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What is Spiritual Capital? June 3, 2017 by Alain Noghiu

Let’s face it, the words “spirituality” and “religion” carry a heavy load in most

contemporary societies. An increasingly diversified, globalized and commoditized world

has led to an endless variety of practices, understandings and expressions of spirituality

and religion. As a result, spirituality and religion are often viewed as pertaining to

people’s private domain while large organizations, private and public have distanced

themselves from any particular spiritual or religious tradition.

This secularization of organized life notwithstanding, 84% of the world’s populations still

considers itself religious. Of the remaining 16%, half considers itself “theistic but non-

religious”. Even in western countries such as the Netherlands about 71% of the

population believes there is a God (34%) or some sort of spirit or life force (37%). In the

U.S. the percentage of people that is either religious or spiritual is around 88%. In other

words, contrary to some popular beliefs, religion and spirituality continue to play a

significant role in the daily lives of an overwhelming majority of the world’s people – no

longer however in the environment where people spend 50% of their time, namely the

workplace.

For a long period, little attention was paid to connections between spirituality and issues

pertaining to individual and organizational identity and performance. This has started to

change in the past decade. Reasons are many, but they certainly include the crisis and

collapse of large corporations such as WorldCom and Enron and more recently the

global mortgage crisis, which were caused by mismanagement, blatant corruption and

unethical behavior on the part of companies and their senior leadership. This has led to

questioning how these ethical crises link to leaders’ and organizations’ loss of

connection with “core values”, many of which are considered enshrined in the world’s

religious and spiritual traditions. Meanwhile on the employee level, organizations have

also increasingly started to experience a call to balance material benefits with the

provision of “intrinsic motivation”. The modern workforce is no longer seems satisfied

with simply earning a living. Studies show they increasingly expect the workplace to

provide personal fulfillment, growth and meaning.

This is where the notion of “Spiritual Capital” becomes relevant. The concept’s origins

can be traced to fundamental ideas in philosophy, economics, sociology, theology and

increasingly in current leadership and management literature. Broadly, Spiritual Capital

refers to the accumulated and enduring collection of beliefs, knowledge, values and

dispositions that drive societal, organizational and interpersonal behavior. Hence,

the Spiritual Capital “value proposition” operates on multiple levels.

Societal Spiritual Capital is the combination and culmination of individual and

organizational Spiritual Capital into deeply held beliefs and practices associated with a

society, which are passed on from generation to generation.

Organizational Spiritual Capital functions at an institutional level and refers to the

organizational structures and assets which “codify” organizational values and objectives.

These are the organization’s mission and vision statements, their codes of behavior and

ethics and specifically their “worldview” and beliefs about their role and responsibility in

society fall in this category.

Individual Spiritual Capital means having a clear personal value system, a personal moral

vision, an ethos and motivation to transcend limitations and accountability to “higher

standards” and “fundamental purposes”.

Spiritual Capital has been linked to improved interpersonal and leadership skills and

ethical behavior. Some of its organizational benefits are increased levels of economic

performance, longevity and sustainability. Spiritual Capital is a readily available yet often

untapped resource for leaders and their organizations!

Nohigu, A. (2017, June 3). What is Spiritual Capital? Spiritual Capital and Moral Leadership Institute.

https://scmli.com/spiritual-capital/what-is-spiritual-capital/

Social Capital: Why It Really Is "Who You

Know"

Jan 24, 2019

By Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.

Capital: Accumulated wealth, especially as used to produce more wealth. Social capital: Wealth (or benefit) that exists because of an individual's relationships. The value created by fostering connections between individuals.

Here is a terrific example of the value of social capital in the workplace, from Tom Stewart, the editor of Harvard Business Review. New software designed to help employees fix problems was installed in a customer service call center. When the call-center operator typed words spoken by a customer, the software searched its memory bank of diagnoses and then offered a variety of possible solutions. Trouble was, employees weren’t using the new software. So management held a month-long contest in which employees earned points whenever they solved a customer problem, by whatever means. Managers were hoping that the benefit of using the new system would become self- evident. But that wasn’t what happened.

The winner of the contest was Carlos, an eight-year veteran with loads of practical experience who almost never used the software. And, while his success might have been expected, the second-prize winner was a real shock. Trish was so new to the company that she didn’t even have the software—nor could she rely on her personal experience. But she did have one unique advantage—she sat next to Carlos. Trish overheard his conversations, took him to lunch, asked questions and persuaded him to help her build a personal collection of notes and manuals about how to fix problems. Trish won the contest because she utilized her social network.

Here’s another example of social capital in action. In the 1980s, Xerox Corporation was looking for a way to boost the productivity of its field service staff. An anthropologist from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) traveled with a group of tech reps to observe how they actually did their jobs— not how they described what they did, or what their managers assumed they did. The anthropologist discovered that the reps spent more time with each other than with customers. They’d gather in common areas like the local parts warehouse or around the coffee pot and swap stories from the field. An old model company manager would have viewed the time spent socializing as a

“gap” to be eliminated for higher productivity, but the anthropologist saw the exact opposite.

At Xerox, the informal gatherings didn’t represent time wasted, but rather money in the bank. For it was here, within these self-organized communities of practice, that the reps asked each other questions, identified problems and shared new solutions as they devised them. And it was through conversations at the warehouse—conversations that weren’t part of any formal business process or reflected in any official organizational chart—that people really learned how to do their jobs.

The social network—those ties among individuals that are based on mutual trust, shared work experiences and common physical and virtual spaces—is in many senses the “true structure” of an organization. Because leaders are beginning to realize the economic implications of these networks, organizations are having them analyzed and mapped.

A social network analysis consists of a survey of the individuals in a “network” (a group or an organization). It outlines who they rely on for information, for learning or for specific knowledge needed in decision making. Then visual maps are created showing who goes to who—revealing knowledge flow, powerful connections and potential blocks.

But you don’t have to map social networks to realize the importance of personal connections. Every work group or team has potentially two positive outcomes—(1) achieving the team’s objective—and (2) building the social capital of team members. That’s why the most successful offsite meetings encourage participants to socialize at meals, during breaks, in the workout room and at the bar. The “war stories” and insights shared informally build trust and nurture relationships, and that, in turn, fosters a more creative, successful and engaged workforce.

About the Author(s)

Carol Kinsey Goman coaches executives, helps teams develop strategies, and delivers keynote speeches and seminars to business audiences around the world. She is the author of nine books, including her latest, The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work. For more information: telephone: 510-526-1727, e-mail: [email protected], or the Web: www.NonverbalAdvantage.com

Goman, C. (2019, January 24). Social Capital: Why It Really Is "Who You Know.” American Management

Association. https://www.amanet.org/articles/social-capital-why-it-really-is-andquot-who-you-

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