A few days back I attended a talk followed by a musical collaboration with one of the inspiring spiritual leaders S. B. Keshava Swami, a monk, teacher, author, and world traveler from the UK. The show was sponsored in collaboration with Kirtan-Mumbai & Level SuperMind and hosted by Harshil Karia, the Co-founder of Level SuperMind. I was intrigued to know more about Harshil's professional pursuits as he is one of the few new-age entrepreneurs putting efforts into bringing spiritual experiences into the mainstream, which is less often found. Also, Ranveer Allabadia, the other Co-founder of Level SuperMind whose YouTube Podcast is quite popularly followed in India for producing spiritual content to understand various aspects of spiritual philosophies in practice, helping many to pursue the path of spirituality in their daily life.
Harshil’s recent post about #SpiritualityInBusiness made me put these perspectives forward, honoring the attention this subject matter needs. Questions Harshil raised were (while referring to a picture taken at the ISKCON Chowpatty temple hall capturing Radhanath Swami giving a lecture on Vedic Philosophy texts to ISKCON devotees):
Can capitalist enterprises be like this? Ever? Especially human-led enterprises
Do even the most missionary leaders command this kind of resonance? Have you seen it / experienced it/ been a part of such resonance in the corporate world?
What makes Spirituality exhibit Authenticity & Growth?
While looking at the picture & questions, my initial thought was 'If you look closer, most of the spiritual organizations are also a human-led community-based enterprise.' The fundamental difference why being genuine, growth-focused, and selflessly motivated works for followers of a Spiritual Organization when practical spirituality is the focus v/s most likely not for corporate employees is:
Their motivation comes from something higher than any human being's vision; The vision comes from the Spiritual Divine, the Absolute Truth. A single-threaded, higher narrative, that connects us all at the same time individually, which is not directly bound by material profits. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, and psychotherapist emphasized it to be an integral part of the human experience to function as our whole self calling it Individuation. Additionally, philosophy can provide a great source of continued learning from the vast gamut of literary topics helping to keep up with lasting motivation for its followers to practice. #Motivation
They deeply believe in the selfless vision, mission, and relevant ethical values of their Guru, the Spiritual Leader (here A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda). What makes disciples follow the Guru?
Guru directly models a set of beliefs selflessly focusing on the higher vision, is connected with his higher self, and has the wisdom of the dynamics at play to inspire a diverse set of individuals. Practicing what he preaches, being an essential yet solid role model for disciples to voluntarily understand his life & follow philosophy-based instructions.
The new spiritual leaders emerge exhibiting a similar orientation laid out by the preceding Guru in the bona fide line of succession, keeping the essence & the practice of philosophy intact and integrated into the daily life of a practitioner.
Followers of the Guru are intrigued to make a genuine effort or are guided to learn more about their Guru's endeavors to help them voluntarily accept him as a leader of the community driving them on the path of progress toward life's innate goal.
All these factors help to bring out #AutheticLeadership.
There is more to learn & look up to not just as a skill while performing service but also directly related to their personal growth which deeply affects their daily lives; This is done while understanding their capacity, capabilities, and natural orientations for the purpose to serve Swadharma i.e. unique psycho-physical nature & constitutional position to contribute well in society. This understanding helps in overcoming misalignment presented by the paradox of available choices to pursue happiness. #Genuinity #Growth
Capitalism is not seen as a criterion for success (being a nonprofit organization can contribute a bit to it). While the need & presence of money is understood, acknowledged, and respected, it is treated as a means to a higher end and not the end itself! Masses naturally gravitate towards such communities where the notion of exploitation is not encouraged or challenged by lack of safety rather being a human being is valued more. That builds a stronger trust within & amongst people of the community. They are tied through the inspiration & clarity the Guru provides to continue, constantly working on increasing their window of tolerance and patience to practice discipline. The organization thus remains a community and does not become an entity. This inherent sense of trust is the foundation of natural, long-term growth. #Trust
What does success look like for #SpiritualityInBusiness, a proven benchmark?
On the other hand, if we think about #SpiritualityInBusiness it has always existed in India amongst medium to small & micro-business owners. Businesses that existed in the post-independence era till the early advent of outsourcing-led corporate culture successfully sustained #SpiritualityInBusiness because they
More often exhibited satisfaction over greed. Despite being for-profit businesses they understood the innate purpose of life is not following mindless ambition but meaningful goals where they, along with the community, BOTH play an integral part.
Pursued optimal level of business to serve the needs of the community, practicing mindful moderation of scale.
