Jack Shea Presents...




Faith-Based Organizations 











“Don’t Park Your Soul At The Door…
Bring Your Spirit To Work!”







Faith-based organizations function with 4 areas of competencies:

Business – essential for the success of any organization 
(‘Ya can’t go… with no dough!)

Organization – effective leadership with responsive ‘follow-ship’

Values – principles/ethics that are explained, taught and…

: made connections with
: identify conflicts with
: extended for further            development/consideration/application 

Vocation – spirituality (personal connects to professional)

Faith-based organizations have a foundation in FAITH.
VALUES carry faith into the organization. 
Values are the character and ethics upon which the organization operates.







Faith-based organizations:

…are HIGH-BRED 
- members  enjoy tension/stress of some quantity
- members face conflict of morals (Beauty vs Beast)
…have DIALOGUES (NOT DISCUSSIONS)
…give VALUES a VOICE
…involve MEANINGFUL WORK
…use SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
…practice STORY-TELLING 


In Faith-based organizations:
Leadership is not ‘handed-down’

…it is a process of meeting the needs required of you.






The better the story-teller you are…
…the  better a LEADER you will be 
(Lead by NARRATION NOT ABSTRACTION) 

Story-telling is the process used to impart VALUES.

“Don’t tell them where you’re at…tell them how you got there!”

Tell the PATH to your OPINION!

Personality of the storyteller…comes through the stories they tell.

The stories we hear and experience, help us to learn (from others’ stories and experiences). We can find inner strength in relation to outer conflicts. 

Collectively and individually we gain identity, and learn to respond creatively to situations.

Through stories we can model and learn values!
Catholicity is the community of sharing and learning from others.

TOGETHER  WE  ARE  BETTER !!!
(…but maybe we need to know HOW to be together!)

Dialogues – 

1. Dis-identify with ideas – (assumptions held out in front of yourself)

2. Share ideas with colleagues – shared meaning
– NOT a heirarchy of implanting of ones’s ideas

3. Involve an outside facilitator

Spiritual Practice – 
Through the use of story-telling and shared experience…we HOST a time of grace witnessed. We take that SPIRIT and make it flesh (build consciousness) and cause it to bear fruit. 

When we cultivate moments of grace…we:

-       remember the moments of awakening
-       are living …‘consciousness-building’
-       are keeping our spirits alive!

When we are …
PERSISTENT…
COMMITED to a VISION…
and MORALE BUILDING…

This can become a …
UNIFYING IDENTITY BUILDER!!!







Meaningful Work –

Meaningful work involves putting SPIRIT into the workplace. It is the connecting of part(s) to a whole. Though it may be considered a FAD…it has significant residue.

Finding purpose in the work you do is a determining factor in your job satisfaction, work productivity, creative problem-solving potential, relationships, as well as personal well-being and enjoyment of life. 

Meaning-making is personal.

Faith-based organizations create situations for people to find meaning in their work. 

There are 3 levels of Meaningful Work:

Individual – Do the tasks I’m doing fit with my personality?

Personal meaning is a combination of task and personality.

Is there a favorable ratio?
Do you get community support/positive feedback from your contribution(s)?
Are you good at it? 


Social – Does the work I do relate to my life and the whole society?

Is the stuff you’re doing for 8 hours/day making you a better person for the other 16 hours?

Is your work giving you enough resources to sustain you?

Faith-based organizations do not reduce people to their work only. People have a larger life…work is not the only aspect of the person.

Faith-based organizations do give adequate compensation and enhancement of life.

Does what you do relate to the group, to others, to society?

Is there social pride? 
(good-mouthing, slide in competition, good working relationships)

How important is what you do …to society?


Spiritual/Theological – Is this a place that the soul can give itself? 

…not just the giving of talents, skills, abilities
 
Is this a place where the soul unfolds? 
(LOYALTY is attracted at this level)

The wider the meaning of what you are doing…
the more personal strength you have!

Does what you are doing...shrivel or enhance your human spirit?

Does what you are doing… take your SPIRIT into FLESH?


Above all, faith-based organizations help us to:

- have Cari-tasse – a deep appreciation for the beauty of life

- help us to organize and balance our dedication to family and work

- increase our productivity, creativity, and sensitivity

- and…
See the spirit in everyday life !

“Once someone learns something…






the ‘world of ignorance’ 
will never quite be the same again!”