When your source of motivation comes from your spiritual basis, you will naturally experience an equanimous detachment, while at the same time being fully dedicated to and acting toward your goal.

The chairman of a large corporation once told us:

If you worry about the fruits, then you have your attention on the scoreboard and not the ball. If you concentrate on the ball, the scoreboard will happen automatically. If you are looking at the scoreboard, you will lose the ball. If you do good work, you will get the returns, so do not worry about them.

The Bhagavad Gita further explains:

Do your worldly duty, but do it without any attachment to it or desire for its fruits. Keep your mind always on the Divine.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

In recent articles, we've spoken of three different pathways that people commonly choose for growing spiritually through their work: the paths of action, devotion, and wisdom. The path of wisdom leads us to work with the awareness that Divinity is in everyone and everything.

As the Sikh's book Adi Granth says:

God dwells in everything, God shines in every heart. Wherever I look, there is God; no one else is seen.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Purify

Spirituality means growing into the form of Divine Ideal. It is the transformation of your nature from human to Divine. This is brought about by Abhyasa, i.e., spiritual practice or Sadhana and Vairagya leading to renunciation.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Spiritual Practice: Spiritual Practice of Sadhana

Chanting of mantras and the practice of meditation are time-honoured traditions in oriental religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Christians use the concept of chanting in a variety of ways in their prayer. The Divine Office or Prayer of the Church is a rhythmic recitation or singing of the Psalms in monastic communities. For a Christian the practice of meditation is the practice of an 'awareness' of God in Christ. Equally, at the heart of the practice of Christian meditation is the essential onslaught on the 'ego' so that we may be completely free from its domination. Prophet Isaiah says (30:15): "In conversion and tranquillity lies your salvation".

Read more here: » Spiritual Practices: Christian Mantras And Meditation

In Vedic times, there were no temples as we know them today. Temples were constructed when kingdoms began to flourish. Anand Coomaraswamy observes that the rise of the temple represents the softening of the practice of yagya or sacrifice into puja.

A constructed temple is only a symbol of the original, the body. Is it wise then to chase the symbol, when you have the original?

Read more here: » Spiritual Practices: Mobile Temples of Mind and Body

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.

- Jack Nicklaus

(See also: Spiritual Quotes, Love Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Life Quotes)

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

As you explore how to work from a spiritual basis, it is natural that you might have some concerns or reservations about its' "practicality" in your work environment. Your concerns might be challenges you face in integrating your spiritual ideas with your work, and your reservations might include doubts or hesitations about working in a spiritual way.

For example, some people are positive about business and sceptical about spirituality:

- "Business and spirituality just don't mix."

- "You can't really be competitive in business if you're spiritual."

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

One of the questions we love to ask spiritual-based executives is, "How do you define business success?" While their answers are as unique and diverse as their personalities, invariably they have the same theme: to promote the inner happiness and fulfilment of everyone involved, and to sincerely make a positive contribution.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

"We are all spiritual beings first and foremost, we exist beyond our bodies'', say Debra and William Miller, an American couple who have launched an international research programme on spiritual-based leadership in business. William began his spiritual journey at Puttaparathi in 1982 under the guidance of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and made frequent trips to India thereafter.

But after marrying Debra in 1999, "we have come home to India, leaving our home in the US''. In an interview to Mahendra Ved, they say that they believe it is their dharma to help awaken spirituality in business, "and India is the best place to grow in our ability to do this'':

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Have you ever had a heart-to-heart conversation with a colleague, or small group at work, that left you feeling inspired and motivated? Have you ever wished that your organisation could be filled with these types of conversations, rather than the more typical "superficial" conversations?

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

If you're an executive who's committed to leading from a spiritual basis, you've undoubtedly considered its implications on your organisational culture. And you've probably wondered,

"Can a group of executives generate a spiritual foundation that revitalises the culture of an entire organisation - from which even its mission and values can emerge?"

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Several years ago William spoke at a large business symposium in New Delhi on the many varied aspects of becoming a spiritual-based leader in the workplace. During the question and answer session, a business executive asked him in a strong tone, "You've talked about how you can be spiritual and successful in business at the same time. India is known to be a spiritual nation. If we're so spiritual, why aren't we more successful in business and why is there so much corruption?"

William answered, "Over the last 10 years in the US, there has been a growing awareness of a distinction that you may or may not make here in India - the distinction between "being spiritual" and "being religious."

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

As you begin to consider the ways to foster a spiritual revolution at work through your leadership, it's natural that you will want to be as inclusive and as respectful as you can with those whom you lead. So, what is the wisest way for a leader to do this?

Before you invite people to return to their spiritual roots and do their work from that foundation, always start by doing your own inner homework first . If you haven't already defined the spiritual view of life from which you lead, take some quiet time to do that now*. As a refresher, here are the two main steps to take:

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

In our last article, we spoke about the art of dialogue and how it can inspire meaningful conversations that lead to aligned action. Another way of fostering communication that creates energy and momentum is appreciative inquiry  [1]  . In an article titled Appreciative Inquiry: A Transformative Paradigm  [2]  , the underlying concepts are explained as:

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

In February of 2000, we began writing an in-depth programme for working people which explores five human values that are found across all spiritual traditions: Truth, righteousness, love, peace and non-violence. The title is Human Values in the Workplace: Making Spirituality the Inner Context for Your Work.  [1]  

We were inspired to write this programme because our collective business experience showed us that these five human values were the fundamental roots of a healthy, vibrant, viable organisation - and of healthy, vibrant, viable individuals.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Tom Chappell and his wife co-founded the American company Tom's of Maine in 1971 on the principles of customer-focused, environmentally-conscious health products. As the company grew, profit maximisation began to dominate business planning, and Tom considered selling the business, as it was no longer fulfilling to him.

But in 1989, a new degree of spirituality awakened in him, and he called a special board meeting to create a new strategy and culture based on, "Respecting people for who they are and not for what they can do for us."

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

The ways of discovering our calling are as diverse as our personalities and aspirations; just like spiritual enlightenment itself, there is no "one size that fits all".

In our last article, we explored the difference between "having a career" and "following your calling". After reading it, our editor asked us:

How can anyone find out what their calling is? Is there any one way, or is it just a matter of waiting in silence for the heart to speak up?

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

In previous articles, we've shared inspiring stories of people who have found their "true calling" in their work. Another way that some people have walked this path is to deepen their calling as their career progresses.

The story of Peter Pruzan , Professor Emeritus from the Copenhagen Business School - and one of our colleagues in researching and writing about spiritual-based work - exemplifies that kind of deepening.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

In a previous article, we wrote about how to have your values be "all for one and one for all." We explored the difference between values that have a spiritual basis versus values based in self-centredness. But what does this mean to a leader of an organisation?

As a spiritual-based leader, it is natural that you want a strong foundation of organisational values, and want your employees to work from a strong foundation of personal values. In that light, what difference does it make for you to foster an environment that nurtures spiritual-based values?

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Many years ago, the Hewlett-Packard Corporation surveyed their 200 most consistently successful leaders to discover their common management practises. One of their key practises was to create a set of values for their own workgroup, independent of but related to the company values. Then they measured every decision they made in the workgroup according to these values.

You as a leader can also do this by asking each person in your workgroup to identify one personal value they would like to have incorporated into the way your group works, day-to-day.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)