by Rev Erskine Matthews

The workplace can often be a profane space filled with toxicity, racism, sexism, ageism, and other negative behaviors. In this post-pandemic era, misinformation, disinformation, and distrust have added to the sense of resignation that many people feel when they are in a toxic work environment. However, there is potential to transform the workplace into a supportive and sacred space.

I am a seminary trained and ordained Interspiritual Reverend through the One Spirit Learning Alliance seminary program, and I also serve on their media team. Last year, I had the privilege of providing webcast services for an intensive (workshop) entitled “Companioning within the Workplace,” led by Reverend Nathan Brisby.

Within the description of the workshop, it states that “The workplace has, for many, become a profane space led by a singular, bottom-line focus. We have a sense that discussions of faith are not welcome (at best) or illegal (at worst). And yet, inherent within the gathering of humans is the creative potential of the sacred. This intensive examines the variety of ways that are emerging within the workplace to engage with the fullness of the spiritual lives of workers.”

This workshop reignited my desire to engage in workplace transformation. By understanding the spiritual lives of workers, I have come to realize that the workplace can become a sacred space. Through intentional conversations, thoughtful listening, and attentive witnessing, we can create an atmosphere of support and understanding. This can also lead to stronger connections between coworkers, allowing them to come together to not only work but to build meaningful relationships.

This article is devoted to exploring how to nurture a supportive and sacred workplace environment. It will discuss topics such as bringing spirituality into the profane, healing yourself first, Interspirituality, and more. Through practical strategies, this blog will equip you with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to foster a workplace culture in which each person is respected and valued. This article is not a review of Reverend Nathan’s workshop; instead, it provides an exploration of the process I went through to create an enabling environment and offers advice on how to apply the same principles.

Very often, when the bottom line is the only line there is little to no room for spiritual or emotional considerations, creating a feeling of alienation among workers. Contemporary workplaces may even frown upon spiritual discussions or practices, making it difficult for workers to connect to their deeper sense of self or an authentic interpersonal culture of collaboration. Without the ability to tap into our spiritual selves, employees can feel disconnected, demotivated, or hindered in their productivity.

The concept of “more” must be extended beyond the realm of profit. The workplace must become a place of meaningful human connection; not only between managers and employees but also between the employees themselves. A sacred space of acceptance and authenticity must be cultivated, where individuals can bring all of themselves – their values, beliefs, and spiritual potential – to work.

For clarification, when I refer to “sacred”, I am referring to the concept presented by Matthew T. Evans in “The Sacred: Differentiating, Clarifying, and Extending Concepts.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 41, a “socially influenced perception of either some divine being, or some sense of ultimate reality of truth”, as defined by Seidlitz et al. (2002:440 [quoting Larson, Swyers, And MCullough 1998:20]; emphasis added). This is not to be confused with any specific religious interpretation of sacred, but rather a supernatural, divine, or transcendent reality that religion confronts, describes, or mediates – what is often called “religious experience.” In other words, the sacred is a concept that is not limited to any one religion but is a universal experience shared by many.

Bringing the sacred into the workplace does not mean replacing the “bottom-line” mentality of business operations with religious rhetoric. Rather, with a properly implemented spiritual component, the sacred can help us to recognize and appreciate the shared purpose, deeper meaning, and genuine connection. A workplace with an “inner feel” of the sacred can create an atmosphere that stimulates creativity and collaboration. This can allow for an uplifting and inspiring approach to business decisions, helping to bring about greater understanding, appreciation, and entrance into global markets.

So let us begin.

“How you gon' win when you ain't right within?” -Lauryn Hill

Heal Yourself First: The Key to Effectively Bringing Spirituality into the Workplace

The workplace is often seen as a practical and utilitarian space, without any spiritual context. The idea of introducing spirituality into the workplace is often perceived negatively, as it may be perceived as being overly religious or viewed as an ever-present distraction.

However, spirituality in the workplace can be extremely beneficial, allowing employees to be more productive and connected to their work, improving communication and overall work atmosphere, as well as helping individuals to bring greater meaning and purpose to their lives. To bring spirituality effectively and successfully into the workplace, the most important key is to start with the self.

On my journey to shift the culture of my workplace, I encountered many who did not understand my intentions. As I began to realize that I was the problem I was also reminded of the words of Lauryn Hill in her song, “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “How you gon’ win when you ain’t right within?” It is vital to achieving self-healing before attempting to use spirituality to heal the workplace.

I must warn you. If you try to transform a toxic workplace without first healing yourself, you risk becoming overwhelmed by the darkness of your environment. The malevolent energy can seep into your own soul and cause you to become a victim of your efforts. You may find yourself slipping into a spiral of negative emotions, unsure of how to break free. The only way forward is to make sure you tend to your wounds before attempting to heal those of others.

