Awakened Leadership: Four Ways to Expand Spirituality in the Workplace

Can leaders in the workplace weave spirituality into their practice?

I sat admiring the complexity of the doodle I had crafted on my notepad. This masterpiece brought to you by the Dean’s annual Fall term faculty address. I had zoned out after the first few sentences. Casually, I turned my attention to his words for a moment in an effort to piece together the gist of his message. But what caught my ear made me sit straight up and pause my work of art.

The Dean was giving instructions to the faculty on how to provide meaningful student feedback. He said, “You know, life and death is in the power of the tongue.” He went on to explain how biased projections about individual students would be self-fulfilling prophecies; if you believe a student is dishonest due to your internal judgments, then that student will be dishonest.

This guy is really quoting the Bible (Proverbs 18:21) AND the Law of Attraction during an open meeting? The institution we both worked for stressed a “no religion” policy. We were not permitted to openly pray or speak of our spiritual beliefs.

After the speech, I confronted the Dean about this. With a wink, he said, “God works in mysterious ways, and so do I.” He was interweaving faith and leadership in such a manner that the faculty didn’t realize they had just experienced a daily devotion.

Do you feel the calling to weave spiritual principles into your leadership style?

Overtly using spiritual terminology could cause triggering reactions in the workplace.

How can you both follow your heart while remaining tolerant?

It can feel inauthentic to hide your beliefs and saddening to witness the suffering of those within your sphere of influence.

Forbes Magazine reports that the world is more spiritual than ever post-pandemic. Leaders want to transpose their own spiritual journey to influence the expansion of others (https://shorturl.at/abpqT).

The problem is that generally people conflate Religion with Spirituality.

A recent study in the Strategic Direction Journal interviewed executives who report having successfully supplemented their leadership with spiritual practices:

One of the findings was an overall agreement that Spirituality is “A personal quest for meaning and connection” while Religion is “Following someone else’s prescribed meaning and purpose” (DOI:10.1108/SD-01-2021-0001). Therefore, the goal of these executives is to subtly guide others to discover their own meaning and purpose and how that relates to the company mission.

If the world desires meaning and purpose, let leaders answer the call!

Considering all of the above, I’m proposing to adopt a neutral concept that could be widely adopted regardless of spiritual convictions: Awakened Leadership.

A leader who is Awake is quietly following the spiritual expansion journey: observant, self-aware, and cognizant of others’ unique human conditioning.

As opposed to sleeping leaders who default to subconscious patterns, fall victim to emotional triggers, and show little to no empathy.

An Awakened Leader covertly weaves spirituality into the workplace (just like the Dean during the faculty meeting).

Here are four simple techniques to get started:

Honor Oneness

Accept that at our core, we are connected. We are all part of the Uni-verse (singing one song).

See yourself in others to encourage empathy. “I am the same way at times” or “I used to struggle with the same things.”

Recognize that life’s conditioning causes personality.

I've uploaded several guided meditations on my YouTube channel around intrapersonal relationships. Access them HERE.

Possible Affirmation: “I find ways to accept your worldview and know that your perspective is uniquely based on personal experiences. I will lead you based on this knowledge and meet you where YOU are.”

Practice Equanimity

Before reacting to them, you’ll check in with you. Almost every conflict could be eliminated if you took the time to ask “What in me is being triggered and needs my attention” instead of “how can I fix them and help them see the error of their ways?”

Focus on balancing the nervous system (Temperance).

Learn how to process your own emotional triggers (Download my Quick Guide for this HERE).

Possible Affirmation: “When you trigger me, I will look inward to find the real causes that go beyond this current situation. I will seek balance in myself before confronting you.”

Seek Wholeness

Self-awareness uncovers your shadow aspects. Shadows are the parts of you that are covertly skewing your perceptions that you aren’t aware of.

Be open to discovering your blindspots with grace.

Observing all of your parts allows for their integration. Self-knowledge eliminates suffering. The catch here is that as a leader you must be open to the possibility that you have shadows and blindspots. Guess what? Everyone does.

Possible Affirmation: “I continually seek aspects of myself that lie beneath the surface. While these parts may be difficult to face, I accept all of myself and consider this when making decisions.”

Physical Attunement

Practice regular body movement.

Become aware of your breathing throughout the day: take deep breaths. One telltale sign that you are experiencing a mental hijacking is short, quick, shallow breathing.

Check in with your body at least three times per day. Closing the eyes and scanning the body from the toes to the temple takes 30 seconds. Where are you feeling tension? Turn your awareness there and breathe into that area.

Being in tune with physical sensations allows you to move stuck emotions and help predict when you are being triggered to avoid knee-jerk reactions.

Possible Affirmation: “While this conversation is important, I am sensing a reaction in my body and would like to continue later so that I can respond instead of react.”

You can answer the call to be a spiritual leader in the workplace.

Those around you are yearning for expansion, peace, and purpose. They need your leadership.

Love to All!

I write about leadership, spiritual expansion, and sobriety. Please follow my social accounts and subscribe to my YouTube channel to view the video version of this article.

I just celebrated five years on the sobriety journey. Read my Medium article where I write a letter to my addicted self:

If you know someone who is on the brink of being completely sober and wants to stop the cycle of relapse, I'm offering a 28-day intense course that includes daily journaling, guided meditations, and three coaching sessions. DM for details!