Organizational Spirit Management

Part 1: What Spirit?

Dr. Ahmed Mukhtar*

Leaders Training & Consultancy
Spirit is rooted deeply in the individuals and organizations that empower both
the organization and the workforce for mutual attraction. The word spirit as it
attracts us to its own protected entity. It has taken the attention of several
scientists, writers, managers and researchers. This protected entity clarifies
the need for its exploration of the definitions towards the organizational
development. To get a good insight to the spirit within workplace and
organizations we have to emphasis on its characteristics, definitions,
boundaries, and consensus.

Individuals usually look deeply in inside themselves searching their rooted

values, vision, goals, experience, believes, practices, principles, personality,
relationships, imagination, ideas, creativity, sacredness, and energy, as a
holistic approach that is reflected towards others spirit and organizations.

Whether the spirit is reflected as holistic or partially within the workplace, it

reflects on organization as whole. The individual spirit enhances the
organizational spirit and its measurement becomes more complex and makes
its management even more tangible and complicated.

What spirit?

Spirit and soul are two words that are commonly configured together in the
enterprises. The spirit definition has many meanings and concepts. However
the igniting the spirit of the workforce within the workplace will direct the spirit
of the organization alignment to a unified vision, mission, values, goals,
strategy, systems, processes, marketing, innovation, communication
strategies.

In the part of individuals spirit involves mind, will, religious practice, feelings,
mood, emotion, energy, courage, life, courage, ardour, vivacity, value,
dedication, loyalty, enthusiasm, activity, temper , and intellectual or moral
state. The belief is a strong issue of the individual spirit that includes sacred,
unity and transformation.

The search for direction, meaning, inner wholeness and connection to others,
to non-human creation, and to a transcendent defined by Gibbon’s (2000).
Krishnakumar and Neck (2002) describe spirituality as being pluralistic.

Moch and Bartunek (2002) contend that spirituality and religion cannot be
separated. . Pratt (2000) described that religious values deeply infusing into
the organization. Tosey and Robinson, (2002) pointed that personal
transformation that must take place in developing spirituality and its
relationship to organizational transformations. Others have pointed that
spirituality should be seen as separate from any religious context.

Howard (2002) mentions that business leaders who are open to spirituality
and think more deeply about their impact on organizations serve as role
models for employees and may lead to greater individual spirituality at work,
resulting in benefits to the organization. McLaughlin (2001) claims that the
most effective way to bring spiritual values into the workplace is to clarify the
company’s vision and mission, and to align them with a higher purpose and
commitment to service to both customers and community.

Dehler and Welsh (1994) mention that emotion and feeling as having an
implicit role in organization transformation, thus forming the genesis for
organizational spirituality. MacDonald, Kuentzel, and Friedman (1999) review
ten different instruments purported to tap spirituality and related constructs
ranging from the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory to the Psychomatrix
Spirituality Inventory. Cacioppe (2002) describes that spirituality in the
workplace is the only way leaders and organizations can succeed.

An organization as it is composed of a group of persons and teams could be

focused on their essential nature and strong royalty or dedication. In response
the organization commitment, respect and Value for each employee, client,
and business partner A prime consideration of their employees expectations,
honesty, integrity, learning and development, compassion, creativity,
flexibility, behavioural, confidentiality, professionalism ,expectations, and
leadership based on the ground of the organizational culture and values. In
same respect the employees’ commitment to the organizational vision and
contribution of their best selves and peak performance to achieve the
organizational strategies and goals.

The integral part of the organizational spirit is a healthy, strong and quality
relationship, networking and communication both within the organization and
externally toward customers and vendors.

Can the organization be alive by itself? Yes, as it composed of certain

systems and employees that make its power to be alive. It grows and goes
through all the up and downs where the healing is needed. It is alive due to its
culture, values, image, goals, mission, operations, service, product, etc. As
human beings it has its own spirit where it is a collective of all its intra and
extra structures and relationships.

The organization spirit progresses as the organization goes through certain

developmental and changes periods. We have to believe that it is as a living
entity due to its core, depth and roots that are integrated in the organization
system. The organization spirit is as it is not only a collective spirit of its group
of employees but also due to all components of its structure. This spirit could
influence the employees, society and environment. Therefore its spirit
requires management to ensure its living among other organizations within
the society and environment locally and globally.
So, what is Organizational Spirit?

Spirit as mentioned above is the root and base for all the organizational
structure. It holds and unifies all ingredients and components of the
organization. As mentioned the consideration of the employees expectations,
honesty, integrity, learning and development, compassion, creativity,
flexibility, behavioural, confidentiality, professionalism expectations, and
leadership, vision, goals, experience, believes, practices, principles,
personality, relationships, imagination, ideas, creativity, sacredness, and
energy, based on the ground of the organizational culture and values will
make the foundation of the organizational spirit. This is incorporated with
organizational values and culture and other organizational domains such as
organizational structure, processes, systems, activities and projects.

Is the organization a living entity?: Part 2.

References:

Cacioppe, R. (2000). Creating spirit at work: Re-visioning organization development

and leadership B Part I. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(1), 48-
54.

Dehler, G.,& Welsh, M. (1994). Spirituality and organizational transformation:

implications for the new management paradigm. Journal of Managerial Psychology,
l9(6), 17-26.

Gibbons, P. (2000). Spirituality at work: definitions, measures, assumptions, and

validity claims. Proceedings of the Academy of Management, USA, 2000.

Howard, S. (2002). A spiritual perspective on learning in the workplace. Journal of

Management Psychology, 17(3), 230-242.

Howard, S. (2002). A spiritual perspective on learning in the workplace. Journal of

Management Psychology, 17(3), 230-242.

Krishnakumar, S., & Neck, C. (2002). The "what", "why" and "how" of spirituality in
the workplace. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17 (3), 153-164.

MacDonald, D. A, Kuentzel, J. G., & Friedman, H. L. (1999). A survey of measures

of spiritual and transpersonal constructs: Part two – additional instruments. The
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 31(2), 155-177.

McLaughlin, C. (2001). Spirituality in business. [On-line] Available:

http://www.visionarylead.org/.
Moch, M., & Bartunek, J. (2002, August). Linking business, spirituality and religion.
Manuscript submitted for publication.

Pratt, M. (2000). Building an ideological fortress: The role of spirituality,

encapsulation and sensemaking. Studies in Cultures, Organizations & Societies, 6(1),
35-53.

Tosey, P. & Robinson, G. (2002). When change is no longer enough: What do we

mean by "transformation" in organizational change work? The TQM Magazine, 14(2),
100-109.

* Copyright Dr Ahmed Mukhtar. Leaders Training & Consultancy. P.O. Box

18123, Al Seef District; Bahrain. E-mail: ahmed-mukhtar@ltc-me.com