Workplace Faith
There is a direct link between the human recovery process
and their faith. Enalls-Fenner (January 27, 2018)
May 17, 2018
About four years ago, I was finally in the interviewing phase for my dissertation research. It was a momentous occasion as I turned the corner from full book studies to full-time dissertation work. I was on a quest to find out how small business owners and leaders addressed stressful workplace situations. I wanted to know if they used a construct called Appreciative Intelligence.
As I weaved my way through the stressful situations the various interviewees were so kind to share with me I found that the vast majority of them; from the dance club owner to the sales manager at the car lot turned to one thing in a time of stress; their faith. I was shocked.
I wasn’t looking for religion, I was looking for appreciative intelligence. However, my research showed that faith plus appreciative intelligence when addressing stressful workplace situations could not be separated. (Enalls-Fenner, 2018), in a recent policy reform paper for Faith Based Initiatives submitted to the White House, I wrote:
Silencing a person’s faith because they are outside of the church walls is counterproductive and frankly impossible, (Enalls-Fenner, 2015), unexpectedly found that individuals engulfed in stressful workplace situations consider their faith as a part of the process of addressing stressful situations.[1] There is a direct link between the human recovery process and their faith.
In America, the saying is “in a polite conversation we don’t discuss religion or politics.” There is also a constant screaming banter to remember the separation of church and state. Nevertheless, in the midst of business hours, people were turning to their faith to remain steadfast when making difficult decisions. There were so many that said they looked to their belief that I expounded upon the previous study and added four competencies to addressing stressful workplace situations using Appreciative Intelligence. Freedom for Personal Faith and Prayer was one of those.
My interviewees said things like:
“My faith is key to keeping me at peace . . . I find a quiet place and take a moment to get myself together and then come back at it.”
“When I realize that I’m not living in the now I have to stop and admit that I can’t do this on my own . . . when my head is down my staff knows to give me a minute.”
“If I didn’t feel led to be here I wouldn’t be the stress was so high . . . it’s my faith that keeps me here, and I have peace about that.”
“I stopped and reevaluated the situation and said is this someone higher up telling me to stop? But I knew it wasn’t . . . if it was, I would have stopped and been okay with it.”
“When the ultimate decision is yours you have to have confidence in yourself and your faith and stick with it.”
“You have to believe in a higher power in order to overcome stressful situations.[2]
I suppose for some the mere mention of faith brings a sense of neck raised hair and a robust strident opposition, as if a leader’s faith will be force fed down everyone’s throats like cold medicine. The fact is that when you deny someone the ability to rely on their faith you are hindering their personal development and ability to address the stressful situations the workplace brings.
It’s also a cultural thing in America, according to a Pew Study (2009), “Nearly eight-in-ten African-Americans (79%) say religion is very important in their lives…members of historically black churches are among the most likely of any religious group to say religion is very important in their lives. Among African-American members of historically black churches, 85% say religion is very important to them…”[3]
Even those African Americans who are not affiliated with a church, “religion...is important in the lives of many African-Americans who are not affiliated with any particular religion. Fully 45% of unaffiliated African-Americans report that religion is essential in their lives.”[4] Latino Americans have a similar mindset.
In fact, the urban community has the highest numbers of people who affiliate with a church, attend church and frequency of prayer. Most in the urban community are also comfortable with their church leadership discussing political issues.
Now enter in the diversity of people from different nations and cultures who were never taught separation of church and state. The awkwardness of acknowledging one person's rights to adhere to their faith and not another is a lawsuit just waiting to happen.
Embrace the faith, set standards on what is allowed and what is not, and don't get caught up in who is easily offended (see toxic staff and leaders in a previous post). Be at peace; there are even studies that back up the positive impact of prayerful employees.
Recently, (Wang and Lin, 2014), researched religious beliefs and economic growth in China using data from 2001-2011, they considered the impact on political preference, human capital, and work ethic they found that Christianity had the most significant effect on economic growth. [5]
“In recent years, Italian economists have presented findings that religion can boost GDP by increasing trust within a society; researchers in the United States showed that religion reduces corruption and increases respect for law in ways that boost overall economic growth. Many researchers have documented how merchants used religious backgrounds to establish one another’s reliability.” [6]
References:
[1] Enalls-Fenner, T.R. (2015), “Exploring Appreciative Intelligence Competencies for Small Business Leadership During Stressful Situations,” (Order No. 3688863). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1674844242). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1674844242?accountid=26967.
[2] Enalls-Fenner, T.R. (2015), “Exploring Appreciative Intelligence Competencies for Small Business Leadership During Stressful Situations,”
[3] Pew Research Center (2009), A Religious Portrait of African-Americans. [Online], accessed May 17, 2018, http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/#2
[4] Pew Research Center (2009), A Religious Portrait of African-Americans. [Online]
[5] Wang, Q. and Lin X. (December 2014), “Does religious beliefs affect economic growth? Evidence from provincial-level panel data in China,” China Economic Review. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2014.10.006
[6] Fitzgerald, M., (November 15, 2009), “Satan, the great motivator. The curious economic effects of religion,” [Online], Boston Globe, accessed January 18, 2018, http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/11/15/the_curious_economic_effects_of_religion/?page=1
