has written words to a published picture book entitled “A Boy, A Dog and A Frog.” The book is full of hope and happiness. Although Gabrielle eventually lost her battle with leukemia, she won the battle to live in faith. Gabrielle, Nachum, Gabriel and Emma are miraculous human beings, full of faith and testaments to faith’s power.
The Necessity of Faith
Faith is more powerful in the world and in the workplace than any other force – ambition, passion, despair or greed. A Christian commentator remarked that he sees many Christians who are afraid to talk about their faith, as if stating you have faith is somehow embarrassing. The same attitude can be found in some Jews, Muslims and the faithful in other religions.
Have faith in miracles and you will be in enviable company.
“A national survey of 1,100 physicians . . . found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 73% believe they can occur today.”
I had a discussion with a neighbor about faith in the workplace. I guess you could characterize the discussion as a disagreement. I said successful managers need to have faith. He said he was suspicious of anyone who made a big deal about having faith because more wars had been started and people killed over conflicts about faith than over anything else. I considered his point and replied that the faith on which I rely is an individual’s essential belief in and acknowledgement of God. However, it was my firm belief that individuals’ expressions of their faith had helped and saved (and continue to help and save) many times more lives than were hurt and lost in conflicts that were wrongly described as motivated by faith. We ended up not agreeing.
It is my firm belief that successful managers need to have faith. Faith is the first necessary ingredient for this journey we all must take.
That faith is in the soul of the successful manager and it is that manager’s own personal light. That light illuminates the manager’s authentic self. It is “. . . this precious treasure – this light and power that now shine within us . . .” (2 Corinthians 4:7). It guides the manager throughout the workday, during interactions and in decision making. It is the light in the open door that makes colleagues comfortable to come in and talk. It is the light of the manager’s credibility. It is the light of conscience. It is the essence of the manager’s spirit and humanity. While it may seem easy to put a cover over it, it takes an awful lot of effort to extinguish that light.
Think about people who give deathbed confessions and ask for forgiveness at their final hour. It would seem that at that point in a life, a confession wouldn’t mean much to the confessor, after all he or she is checking out, right? I guess they do it because they want to check out with the light on, not off.
For some people, that light is visible with the human eye. Some thirty-five years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Mother Theresa at a church in the South Bronx – me and 300 other privileged people. She came to speak at the opening of one of her missions in New York City. Sitting in a pew in the back of the church, I stared at this tiny, short figure of a person dressed in white standing in front of the altar, surrounded by dozens of taller, bigger figures. Mother Theresa, however, was the only figure that was shining. Yes she was glowing, literally. It wasn’t because there was a spotlight on her: this was a poor and simple church in a devastated neighborhood, it didn’t have any spotlights. And at that time, unlike now, my vision was certified 20/20. Was I imagining this singular glow? My wife nudged me and asked, “Do you see it?” “The glow around Mother Theresa?” I asked in reply. “Yeah, that glow,” she responded. We both turned to our friend who had accompanied us. Even though there were tears streaming down our friend’s face, she could see it too. It was a powerful light, even more so when Mother Theresa insisted upon greeting and blessing each person present that day, as we filed out the door one at a time. Face to face, with Mother Theresa grasping my hand and saying, “God bless you,” the light from her was dazzling.
Listen to this one finding:
“. . . ‘A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America,’ published in October (1999) by Jossey-Bass, found that employees who work for organizations they consider to be spiritual are less fearful, less likely to compromise their values, and more able to throw themselves into their jobs.”
Isn’t that the organization you want to build and represent? Isn’t that the employee and manager you want to be?
This essential faith requires us as managers to believe in and demonstrate compassion for one another. I remind myself daily to practice compassion and to be a compassionate example, especially for my colleagues and my children. I admit to lapses in this regard but I catch myself quickly because I realize that my faith cannot be real without compassion as its expression.
The Logic of Compassion
There are times when I have been in disagreement or angry with a colleague or friend and I have found myself steaming inside to “get back” at that person! I admit it, I’m not perfect and I bet you’ve had similar thoughts in these situations as well. But I let those thoughts evaporate as I cool off that steam and my faith counters by listening to the logic of compassion.
This logical compassion isn’t about inaction or surrender – it’s about compassionate action that is motivated by my self respect. Instead of telling myself to “not sink to someone else’s level,” I am aware that I don’t want to sink below my own standards and values. I make that choice, comparing the expression of me to my authentic self. Logical compassion requires that I respect myself; acknowledge and utilize the ambiguities of each situation; look long term at the consequences of my responses; and show respect for the person with whom I’m in disagreement. Have anger, false pride, some other issue, or inattention prevented me from listening to the other person and responding, with an open heart?
These considerations don’t mean that sometimes my response won’t be seen by the other person as negative and unwanted. Being faithful to myself and to what I believe, I use my leadership tools guided by logical compassion to respond appropriately, including with an honest criticism, a redress, a discipline or a termination. These responses are done with openness, fairness, honesty and respect.
The Light Shines Through
A number of times in my work life I’ve had to terminate the employment of colleagues, almost always in one on one situations, not mass layoffs. In a number of these situations, some time later I’ve come across these individuals again and they’ve told me two things.
1.Thank you for the respectful way in which you treated me during a difficult time.
2.Being fired turned out to be a blessing in disguise; I just couldn’t see that at the time.
Surprising? It still is to me but it’s true. It really isn’t about what you need to do (unless you will be violating your own humanity) as much as it is about how you are motivated to do it. When you take your lead from within yourself, from the light of your faith, even the most difficult management decisions will be morally clear and practically sound.
Four times so far in my life I’ve been directed to end the employment of colleagues who had become my personal friends. I will tell you upfront that all remained my personal friends. My experience with one in particular, Wayne, is an abiding lesson for me.
Wayne and I became instant friends during my first two months in a new company. Wayne led one of the company’s expanding product areas and I was the human resource leader. We met at a staff meeting and I was taken by Wayne’s natural charm and his openness. Wayne
