8 Ways To Establish And Nourish Your Workplace Spirituality

In my previous article, I wrote about bringing spirituality into the business world and how it is by no means part of an esoteric new age movement. Rather, it might just be the best-kept secret to create fulfilling careers and thrive in business (and a lot of well-known billionaires think that, too).

In a nutshell, spirituality at work can enhance productivity levels, reduce absenteeism and turnover of employees, and transform the workplace into a more joyous, peaceful and serene space. It helps to increase everyone’s (self-)awareness, which leads to improved communication and consequently to higher levels of integrity, honesty, and a sense of belonging (hashtag teamlove ;)). These are just a few of the many effects spirituality at work can have that lead to sustainable growth for the company and more stable, happier teams in general.

Sounds good?

If you are ready to level up your leadership skills and create an environment where people can truly flourish and grow, read on!

Do this and start seeing positive effects almost immediately

1. Allow your team to be uniquely themselves so they can step into their full potential. We all have a unique soul print and purpose we are here to express. However, we can feel stuck confined to a mould that society and our surroundings have conditioned us to. This can prevent us from being authentically human and showing up as our whole selves. If you, as a leader, can create an environment where people are encouraged to work on their unconscious biases and patterns by helping them to develop their self-awareness and giving them the tools to step into their full potential, they will transform and grow beyond any traditional learning metrics. Ultimately, this will not only benefit them but the company’s growth also.
2. Become clear about your purpose, the reason your company exists. Why does your business exist? Why is it important and urgent right now? Having a clear purpose determines how your brand is perceived from the outside and operates on the inside. Making sure that you are clear on your reason for existence and communicating it clearly to all stakeholders is key for long-term success and attracting and keeping the right allies who fuel your engine and work towards a shared vision.
3. Clearly define your vision, mission and highlight why it is beneficial to others, not just you or the company. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs in history (take Tony Robbins as an example) agree that the ability to contribute, support and serve others is the key to ultimate happiness and fulfilment. A study by PwC (2016) even shows that people are willing to make sacrifices when they see the greater good behind their work. Understand and use this beautiful human desire to create work that impacts the world and humanity in some way. Make sure that your team understands how valuable and impactful their contribution really is.
4. Create a sense of inclusion, promote diversity as much as you promote the one purpose that brought everyone together. Encouraging everyone to add their individual view and touches to the work at hand allows your business to create unprecedented strategies and ideas. Staying in your lane, with people who are similar to you, who think like you, is detrimental for the growth of any company. Keeping an open mind and playing with ideas that may even seem odd at first, gives you a critical advantage on any market.
5. Train your people for self-leadership, self-awareness and self-worth. These three factors play a huge part in making the difference that is needed to set your business apart. Being in control of all steps all the way can be satisfying (not to stay controlling), but it is draining and unsustainable in the long run. Training your team members for self-leadership involves trust, but it produces results that are overall much healthier for your company. Letting people take responsibility will make them want to do their jobs better; it makes them feel valued which leads to increased levels of self-worth and self-awareness as they become more critical of the quality of the work they do.
6. Encourage creativity, eliminate fear, and foster trust. Making use of your creativity is in truth very personal. It comes from a place of vulnerability and requires a comfortable environment to flourish. There’s a very real fear involved for many in sharing their creative input. By creating a safe and trustworthy environment, people are way more comfortable with sharing their ideas. Even if some ideas may not be of use, it helps to bounce ideas off of each other and it gives room for other new ideas to sprout.
7. Encourage regular mindfulness practices in and outside the office. Many successful people, like Oprah or Arianna Huffington, swear by the power of affirmations and meditation to set and focus on their goals. Meditation can be a very powerful source of inspiration too, and help you work through the noise and chaos to narrow down your focus to what matters. Giving the space for each individual to vision board their goals (both small and big) helps to stay focused and creates satisfying achievements along the way. Manifesting through goal-setting is an incredibly powerful tool to stay on track and you’ll arrive at your goal sooner than you could have anticipated. There are so many different ways to develop your spirituality, so try out as much as you can until you find the one that really ‘clicks’.
8. Coach! Be the leader that has an impact on the team’s personal and professional growth, know your collaborators individually, encourage them to take care of their personal lives. Nothing drains creative energy more than personal issues and worries that are weighing on one’s shoulders. Recognise that their well being is the single biggest factor in the quality of the work created and make the tools for personal development and growth available. Acknowledging that your collaborators exist outside a work setting and holistically viewing them creates respect and trust.

Small changes for a big difference

Implementing spirituality in business is not so much about making the one big and all-encompassing change that scares half of your workforce away (after all, we’re humans, and most of us don’t like big, overnight change). Rather, it is about the little, every-day practices that can make a big difference in employee wellbeing, and increase your company’s performance in the long term.

Before you go —

I talk a lot about all things leadership, spirituality in business, consciousness, personal growth in the modern business world and more with my guests on my podcast in.sync with Kat, connecting business and spirituality. Go and check that out if that’s your jam and let me know what you think!

If you are interested in finding out more, visit our website at www.humanplus.me. You can also apply to become a member of the humanplus collective, a curated community of spiritual entrepreneurs, creators and leaders (www.humanplus.me/community).

Connect soon,

Kat