks done and motivated by extrinsic motivators like money, property, power, prestige… And you won’t feel truly connected to your colleague, or your work. When you align to a deeper sense of purpose, you release a new form of dynamic energy that is more resilient and present.”
The ego drives dopamine-hits and addictions
It’s the ego, too, he argues, that drives addictions to the short-term dopamine hits leading to illnesses of ‘dis-ease’ like alcoholism and other compulsive behaviours, which are also on the rise. Given that one of our most read articles of all time is ‘4 ways to tame your ego at work’, it would suggest that our readers already recognise that ego is a problem at work, which is a positive start.
Brice is particularly worried about workplaces becoming more “soulless” in the advent of hybrid working, where so many people are task-focused and communicating superficially, rather than being fully present. It’s now become common, socially acceptable, even, for people to attend online meetings and put their camera off, or be looking at their phones while they half-listen.
“With meetings on screens you’ve got a simulation of a community that’s not really a community,” he says. “You have a whole load of new behaviours that would not be permissible in a normal working culture where everyone’s together. Our hypothesis is that this is creating a much less soulful, connected, vibrant workplace.”
Being present leads to new possibilities
One of Soul Corporations’ clients, a senior leader in the retail industry, says she has reaped the benefits of taking a more spiritual, soulful approach to work. She gives the example of leaving her phone outside of a meeting and instead of thinking about what she’s going to say, she now concentrates on what the other person is saying.
What she’s found is that “conversations go in entirely different realms and possibilities that they never would have done before and it’s made me a much better leader”.
While Dr Appleby is a huge believer in the positive power of spirituality and its potential to boost workplace wellbeing, he is cautious about how this is done by corporations, underlining the need to consider ethics carefully.
We can’t ‘own’, but we can embrace, employees’ spirituality
“Spirituality and moral and ethical frameworks are closely related and it would be dangerous and wrong, I think, to suggest that spirituality can be appropriated for profit,” he says. “There would be something quite sinister about that.”
Instead he urges employers, especially if egos get pulled in by the compelling research and the desire to corporatise, that they “resist” the urge to “own” it. He doesn’t believe this approach would ever work and encourages them to take a much gentler approach:
“Businesses can’t own spirituality, any more than they can own someone’s religion. But while we can’t own employees’ spirituality, we can certainly embrace it. We can invite it into the workplace. And when we do this, we’re likely to get the results that the research talks about, like more altruism and a greater sense of engagement with others and with our work.”
