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Soulful Living at Work

The great Christian theologian, Meister Eckhart, identified four major paths to enlightenment:
Via positiva - awe and wonder
Via negativa - suffering and letting go
Via creativa - creating and innovating
Via transformativa - promoting justice and making the world a better place.In order to build a society in which business serves the people and the culture rather than one in which people and culture serve the god of Economics, new paradigms must be explored. Wisdom from a variety of traditions should be embraced. Almost every intentional act I make is an attempt to increase my sense of control. Given the choice between being in control, we almost always choose control. We'd rather be ineffective and be in control than be effective, and we make all kinds of bizarre decisions because of that. But control is an illusion. I cannot, by virtue of authority and position, empower anybody. There are things I can do to create an environment in which people will more likely choose to empower themselves.

Rites of Passage in the Workplace

Birth:
What is "new" in the workplace?
What is emerging within the organization?

Initiation:
What is being learned?
What are we learning in the organization at this time?
What challenges must be met?
How are we being stretched?
Do we advocate professional development and provide mentoring and coaching for everyone? Marriage/Mergence:
What professional and community alliances does our organization foster?

Death
What is dying in our organization?
What is being released?
What have we outgrown?
What is being shed and is no longer useful?
How can we make honorable closure to the ends of projects, finished team tasks, and to honor those who are leaving? It is important to implement rituals to support each phase for integration of the changes taking place in an organization. How can the organization value tasks and relationships equally, so that the purpose or vision of the organization is supported in meaningful ways?

Toynbee's Law of Progressive Simplification
The measure of a civilizations' growth and sustainable vitality lies in its ability to transfer increasing amounts of energy and attention from the material side of life to the educational, psychological, cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual side.

Coaching
Spiritual coaching is about trusting creative process, about voices rising, about new possibilities. It fosters optimism and hope, energy and direction. It develops community and meaning and addresses a deep thirst embedded in today's work systems.

The Triple Helix of Change
We can envision change as the by-product of cultivating a "triple helix" of spiritual, relational, and creative dimensions to our lives. Each strand of the triple helix contains a specific challenge or struggle. The spiritual challenge concerns articulating and practicing a sense of purpose and meaning that transcends our individual daily lives. The relational challenge is transform our conduct in relationships - whether intimate ones, friendships, or at work - from old-style struggles around control, domination, or submission, to practicing mutuality and affirmation even when there are differences. The creative strand of the triple helix involves cultivating a creative mind-set in everyday life. This includes developing our creativity both in work-related challenges and problems of daily living. The three strands form a helix because they are intertwined. The way we practice any one of them affects the other two - for better or worse. People who are able to change themselves in significant ways are engaged in three interlocking struggles that support healthy connection:
Developing a New Awareness
Creating New Perspectives
Cultivating New Life Practices