|
|
A Spiritual
Approach to Business
By Rev. Paul V. Scholl
|
There are many rites of passage experienced by each
one of us throughout our lives, but one of the truest
tests of our character is when we explore, accept,
and display our spirituality in every aspect of our
lives. In today's world, that means in our business
or career as well.
There was a time during my publishing career that
I was confronted with either surrendering my chance
for advancement, or accepting myself as a minister
in training. Seeing this division within the company,
I made a conscious choice to always bring a personal
ministry, a spiritual approach, to all my business
dealings no matter how challenging it may seem.
For years I watched more closely the effects of management
decisions on workers, contractors, their competition,
their customers, and the managers themselves. I began
to promote more of a spiritual quantification of business
problems and resolutions. When working on special
task forces or on major projects I would try to extend
the questioning of every detail not only to the final
bottom line, but also to the bottom line effect on
the individuals who would carry out the changes. How
will this affect their lives? How will they cope with
this in relationship to their current understanding
of their duties?
What I observed over the next few years were the tremendous
gaps between people's work lives and their spiritual
lives. Although most wanted to bring them both together,
they were afraid to try for fear that others would
find them weak. This reflected in their risk taking
with business decisions, and in their belief systems
of their own management abilities. This in turn made
it difficult to offer themselves and their knowledge
to younger men and women as mentors.
Through these experiences I have developed a list
of questions that I ask when working with new clients
as a consultant. 1) Does management understand the
need for infinite correlation within the business,
the need of letting everyone perform individually
without having to maintain complete control over each
action, which in turn benefits the entire company?
2) Does management allow a specific amount of time
in everyone's duties for the development of new ideas
or creative thinking? 3) Does management base their
ultimate decisions on the spiritual effects they will
have on the business and the individuals who make
up the company? 4) Does management look to keep the
company "balanced" through the progression towards
a long term and understood goal? 5) Are the current
managers teaching their subordinates in a way that
will allow them to become greater managers and someday
surpass them in knowledge and technique?
Many companies aren't ready for the kind of transformation
that asking a line of questioning like this would
create, but many others are ready. This is where we,
as spiritual leaders and business leaders must have
the confidence to set the example for other businesses
to follow. We have to continue to ask the questions
of ourselves, then of our businesses, and begin to
translate our own answers into teachings for those
who follow.
Rev. Paul V. Scholl
September, 1995 in American Spirit Newspaper
|