Expanded businesses only as much so that they can sustain living for a longer term. Another factor was the speed of growth is not tied to shareholders’ expectations as funding needs are met by seed/self-funding in majority scenarios. The businesses were not understood as a race or a competitive battleground running on a ticking time bomb to reach a $Bn valuation or a Unicorn / Soonicorn tag to fulfill funding needs rather success was an eventual outcome of a long-term mutually well-wishing engagement. Most manufacturing businesses function on these fundamentals of building a culture of community workforce working together for practically their entire work-life span.
Respected available resources and shared them with the larger community rather than hoarding them for oneself thereby making mindful choices for infusing innovation in business rather than being compelled by every new & noteworthy trend to reinvent the business.
Prioritized, cultivated, and nurtured trust-based relationships even in the face of adversity.
Practiced ethical values on the ground rather than merely laying them down on paper for recruitment & performance evaluation. Performance evaluation was not a formal & tight process rather was tied to exhibited values in mainstream business to support longer-term sustenance.
Practiced flexibility, adaptability, patience, and tolerance when it came to service outcome & quality. Keeping room for learning and growth over some time.
What made #SpiritualityInBusiness work?
Keeping aside the scale of operation & primary organizational type (for-profit or nonprofit), it's all about the mindset in practice.
Businesses came from the foundation of spiritual practices cultivated in their daily life & community culture. Every cultural and/or spiritual practice was centered on going beyond the externals to access & cultivate higher realizations. This kind of Being, integrates one's basic values, character, and behaviors into mainstream business & working relationships with colleagues as business is understood to be one part of life, allowing one to serve & contribute.
Such an essence of spirituality is relevant in the corporate world more than ever! One may ask, for #SpiritualityInCorporates
What’s the outcome we are desiring? What are we targeting to achieve?
Progressing from mundane to meaningful satisfying happy life lived with dignity.
A harmoniously natural way of doing business that is more integrative for humans than exploitative of available resources.
Longevity of service. A journey towards reduced self-serving proposition and sustenance-friendly moderate yet mindful ambition.
Continuous education for integrated realizations, a focus beyond mere upskilling.
Motivation to participate & build connections within a genuinely supportive community.
What are the key barriers to entry for #SpiritualityInCorporates?
Some may say the moderate approach of traditional businesses of any size presents a limiting thinking that goes against the capitalistic Think Big ideology. That’s true to some degree but the larger question is:
Does a business’s perceived value of growth & services add actual value to the end consumer?
Does it make a consumer's life meaningful & happier?
Does business value strain & entangle a consumer more with what is irrelevant and unnecessary beyond their needs?
It's worth asking are we creating more businesses that are supporting more consumption than needed for our healthy progress as a whole? Or is it keeping us busy daily competing?
While some of the core essential businesses of Manufacturing, Research, BFSI, FMCG, Healthcare, Agriculture, and a few Value-AddedServices businesses support a better & safer lifestyle, on another hand in the name of supporting creative expressions, exploring individual potential, creating diverse opportunities, and evolving civilization, are we encouraging masses to entangle more in the paradox of choices and stop using their human potential?
That's why there is a need to transition from a capitalistic Think Big (Short-term Thinking) to an Impact-based Think Big (Mid-term Thinking) to a Moderate yet Mindful Ambition (Long-term Thinking) which is considerate towards bringing sustained value to the ecosystem and not just to a handful few.
There are always challenges when businesses hold higher ambitions. At a higher level of scale & reach, funding, supporting government policies, reducing tax impact to keep operating margins high and keep the business going, et al. are the issues that become even more complex with scaling, leading to making focus diverted to a goal of eventually making money the end, rather than respecting it as a means to an end. From my experience of working in corporates, I have encountered missionaries in the senior & mid-level leadership who have provided balanced directional leadership for a Capitalistic & Impact-based Think Big hybrid vision (Short to Mid-term Thinking). For instance, Jeff Bezos & Andy Jassy, Former CEO of Amazon & AWS respectively, focused on longer-term sustenance by being customer-obsessed. However,
Does an Individual (Leadership), the chosen business principles (Values), the vision (Mission), and the promise of outcome (Process: Performance benchmark & Evaluation) include enough meaning for an employee to stay inspired and practice value-based business conduct in daily work dealings?
Sustaining motivation also is a function of translating the message down through mid-level managers without losing the essence of it. This is difficult to encounter due to the diluting representation of leadership strength following values, mission, & processes at all levels. Overcoming various types of bias while making progress is challenging with such leadership.
The root of everything i.e. customer obsession, while it makes many aspects of business work, at the same time it makes things misaligned to a narrative of a harmoniously progressing culture & community. Causing overachieving growth, at an unsustainable speed, with a lack of continuous motivation to transition to a long-term vision.
What is of importance for cultivating #SpiritualityInCorporates?
