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What is spiritual well-being and how do we cultivate it? Well, we can find spirituality of course, in religion, but not only. Spirituality is about finding a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Now there’s an important distinction here that Viktor Frankl makes between the meaning of life and the meaning in life. The meaning of life, well, identifying that is up to you. It’s above my pay grade. But the meaning in life, this is something that all of us can find in our day-to-day experiences, at work and at home.
The 3 Work Orientations
Research done by Amy Wrzesniewski’ and Jane Dutton sheds some interesting light on finding meaning in life. They were able to identify three archetypes in terms of people’s perception of their work, their work orientation. There are some people who see their work as a job. A job is something that I have to do. A job is something that I have no choice about. It’s a chore. What am I looking forward to when I’m in a job? Well, I’m looking forward to the end of the day or TGIF, thank God it’s Friday, or retirement when I will no longer will need to do what I’m doing. But for now, I have to. That’s a job.
Then there are people who see their work as a career. Career is about progress. Career is about climbing the organizational ladder. Career is about making more money, being more successful.
And then there are people who see their work as a calling. Seeing your work as a calling is about having a sense of meaning and purpose in what you’re doing. It’s important to you. You’re looking forward to not Friday, but rather Monday, more work.
So there was research done in different professions, in different places around these three work orientations. For example, the first series of studies was done in hospitals. There were janitors, cleaners in those hospitals who saw their work as a job, something that they had to do, no choice. Then there were janitors in the same hospitals doing the exact same work who saw their work as a career. For them, it was about making progress, about getting to the next level, making more money. And then there were in those very same hospitals, janitors doing the exact same work who saw their work as a calling. For them, work was meaningful, important.
They were enabling the work of the doctors and nurses. They were facilitating recovery, health among the patients. Similar results were found among bankers, hairdressers teachers, even parents. How do we see what we do? Whether it’s parenting, whether it’s banking, whether it’s medicine, how do we see what we do? What is our perception? What is our orientation? And it seems that much more important than what we objectively do is our subjective interpretation of what we do. And that can make all the difference.
Because people who see their work as a calling are not just happier, they’re also more productive, they’re more creative, they’re more engaged, they are better employees overall. So there are personal benefits and organizational benefits. Moreover, they are more likely to be anti-fragile. If you wake up in the morning with a purpose, a calling, you are more likely to overcome barriers that come in your way.
How to Experience More Spirituality in the Workplace
How can we experience more spirituality in the workplace? Well, one thing that we can do is we can ask, whether ourselves or others, to write a calling description. We’re often asked to write a job description, but why not focus on what it is in our work that is important, that is meaningful, that contributes to others to the greater good, to the big picture? And then asking, how can I increase spiritual well-being in my life, in my work? What can I do day in and day out, even if it’s something small to increase the amount of meaning, the sense of purpose that I experience at work? And when we start focusing on what it is that makes our work a calling, then we are more likely to experience our day-to-day as meaningful.