The healing process begins when an individual takes the time to be mindful of their thoughts and emotions, recognizing and accepting them to gain greater clarity and awareness. When we begin the healing process, we acknowledge our thoughts and feelings, allowing us to free up space to practice self-care and compassion. Self-care and compassion allow us to release our resistance to change and accept the present moment, creating the context for us to open to the greatest potential within us and start to embrace the deepest sense of our true nature. The tools that you use to compassionately heal yourself with are the tools that you will bring with you to your workplace.

Diana Raab, Ph.D., in her article “How to Heal Yourself and Others” on Psychology Today advises that “in order to be a healer, you must come from a healed place—that is, you need to be healed yourself.” To make this healing approach more tangible and accessible, you can enlist help from a spiritual leader or mentor to provide your team with ideas, resources, and guidance on how to integrate spirituality into the workplace. This form of help and support can empower you and your team to take the necessary steps to address personal, emotional, and spiritual issues that may be preventing effective team collaboration. Visit the One Spirit directory of ministers and counselors for more information.

By taking the time to heal yourself first, you can effectively bring spirituality into the workplace in a respectful and beneficial way. When we create a workplace that is open to spiritual exploration, it opens the door for different types of growth and development, allowing each team member to discover and engage in deeper conversations and become more connected to their work. Spiritual practices in the workplace, no matter what name you attach to them, help to create happier, healthier, and more productive teams, while providing employees with the meaningful connection and purpose they may be seeking. But you must start by healing yourself first.

Interspirituality: A Guide to Respectfully Engaging with and Uniting Different Beliefs  

In the modern workplace, it is no secret that the holy and the profane often come into conflicting contact. We are often confronted with a variety of co-workers' beliefs, religions, and spiritual perspectives.

We are made up of a tapestry of different backgrounds, making it inevitable that conflicts can arise. This can create tension and alienation amongst employees.

To create a harmonious and inclusive working space, it is important to embrace the differences between our beliefs, spiritualities, and backgrounds. Interspirituality is a holistic approach to understanding and embracing these differences while also uniting them in the service of a greater purpose.

“Interspirituality is the natural discussion among human beings about what we are experiencing. In academic terms, it’s the intersubjective discussion among us all about who we are, why we are here, and where we are going. In the context of religion, Interspirituality is the common heritage of humankind’s spiritual wisdom and the sharing of wisdom resources across traditions. In terms of our developing human consciousness, Interspirituality is the movement of all these discussions toward the experience of profound interconnectedness, unity consciousness, and oneness.” - The Coming Interspiritual Age by Kurt Johnson and David Ord

Interspirituality is an approach to understanding different spiritual perspectives while still respecting and embracing a plurality of beliefs. It emphasizes the commonalities between faiths and encourages the integration of both scripture and experience in pursuing spiritual truth. This can serve as a model for the modern workplace in dealing with differing beliefs, philosophies, and religions. It leads to a culture of higher respect, understanding, and collaboration among employees.

Through the understanding of Interspirituality, we can create a spiritual connection to one another and to our work, which can infuse more meaning into our work life. Encouraging compassion, understanding, and non-judgmental communication can bring a more “sacred” feeling to the workplace.

At the same time, employees might come to understand their own beliefs more deeply. For example, someone who belongs to a faith tradition may find themselves deepening in understanding of and appreciation for it; someone of no tradition may come to discover and nurture their own spirituality.

Interspirituality is not about replacing or disregarding someone's faith tradition, but rather finding common ground and understanding and respecting each other’s spiritual perspectives. It is a way to create an atmosphere of collective well-being, a place where all can have an opportunity to thrive and grow.

Through this process, we open ourselves up to the presence of the divine in the workplace, allowing us to transform the mundane tasks of everyday work into an experience that is filled with meaning and joy.

Be a Good Listener: How to Create a Safe Environment and Respect Others’ Beliefs in the Modern Workplace

As the workplace evolves, it’s becoming increasingly important to be a good listener in order to create a nurturing and encouraging environment. Listening to others with the intent to understand rather than reply is a life skill that is often taken for granted, yet is one of the most powerful ways to build strong relationships. Listening can help to foster empathy, bridge divides between coworkers, and build a strong culture of respect for everyone’s beliefs.

According to Robin Abrahams and Boris Groysberg, authors of the Harvard Business Review article “How to Become a Better Listener,” “listening” isn’t even close to being as widely taught as presenting in most accredited business schools.

This means it’s essential for successful workers to take the initiative to learn this powerful skill themselves. It’s an essential part of modern workplace communication and the more we’re able to make meaningful connections with those around us, the more we can foster a safe environment and encourage respectful dialogue.

