Career Spirituality -- Learning the R.O.P.E.S. (2003)

Career development is an inherently spiritual process, yet many development professionals and personal coaches shy away from any discussion of spirituality in their work. The reason for this is perhaps because spirituality is tied to religion, and we live in a society that values a separation of religion from state and other aspects of public life. We uncomfortable mixing religion into our profession, and we afraid of offending others do not share our faith. This places the professional in a dilemma: How does one practice a spiritual occupation, but never discuss the central issue? To escape this dilemma, we need an understanding of spirituality, which transcends the borders of religion, and we need a vocabulary with which to articulate our ideas with others. Moreover, we need a framework that is at the same time both broad enough to facilitate a universally inclusive discussion and, simultaneously, sophisticated enough to remain valuable. The R.O.P.E.S. offers such a framework. It is a practical approach to spirituality, designed to facilitate such an inclusive discussion. Indeed, the R.O.P.E.S. will empower you with the ability to integrate concepts of spirituality and meaning into your career, and your life, and it will assist you in helping others do the same. Introduction A football player once asked the great coach, Vince Lombardi, to play on his team. The player said that football was his top priority. Lombardi replied, With that attitude, you won't play on my team. On my team, it has to be first, family second, and only then Many people pay lip-service to the idea of ordering their priorities with noble values first and only then list their work. A person might say that he or she puts family first, but then put in 60 or 70 hours at the office. In reality, for many of us, there is a great disparity between our stated values and how we live our lives. Moreover, even the most sincere person cannot escape the fact that they likely to spend much more time at work than they could ever hope to spend with G-d first, family second. So, it would seem that we all a little dishonest in how we structure our lives. And you cannot simply say, Well, I have to organize my life this way. After all, I need to feed my family, because even the Vince Lombardis of this world, have plenty of money in the bank and, if they so choose, could spend more time at home and in church or synagogue, choose instead to play football! Our careers, whether we admit it or not, the dominant factors in our lives. This is so true that for most of us who we are is synonymous with we do. Therefore, gaining perspective about the role of in our lives is important. In addition, since many of us truly aspire to the ideal of attaining life-work balance, we need an approach to dealing with issues. To achieve these ends, one must examine the spiritual dimension of career. Now you might be thinking, What does spirituality have to do with work? Why should I care about the spiritual quality of my career? I am not a priest or rabbi. Let's leave the spiritual for the house of prayer. To this, the response is simple-career satisfaction is at its core a spiritual issue. If all career meant was making money, then finding a job and being happy in it would be a simple mechanical formula: We would do what our father's did or whatever society chose for us. We would do what we were trained to do, and no one would like what they did more or less than anyone else. Furthermore, if meant only money, then people would retire once they achieved financial security. The fact is, though, that life is not that simple, and successful people do not stop working. Deep down, we each have an overwhelming drive to feel a sense of meaning in what we do with our lives. We need to know that there is a purpose to our existence and, that we have contributed something to the world for having been here. …