The First Shall Be Last

XVII.  In The Spirit

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 13:52)

In this simple reading resides the mystery of Omnipresence.

Spiritual Fields 

As a child, I was fascinated by the premise that God is everywhere. Even as adults, we find it hard to wrap our minds around such a concept. Yet a moment came when I was in the midst of an unfriendly and threatening gathering, trying to speak to an unreceptive crowd about things they didn’t want to hear. In my tension and defensiveness, I suddenly saw not a room full of angry individuals, but a group of worried people surrounded by the Holy Spirit. It was as if they and I were in a bubble together. I sensed Spirit insinuating itself around and throughout the room, binding the participants to me and to each other. The flow of energy was almost palpable. It was a split second of safety and peace, and it changed everything. As my perception was altered, so was the conduct of the crowd. I learned in a dramatic way how God is everywhere by virtue of an amorphous, pervasive, and all-encompassing Spirit.

I think of a set of nesting dolls: a tiny doll enclosed in a larger one, both enfolded in a yet larger one, and all enveloped by an even larger doll. Or of an atom, an entity in itself, but also a container for innumerable smaller particles moving about in microscopic spaces.  I visualize Spirit as just such a container. None of us are outside its confines. It transforms the illusion of separation into a reality of connection.

Scientists talk about these phenomena as fields. Field theory is based on the unseen forces of energy that swirl around us, visible only in their effects. Gravitational fields, electromagnetic fields, cyber fields: we know they are there every time we drop a dish, turn on the lights and send an email.

It is also postulated that there are morphogenic fields, forces that influence behavior. Think of the potential of fields that impact the workplace: customer service fields, respect and engagement fields, team fields, ethics fields, innovation fields, and others. Such fields are set in motion by leaders to galvanize organizational values; to take those values from words on a page to tangible actions and results that can be experienced.

Culture

Leaders create the culture. Make no mistake: there is always a culture. It happens by intention or by default. If the leader neglects the culture, it will take its cues from others, perhaps in a direction the leader would not wish. And so the leader must be quite deliberate in developing it.

Culture is the spirit of the organization; its personality; what shapes how people act and respond to one another. Like Spirit, culture is the animating principle of an organization, ubiquitous, tenacious, and wide-ranging. It seeps into the corners, fills in the gaps, and overlays the surfaces. Culture declares itself in policies, budgets, decision-making, disciplinary actions, communications, relationships, and strategic plans.

Leaders generate the culture by instilling and nourishing a set of values. They talk about them and, most importantly, they become their principal model. The first is fairly simple; the second is anything but. People watch the leader to gauge sincerity. They look at what the leader says and does, what behaviors are rewarded and which are not tolerated, who is hired and promoted, how resources are used, and how the organization responds to crisis. Depending on what they see, they will determine their own priorities, where they can and cannot cut corners, how they will interact with colleagues and clients, what they will share, and what they will hold close.

Culture does not emerge overnight: it takes years to establish roots. Our world is caught up in quick results and measurable outcomes. I love the analogy of the Chinese cherry tree which shows no appreciable growth for the first three years; then in the fourth year, shoots up as high as eighty feet. Culture is much like that. It requires careful cultivation and patience. In order for it not to be a ‘flavor of the month’ or to fade away when the leader moves on, it must be enculturated: woven into the fabric of the organization. The organization’s culture must be the very breath it breathes.

Interesting that the word ‘spirit’ comes from the Latin for breath. A culture of servant leadership inspires, animates, and connects for a higher purpose. Servant leaders understand that culture is not the result of their success, but the very basis for it.

                               Seeing Into the Soul

He lurked around the fringes,

Watching for his opportunity.

When the woman edged close, he struck out

And snatched her coat,

Before she even knew it was gone.

He loped away with his prize,

But she pursued, and as he slipped in a wet patch

She caught him.

Yet rather than pummel him or raise the alarm,

She said, “Here, take my hat as well.”

Wary, he took the hat

From her outstretched hand, and fled.

But again she followed,

And as he tripped on an unseen protrusion,

Brought him down and forced her shoes upon him.

Now suspicious, he cried, “I have no need

Of your shoes or your hat, or,

If truth be told, your coat. I will not take them.”

“In that you are correct”, she responded.

“You take a coat when what you really need is forgiveness.

You take a hat when what would comfort you is understanding.

You take a pair of shoes when what you crave

Is a sense of your own worth.

By freely relinquishing my coat, hat and shoes,

I offer you what you truly need.”

And she gave him her hand.

And he took it.