People used to think that spirituality and management are polar opposite ideas. Management is a broad term comprising the decision-makers, and representatives of key stakeholders, whereas spirituality is often relegated to an esoteric connotation that may not have any place in the field of management. But that is rapidly changing in modern times as people are slowly realizing that a spiritual practice helps with a sense of purpose and inner well-being. There is a growing understanding that the ideas and practices of spirituality have a tremendous positive impact on management. In a business context, spirituality or contemplative practices like meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises can take many different forms, from a focus on ethical and moral values to an emphasis on creating positive relationships and experiences for customers, employees, and stakeholders.
One of the key benefits of incorporating spirituality into management is that it can help to foster a sense of purpose and meaning in employees. When people feel like their work has a higher purpose, they are more likely to be motivated, engaged, and productive. This sense of purpose can also help to build a more cohesive and supportive team, as employees are more likely to support one another when they feel that they are all working towards a common goal. This inherently helps employees focus on values like honesty, integrity, and fairness, and when managers can create a workplace culture that encourages ethical behavior and discourages unethical practices like fraud, embezzlement, and discrimination a larger benefit can be foreseen and there is a paradigm shift in the way our business world can change. In this small step of encouraging personal reflection and contemplation, individuals step back from their day-to-day lives and consider the big picture. This reflection makes it easier for individuals to see the long-term consequences of their actions and to make decisions that are aligned with their values and principles. Another benefit of spirituality in management is that it can help to promote better ethical decision-making. Through contemplative practices like Heartfulness meditation, individuals can become more self-aware, and better able to understand their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. This self-awareness can help to promote ethical decision-making by making it easier for individuals to recognize when their actions are aligned with their values and when they are not. Most wise businessmen are aware of the simple truth spoken by my spiritual guide Babuji, “Honesty always helps in the end. Dishonesty only in the beginning, if at all.”
Many spiritual traditions and contemplative practices place a strong emphasis on values like honesty, compassion, and fairness, and this focus can help individuals to develop a strong moral compass and have a clear sense of what is right and wrong.
In Heartfulness practices, a specific technique called the Evening Rejuvenation process helps in clearing emotional burdens associated with certain circumstances. This is the root of how stress, anxiety, and mental pressure are created. Once this root of emotional burden is removed, even when something goes wrong so as to give stress, an individual doesn’t get stressed easily. There is a clear and cognizant understanding of what needs to be done, sometimes even if it is a difficult decision, managers and senior management have the ability and clarity to do whatever is the right thing to do.
With repeated practices of meditation, one develops empathy and compassion, and when one is encouraged by encouraging individuals to see the world from others’ perspectives and understand their actions’ impact on others. When people are more attuned to the needs and feelings of those around them, they are less likely to make decisions that are harmful or unethical. Another important benefit of spiritual practice is it improves creativity. It can give birth to beautiful money-making and success-generating ideas, far ahead of your competitors. It also fosters optimism, the ability to bounce back, stamina, staying capacity, and many other qualities essential for successful business management.
Integrating such a practice of heart-based meditation into leadership development programs also promotes spiritual values even in their branding and marketing, emphasizing their commitment to making a positive impact in the world. Here at Heartfulness Institute, we have committed ourselves to an environmental initiative called “ForestsByHeartfulness” through which we have planted about 800,000 trees within our green oasis of peace called Kanha Shanti Vanam, the headquarters of our spiritual organization, through the generous support of many organization and governmental institutions. We also have an ongoing online virtual platform called GLOW webinar series that is done in collaboration with various women’s organizations to support women in their myriad everyday challenges, and offer solutions through the support of experts from various fields. These commitments for the development of society, the world at large, and even our own immediate communities are served better through a strong foundation in spiritual practices that any management can foster. Spirituality and management are not inherently at odds with one another, and in fact, incorporating spirituality into management can have a number of positive benefits. From fostering a sense of purpose and meaning to promoting ethical decision-making, spirituality can help to create a better foundation, by fostering a heart-centric world order.
Renowned teacher of Heartfulness meditation, He brings forth the essence of yogic spiritual practices in a scientific way to help in emotional self-regulation and elevate one’s consciousness to the highest possible level.