Listening doesn’t just mean staying quiet and retaining information. It’s a skill that should be used to truly understand the needs, beliefs, and goals of the people in your workplace.

This involves active engagement as well as the willingness to leave your preconceived notions of what people think and what they need at the door. It’s important to avoid assumptions and keep an open mind when it comes to the beliefs and ideas of each individual.

Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People wrote, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

When it comes to listening, replying isn’t the best course of action. Communicating in a modern workplace requires more than simply pushing your ideas to the surface and demanding agreement.

It requires that each person be willing to understand the outlook of their coworkers and create meaningful connections through dialogue and the exchange of ideas. This can only be achieved by being a good listener, one willing to remove their own biases and judgments and replace them with patience and empathy.

The workplace should be a safe, positive environment where people of different backgrounds and beliefs can co-exist harmoniously. To foster an inclusive environment, people must be willing to engage in meaningful dialogue with an open mind and a willingness to genuinely hear and understand views that may not align with their own.

Through careful listening, people can learn to respectfully disagree and build bridges between one another, develop mutual understanding, and build strong relationships.

Tact and Compassion: Companioning Instead of Dictating your Way to a Sacred Workplace

As a society, we often choose to emphasize the importance of authority—of rules and regulations, of being right and knowing what’s best. We set hierarchies, create conditions of power, and make blanket statements to dominate and control.

However, in the relationships we form with our peers and colleagues, the workplace is often a place of contention, and those in authority can quickly become perpetrators of a toxic work environment.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Rather than dictating, dominating, and segregating, a workforce can operate with cohesion, respect, and collaboration if we invest in values of tact and compassion. Such effort begins with dismantling the ego and its inherent need for power, and instead, undertaking a foundational shift in understanding the importance of companioning.

Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D., a renowned grief counselor, in his article “Companioning Philosophy: Dr. Wolfelt's 11 Tenets of Caring for the Bereaved” defines companioning “as an attitude of acceptance, respect and compassionate presence.” When we companion our peers, we are there to listen, to observe, and to accept. We are of service without expecting anything in return, and ultimately value the opinion and insight shared by others.

Not only that, companioning cultivates a sense of unity and acceptance. It helps us recognize the potential of our co-workers, and highlights how we can achieve more collectively. We are no longer operating with an outdated notion of a hierarchical power structure, but rather one of collective respect and partnership.

Allow me to bring to your attention the concept of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a Zulu term meaning "humanity towards others", often translated as “I am because you are”, which is a useful philosophy for forming successful organizational cultures.

It encourages collaboration through an open dialogue between employer and employee, where everyone is given a voice and their opinion is valued. This spirit of cooperation creates trust, respect, and inclusivity and allows groups to identify solutions that best suit workplace needs. By emphasizing a collective approach to decision-making, Ubuntu instills creativity, companionship, and mutual understanding in the workplace, leading to greater success and satisfaction among team members.

Companioning demands that we overcome our ego. Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher, and New York Times best-selling author, emphasizes the importance of understanding the ego’s limitations. He explains that to be “right,” the ego may seek to make another “wrong.” Instead of succumbing to this, Tolle encourages people to overcome the need to be right to cultivate a more peaceful environment.

In a work setting, this means being mindful of one’s exceptionalism and refraining from making a judgment on others. It involves taking the time to truly listen, caring for the well-being of colleagues, and being open to growth and learning.

If we can shift away from dictatorship and bias, and move towards embrace, self-awareness, and understanding, we can create a working space that is truly sacred. We can achieve this by investing in the understanding that all individuals have the ability to contribute and set in motion an organizational culture of mutual respect, collaboration, and durable support.

Crafting Tailored Strategies to Sustain a Supportive, Rewarding, Sacred Workplace Post-Pandemic

In this article, several solutions were suggested to help transform a toxic workplace into a sacred one. However, I would like to elaborate on crafting tailored solutions.

With its staff working diligently day after day, the workplace is a vital space for generating company success and team bonding. A supportive environment is paramount for the success of not only the organization but also its staff.

However, the global COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the nature of the workplace, raising questions about how to ensure its continued sustainability and promote a sense of safety, reward, and sacredness. As employers and employees alike grapple with how to transition to appropriate post-pandemic work models, it is essential to consider the nuances of different industries, employees’ personalities and beliefs, and increasing levels of disinformation.

Crafting strategies that are tailored to the specific needs of your co-workers, can both safeguard company productivity and create a sense of security, reward, and sacredness in the workplace.

Historically, traditional office spaces have remained fairly stagnant with their strategies and frameworks; that is, one size fits all. To do justice to the nuances of employee needs in the restart of the workplace post-COVID, a single strategy will no longer suffice.

