Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Shrinking the Camel

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
An Interview with Dr. Stephen Payne on “Leadership and Spirituality: Transforming the Workplace” Part 2 of 3

An Interview with Dr. Stephen Payne on “Leadership and Spirituality: Transforming the Workplace” Part 2 of 3

Last updated on: April 16, 2009 at 8:38 pm by JBW

An Interview with Dr. Stephen Payne on “Leadership and Spirituality: Transforming the Workplace” Part 2 of 3 2009-04-16T20:38:08-05:00 JBW

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

BJM: So this “God in the Workplace” concept is more than just proselytizing at work about my faith, right? I think that’s what a lot of people, especially Christians, think of when they talk about mixing their spirituality and work. They think it means I need to go out and convert my fellow employees over to Team Jesus.

SP: Definitely, no proselytizing. Not that I don’t support Team Jesus, but nothing turns people off to the idea of tapping into the power of God in the workplace more than being told that they are not on the right spiritual train, and that you have all the answers for them. The workplace is not a stomping grounds for militant evangelism. It is, instead, a community of unique people who are all made in the image of God, who are together working creatively to accomplish something that should enable the greatest good for us, our organizations, and for those that depend on our organizations, like customers.

Glad to hear it. Evangelism can be so fake and corny, especially when people are trying too hard. That makes more sense to me – that God will be revealed through our work rather than through me forcing Jesus down everyone’s throat.

No, this approach is more about revealing God’s spirit for everyone, no matter your faith, creed, or country.

Back to the framework idea, can you give us an example of one of the tools that might help a manager tap into the God’s Spirit at work?

Gladly. Take that point I just made about enabling the greatest good. I think it’s important that every person in the workplace should know his or her spiritual enablers. For Christians these are the practical things that generate a greater sense of Holy Spirit connectedness as you go about your work. As I just said earlier these things are unique to each individual. In my case there are some practical activities, like writing a report or making a speech, or some relationships, like certain of my clients, that imbue my deeper spiritual state with a powerful sense of balance, or equilibrium. My Holy Spirit connectedness is so strong that when I operate from that place, my entire work experience is far more productive. Like swimming downstream rather than struggling against the current. Do you agree?

Sure, I guess there are some things that make me feel more connected to God. My writing really does it for me. So does mentoring other guys, helping them to navigate their careers at my company, or like when I’m investing in people to help them in their jobs. Also, when I am working the “big ideas” with the exec team. I really feel God’s Spirit working through me during those times. Plus it’s usually what I’m good at anyway.

Notice that I didn’t refer to the things that I do in church. These things, like praying, taking communion, worshipping as a community, or singing praise songs, certainly improve my Holy Spirit connectedness on Sunday, but they either don’t work for me or are not available at my job. Whoops, that’s not entirely true, prayer works really well for me in my coaching work.

Well, Yeah, you could play something on your ipod and sing along, too and have a praise and worship experience. Maybe not right at your desk, though. That wouldn’t be right. Unless you were a really good singer.

The key thing is this: When I know what my unique spiritual enablers are, I can use them at work to stay connected and productive. Why would God want us to be anywhere else? The trouble is that the workplace, unlike church, is just loaded with things that trigger the opposite.

That’s why they call it “WORK,” right? There are not a lot of built-in mechanisms at work for spiritual nourishment. And sometimes the stress, the deadlines, the crazy boss or difficult customer, the inept team members, they can do exactly the opposite of revealing God’s spirit. So are the people at your seminar going to figure out their unique workplace enablers?

Yes indeed. And much more…like the opposite of enablers, what you just talked about are what I call the spiritual derailers. Those are the unique things that have the negative effect. My derailers are people stealing my ideas – they’re all God’s ideas really – and people trashing my efforts when I’m not around to defend myself.

Uh, yeah. I hate that. Why do people keep doing that? And I’m supposed to do what in that case?

Remember Brad, we agreed that God is already in the workplace waiting to be revealed for the greatest good. By being aware of your spiritual derailers, you can more quickly look to God’s spirit to help you change the course of things, rather than sinking into all those negative, destructive influences. It may very well put you on another spirit-led path altogether, and then, who knows what God might do?

Yes, I’ve seen the difference myself, when I don’t give in to the negativity and destructive thoughts. It’s not always easy, but in the end I know it’s right, and it does lead to more positive and productive results.

All these things are practical ideas that should work for you.

To be continued…

Faith in the Workplace

Leadership

business spirituality

Faith in the Workplace

Finding God in work

Holy Spirit at Work

Leadership and Spirituality

Previous Post

April 13, 2009

An Interview with Dr. Stephen Payne on the Princeton "Leadership & Spirituality" Workshop

Next Post

April 19, 2009 An Interview with Dr. Stephen Payne on "Leadership and Spirituality: Transforming the Workplace" Part 3 of 3

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ambition Blogging Career Culture Executive Career Development Failure Faith in the Workplace Family Feeling Stupid Leadership Managing People Purpose Reviews Spirituality Uncategorized Work-Life Balance

Select a Month November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Jehovah Rapha" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lord Provides The Lord is Holy The Lord Heals The Lord Saves