In the past few articles, we've focused on various aspects of developing spiritual character, as found in our equation:

Spiritual Character = Spiritual Context + Spiritual Purpose + Spiritual Values

            Ego Desires

Here we focus on how to embody spiritual values. The word "value" comes from the Latin verb " valere ," which means "to be worth" and "to be strong." Spiritual values reflect what is important to us from a spiritual perspective. They are also natural, spiritual strengths that we can draw upon in our life and work. We like to say that they're built into our DNA - "Divine Natural Attributes" - as they are the basis of a happy, healthy, and whole human being.

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

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)

In our 1st article on spiritual character ("The Power of Spiritual Character"), we shared with you the following equation that we use to define and develop spiritual character:

Spiritual Character = Spiritual Context + Spiritual Purpose + Spiritual Values

______________________________________ Ego Desires

The first element of this equation, your spiritual context, represents your spiritual view of life. The dictionary defines context as: the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs: an environment . So your spiritual context is the spiritual 'container' or 'frame of reference' within which you experience all of life, including your work.

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)

Imagine riding in a car whose four cylinder engine is working on only three cylinders, and whose gasoline is diluted with water. The car will struggle along, using only a part of its inherent power. It might still get you where you want to go, but with difficulty (and probably not up the steep hills!).

At work, if we are running on only the power of mind , body, and emotions, we're running on only three cylinders. And if we find ourselves reacting to situations with anxiety, agitation, or anger - and feeling "there's not enough time to do our best" - we're using diluted fuel. What's missing?

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

Susan, a telephone service representative for a large health insurance company, once taught us an extremely important lesson about "work as a spiritual practice."

She was known as one of the best at her job. Whenever she received a call from an angry person complaining that a huge bill had not yet been paid, she silently kept a spiritual mantra going in her head as she listened to the caller. It helped her maintain a peaceful mind and reminded her that the caller was a spiritual being in his or her own right. She kept connecting with the caller, heart to heart, in every word she said and patiently demonstrated her accurate listening. Soon, angry callers became calm, and began to trust that she would really do her best to help them.

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

In the mid-1980's, while William was consulting on corporate creativity, he began to recognise a similarity in the language that people used to describe their moments of creative insight and their experience of spiritual inspiration. It dawned on him that the similarities were not by accident; but rather, it's because our spiritual nature literally means we are co-creators with the Divine...as Martin Buber, a 20 th century Jewish philosopher, reminds us:

"Destiny is not where we wait for God to push us. We take part in creation, meet the Creator, reach out to Him, helpers and companions."

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)

"If only other people would be honest and respectful, then my company would be a better place to work." At work, it's very tempting to think this way - to focus on changing others rather than changing ourselves. But as the Greek philosopher Socrates (470-399 B.C.) once said:

Let him who would move the world, first move himself.

Or, as one executive told us:

First put yourself in order. After that, everything will follow.

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 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)

Our conscience is our true guide to what is wise, good and beneficial to ourselves and the larger whole. It provides the strength of character to sincerely and energetically promote various forms of wealth in our work: our well-being as an employee, our ability to capably serve our customers, our success in creating prosperity, and our desire to improve the health of our society.

As Confucious said: Virtue is the root; wealth is the result. The Great Learning.

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

While searching through some quotes from our spiritual teacher, we found one that has left a profound impression on us. It continually invites us to stop and ponder as to how it can be applied by leaders in the workplace.

If man is valued at his true worth, and treated as a Divine Spark enclosed in the body, then he will rise into new heights of achievement and produce all the necessities of life in profusion. He will not grab or cheat; he will be a good worker, a pure person, and a sincere spiritual aspirant. (Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. IX)

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

One day a devotee asked his spiritual teacher what to do in a situation he was facing. His teacher gave him very specific directions. The ardent devotee paused for a moment and then said softly, "But Swamiji, I can't do that as it would go against my conscience." The teacher smiled and replied, "Good. Follow your conscience."

On hearing this story we were struck with wonder. We began to ask, "What is this conscience that holds so much power within us? What might be possible if we were to follow our conscience at work?"

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

When William was attending a Catholic secondary school, his teachers would ask the students if they had a "vocation", which meant a calling from God to enter a religious order, as a priest or monk. Only later as an adult did he understand the broader notion of "vocation" as a "calling" (vocation is from the Latin " vocare ", "to call"). A "calling" is any "strong inner impulse towards a course of action, especially when accompanied by a conviction of Divine influence."

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

"Sacrifice" is a word that has many unpleasant connotations for people, especially in the workplace. When a manager says, "We have to make some sacrifices around here," it usually means giving something up, or doing without something, either of which would make things more difficult.

But there's an entirely different way to look at sacrifice, from a spiritual point of view. From its Latin roots, the word sacrifice actually means "to make sacred." Following the chain of original meanings, sacred means "holy," holy means "whole," and whole means "healthy." Thus, sacrifice is anything that takes a situation and makes it sacred, holy, whole and healthy.

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

Have you ever faced a challenge at work and felt stuck in finding a solution? Or, felt alone in your work with no one to support you in your efforts? These are examples of when it's important to step back and see our work from a broader perspective. Einstein explained this well when he said that we cannot solve our problems at the same level that we created them.

We've found that this ability to see our work from a broader perspective requires an internal shift in our vision that we like to describe as "seeing the eternal in the temporal". This is the wisdom that Krishna taught Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita:

When one sees Eternity in things that pass away and Infinity in finite things, then one has pure knowledge . (18:20)

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

As we began to write this article on peace , which is the fourth of five human values we've been writing on (truth, righteousness, love, peace and non-violence), two things came to mind. The first was a Christian scripture that has meant a lot to each of us since childhood:

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds .

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

Some years ago, a corporate executive asked William to coach and do a 360-degree feedback with one of his human resource managers who was having difficulty relating to his peers. The evening before they started their work together, William and the manager met for dinner just to get to know each other. For the first 30 minutes they talked about their backgrounds and work experiences; although William found the conversation interesting, he didn't feel that they were connecting at a deeper level.

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)