Different job descriptions justify different approaches and necessitate greater insight into the staff. For instance, a frontline worker may require research into the most suitable equipment to maximize safety in the work environment, such as better access to supplies and safer machinery, whereas an office worker may require more autonomy with choosing the time they can take their breaks. Understanding the unique needs of each industry is paramount for crafting viable strategies.

Additionally, given that many individuals are grappling with deeply ingrained fears and beliefs that were intensified during the pandemic, it is essential that their needs be considered when formulating a plan of transformation. While a solution that encourages trust may be applicable to some; this may not be the case for all members of the workforce.

By utilizing activities such as small group meetings and reflective surveys to understand employees’ needs, we can begin to ascertain the primary foundation needed to develop personalized strategies that consider individual beliefs, fears, and worries. It is impossible to find a one-size-fits-all approach to improving the workplace. As Clayton M. Christensen explains, "As such, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that anyone can offer you. The hot water that softens a carrot will harden an egg."

Despite just expressing the importance of crafting solutions tailored to the individual's workplace, I feel a sense of obligation to share some of the strategies I used that were successful in transforming my own. Consequently, I used my commute time to work to ready myself spiritually and mentally for the tasks ahead and to make sure any negative energy encountered during the commute wouldn’t pass over into the workplace.

During lunch, I suggested to my coworkers that we create a book club, and collectively we chose Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. We also implemented a healthy constructive criticism box, ensuring constructive critique without feeling attacked, alongside gentle reminders to sustain an atmosphere of compassion and productivity.

On my way back home, I took time to decompress and allow myself to revert to my authentic self when I was with my family. These elements, when combined, caused an undeniable positive shift in the overall environment. Ultimately, the best advice I can give is to work with coworkers to craft solutions that suit your own reality, creating something that flourishes for your particular environment.

Management and ownership at my workplace were eventually willing to embrace the proposed changes, though they had not considered them on their own due to their primary focus on products and services.

It is a sad fact of modern working life that in certain work environments, toxic behavior is encouraged, accepted, and even rewarded. The truth of the matter is that those that look to challenge the status quo and offer changes for a healthier environment are often marginalized or even dismissed.

Certain workplaces, for whatever reasons, require a certain culture, attitude, and even behavior to continue being productive. Unfortunately, that climate and system can be an unfortunate environment when toxicity is promoted by management, industry, and even the personality of the owners of that company. While this may be an undesirable situation, it also demonstrates an unfortunate truth: change is not always welcome.

Suggesting that a workplace becomes less toxic can be met with resistance or even terminations, as these environments value customs and norms; calculated reuse of the same aspects that brought the company success. To those who wish to help birth a healthier, productive environment in such environments, the suggestion should be approached delicately and with extreme caution.

To bring about positive change in such worksite cultures, it is important to make a detailed assessment of all aspects of the workplace. Those looking to sway those around them must come equipped with the knowledge to properly influence both those with the power to initiate change, as well as the employees on the ground who must embrace it. It is only with a thorough evaluation that the people and decisions makers can be made aware of the need for change and given the opportunity to make a judgement on the matter.

Overall, it is true that certain work environments can be resistant or even antagonistic to change. While it can be disheartening to see, it is important for one to understand what it takes to create a healthier work environment. Change can often bring about conflict, but with a thorough and delicate approach – through discussing it with management, owners, and employees – a path for a more productive and inspiring team may be presented.

In Conclusion

We live in an age of toxic workspaces overrun with racism, sexism, ageism, and office politics, making it difficult to be productive and confident. Rather than allowing these negative aspects to persist, we must actively seek to understand each other, listening generously and engaging in meaningful conversations.

For truly, like a mosaic, the strength of our workplace lies in the combined brilliance, wisdom, and unique contributions of everyone. And it is up to us to create a working environment that reflects our shared spiritual intelligence, a safe and nurturing space that celebrates human complexity and encourages the exchange of ideas, collaboration, and progress.

The sacred is a river, flowing through the profane workplace and cleansing it of impurities. We have the power to heal ourselves so that we can effectively help and encourage others to do the same. We can be beacons of understanding in the darkness, leading the way and transforming our work from one of fear and exclusion to one of courage, creativity, and possibility. Let us all be the example, so that our workplaces no longer serve divisions, but celebrate the beauty of being united by a common cause.

The time is now to Bring the Sacred into the Profane. Amen. Ameen. Ashe’. Aho. And so, it is.

Rev. Erskine Matthews is an Interspiritual Reverend trained and ordained through the One Spirit Learning Alliance seminary program. His passion for creating spiritual workplaces was sparked while serving on their media team.