At the center of it all is a modern-day philosophy coined by Richard Branson that 'Taking care of your employees eventually takes care of your customers, services, and business as a whole.' Note that this was the crux of traditional businesses that practiced #SpiritualityInBusiness and what Non-profit Spiritual Organizations are enabling as community-based enterprises.
Science makes things better, but spirituality should make people better. ~ S. B. Keshava Swami
The value of building human capital is the most important to a well-aligned long-term success in any scale & culture of business because,
Making people better brings lightness to our immediate experiences rather than tightness by only following a vision targeted for tangible outcomes.
It helps with taking ownership, accountability, and responsibility to elevate everyone one step at a time together.
It develops a personal growth mindset with ease of integration. A process that has proven to have worked time and again!
It engages in a game of having to practice an incredible amount of patience and perseverance to see through the meaningful integration of #SpiritualityInCorporates through value-based business conduct.
It helps in expanding the human capital and sustainable relationships not just with employees but with vendors, partners, and most importantly customers.
Collectively, that’s the Think Big proposition #SpiritualityInCorporates offers to all of us, a better sustainable world for our future generations.
How can we make #SpiritualityInCorporates possible?
If the organization’s shareholders, board members, and senior & mid-level leadership understand the essence of spirituality in business, actively incorporate & encourage them rather than only focusing on the capitalistic goals then there is hope. A starter approach can look like this:
Explore: What will spirituality in your organization look like? Are your values, performance benchmark alignment, and employee engagements targeted towards making more money under the pretext of providing valued service to the consumer or making lasting relationships on the ground, not just with the consumer but also with employees?
Re-define: Are you providing a moderate but effective long-term balance in the narrative of corporate business considering money, knowledge, service, values, and vision together? It's time to go beyond the current narratives of activities supported through CSR initiatives & internal affinity groups within an organization which is a good support for the world at large & employees respectively. However, there are deeper efforts needed to integrate re-defined narratives into an organization's mainstream culture & business; which can then fluidly factor in the value it provides to its consumers as well as employees. The target objective is to create a platform of support, value, and a sense of community for everyone involved.
In Motion: Start with startups and/or create self-functioning teams within a larger organization that goes beyond two-pizza teams in their daily alignment to value delivered. We need more decision-making founding members & CEOs to be willing and voluntarily vested enough to elevate their understanding & practice of spirituality as well as lead such efforts to make any progress in the direction of #SpiritualityInCorporates. In an absolute sense, the integration of mindset change along with value-based behaviors can pierce mainstream businesses if everyone involved is made part of a redefined spiritual alignment to the business and its goals. While individuals at their level are not left independent, making efforts in isolation.
A small but necessary effort in this direction is published through the works of this book. Wo/Man, Work IT Out! Remodeling Work Culture Through Your Success. Discover Your True Self and Realize Your Full Potential by Tejal Rathod.
A Non-Fiction memoir emerged from 2 decades of experience as a Corporate Woman covering unspoken but known stigmas, candid experiences, and challenges faced in today's modern workplaces resulting from a lack of spiritual orientation personally & professionally at an Individual & organizational level. In essence, proposing a foundational solution for #SpiritualityInCorporates in three parts to achieve meaningful success personally & professionally for Individual Professionals & Organizations collectively. At the same time preserve & respect spiritual diversity knowing that our journeys are different while the end goal remains the same.
The book provides a compelling narrative for pursuing spirituality with thought-provoking questions & practical practices to address:
Why to approach meaningful happiness Personally & Professionally?
What does it address at an Individual Professional, Leadership, Mid-Management, and Organisation level?
How can we start to address challenges and bring them in motion steadily?
Many aspects of business impacting the growth of an industry, type of business e.g. legacy or family, a country/region/world require a deeper, longer, thoughtful collaborative discussion and are difficult to present in the limited scope of a blog. However, when nuances change the essence remains the same. The hope is through these perspectives in whichever small way, we start to reflect on our choices, understand them better, possibly redefine our narratives, and align our actions gradually to include #SpiritualityInCorporates. Looking forward to knowing more about how you are progressing on this journey. Share your experiences in the comments or write to us at connect@elementsdcoach.com.
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About Author:
Tejal Rathod - Tj (she/her)
Peter Drucker Management Excellence Award-Winner by the University of Oxford, UK.
eDC - elementsD Coach Professional Services
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Disclaimer: No written part of this blog is produced using AI Assistance. Thoughts or terminology presented in this blog are individual perspectives and are neither meant to cause harm in any form, make any incorrect judgments, present full details, nor gain undue influence from any mentioned organization and/or entity and/or persons. Use your discretion while making inferences.
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Images credit wix.com, Tejal Rathod at Symphony of Wisdom with S.B. Keshava Swami in Collaboration with Level SuperMind & Kirtan Mumbai, held in Mumbai-Aug 2024.
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