What is the Place of Spirituality in Business?

When invited to speak on the role of spirituality in business, I was reminded of an experience that I had on a visit to Ireland several years ago. I was traveling with two fellow Vincentians, and through the generosity of a benefactor, we had a car and a driver during our weeklong stay. In the course of a conversation we had one evening with our driver, I expressed my belief that being a good parent is one of the most difficult challenges any individual faces. This man reacted strongly and negatively to my remark and, much to my surprise, totally rejected what I considered to be self evident. Only later did I learn that he made his living on the road and really had almost nothing to do with the raising of his own children. His conviction was that children basically raise themselves and a parent has little to do with whether the child succeeds or fails as an adult.

While this anecdote is related neither to spirituality or business, it sets forth a premise that is central to my remarks. Specifically, there are certain realities that we are confident of without even reflecting on them. The notion that parents have a great impact on the future of their children seems to be a preconscious reality. I react similarly to the topic about which I have been asked to speak.

The nexus between spirituality and business is something that I accept without even reflecting on it Spirituality is part of who we are, a reality rooted in the depths of our personhood. Business is merely what some of us do - that which dominates our working day or workplace. The priority and necessary influence of the former over the latter is very clear. Indeed, it is a preconscious reality. For that reason, I fear belaboring the obvious and merely finding different words to articulate viewpoints that we already share. At the same time, I am aware that many corporate executives, both by word and deed, advocate the position that spirituality has nothing to do with business and ethical considerations have no place in business decisions. Therefore, there is a need to re-emphasize what many of us perceive as obvious.

What is the place of spirituality in business? To answer the question, let me focus briefly upon a tension that I experience in my own life. I ask each of you to think of three or four adjectives that could be used to characterize a successful business person. Let me presume that you choose the following: financially astute, decisive, demanding, forceful and oriented toward profit. Now, repeat the same exercise, and this time list characteristics of a good or outstanding priest Again, let me presume that you choose such descriptors as compassionate, understanding, generous, prayerful and concerned for others. It is striking to me that the words used to describe a good business person and a good priest are very, very different.

The words are so different that it could be argued that the business person and the priest live in separate worlds. Perhaps, the business person deals with the profane and the priest with the sacred. Perhaps, the business person lives in the city of man and the priest in the city of God. Perhaps, the business person deals with the human and the priest with the divine. Yet, it is my own conviction that our daily experience helps us see beyond these seeming dichotomies. Are the lines between the divine and the human so boldly drawn that we cannot experience one in experiencing the other? I think not. Perhaps, the clearest indication of the unity of human experience comes at the end of one's life. When someone dies, the family and friends rarely gather in boardrooms or corporate offices. Rather, they come together in churches, temples or other religious places to celebrate the individual's life and commend him or her to a loving God. In the face of death, the normal concerns of the corporation and the boardroom lose their significance. Then, the adjectives used to describe the good priest are the ones that are most important, and the adjectives describing the successful business person are appropriate only if they can be incorporated into a notion of human virtue suggested by a broader context of spirituality.

As President of St. John's University, I am responsible for over a $200 million operation with all the complexities thereof. I must deal with marketing and technological concerns, balancing budgets, human resources and legal challenges. I am also a priest, called to embody the gospel of Jesus in my own life and to preach it in word and action. Yes, the adjectives used to describe the business person and the priest are very different, at least from the perspective of contemporary society. When I enter meetings with my management team, must I leave my priesthood, indeed my faith, outside the room? When I sit at board meetings of Bear Stearns or other organizations where I am a director, is my own life view energized and shaped by my faith irrelevant to what is discussed? I think not. We must not allow such dichotomies to endure.

The meaning of our lives, rooted in our relationship with our God, must permeate and unify all that we do. In making judgments of right or wrong or of value or the absence of value, we must clearly establish the context in which we are speaking. For example, is our discussion taking place within a very narrow context? Is our discussion part of a broader context for ourselves individually, the world and indeed all of humanity? Within a boardroom, financial stability and profitability are always important values and meaningful concerns. Individuals can rightly make judgments based upon the implications for the bottom line of the corporation, but these decisions must be consistent with a broader reality of life rooted in that place where God meets the human person. The decisions in the boardroom cannot be separated from one's life view, the spiritual realities that energize and hopefully permeate the human person. Very simply, it is fine for my life as a priest-president to be marked by some of the characteristics used to describe a good business person provided they are manifested within a context clearly characterized by the prevailing values of my faith and ministry.

Too often, discussions of business ethics focus upon limited contexts. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission requires every mutual fund corporation to publish a code of ethics approved by its board of directors. These codes articulate strict corporate policies to protect clients' rights and avoid conflicts of interest. Can we presume that mutual fund companies are ethical if they keep this code of ethics? I do not believe so. The codes of ethics address limited aspects of their corporate lives. Obviously for corporations, profitability is also very important, but while companies should seek to insure the best possible return on investment for stockholders, there are broader values that set the parameters for profitability. We all know that companies could enhance profitability at the personal expense of their employees or others, which in a broader context would clearly be unjust.

Business is a very small part of life, but a part that should enhance and improve the quality of the rest of our lives. There we find the true focus of business ethics questions -- their impact upon the quality of all lives in relationship with a loving God.

Spirituality is looking beyond today, the here and now, to contextualize our lives in their totality. We step beyond the limits, our own and those of others, and there we meet our God. There we shape the context of our life project. The discussion of business ethics -- indeed, the consideration of all ethical issues -- can only take place within this broader context. If we confuse the place where work happens with the place where life happens, our decisions will be skewed and often unethical. If we clearly recognize that the place where work happens exists in order to enhance and enrich the place where life happens, then our ethical decisions will be made within an appropriate context.

I have a few examples to highlight the point that I am making. In July 1998, St. John's University held the first commencement ceremony on its new Rome campus. Our men's soccer team, which won the national championship the prior academic year, was present at the commencement and competed against professional teams from both Italy and England. During their stay in Rome, His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, granted the team a private audience. At the meeting, the Pope asked the players if they won their first game, which was played the day before. One player responded that they lost by one goal. The Holy Father shook his head and responded very spontaneously, "It is not good to lose; it is much better to win!" I presume we all agree that this papal utterance will not be judged as carrying strong moral weight. Nonetheless, it is a good example of how quickly we can apply seeming judgments of good and bad in our everyday speech.