Handling Spiritual Resources at Work: An Autoethnographic Inquiry

Authors

Anselmo Ferreira Vasconcelos, Independent ResearcherFollow

Abstract

This study draws upon some particular dimensions of spirituality in the workplace such as insight, intuition, wisdom, respect, love, humility, courage, ethics, optimism, the other, and sense of purpose. Through an autoethnographic inquiry it describes my personal spiritual journey at work, that is, my own experiences, reflections, understanding, viewpoints, and memories regarding those constructs as a framework. In hindsight, I explore a certain period of my professional life when I was very young and working for a multinational company, which was under permanent change in order to adapt and survive in the hypercompetitive and turbulent Brazilian market. By drawing on a researcher that is researched approach, I can see the transcendental meaning (nexus) of those episodes in my career. Hence, I further developed resilience, patience, leadership, spirituality, self-reflection and self-introspection capabilities. I could better understand the other perspective, particularly the human sins, vices, emotions, and virtues. I also argue that religious faith and spirituality knowledge dovetails perfectly well in the workplace. Further, this study provides consistent evidence of suitable usage of these resources.

Keywords

Insight, Intuition, Wisdom, Respect, Love, Humility, Courage, Ethics, Optimism, Other, Sense of Purpose

Author Bio(s)

I got a BS in Social Communication from Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM) and MS in Management from Pontifical Catholic University both in São Paulo. As an independent researcher, I have published my work at Journal of Management Development, Management Research Review, Management Research, European Journal of Marketing, Management Decision, Journal of Business Ethics, Management & Marketing, Journal of Management and Organization and several Brazilian academic journals about prayer effects on organizational life, internal (de)marketing, spirituality in the workplaces, societal marketing, among other topics. I regularly write to Brazilian non-refereed publications about religion and spirituality themes. Finally, I am also the author of a book (in Portuguese) upon spirituality in the workplace, Espiritualidade no Ambiente de Trabalho: Dimensões, Reflexões e Desafios (Editora Atlas, 2008). Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: afv@uol.com.br.

Acknowledgements

The author is very grateful to Jüergen Menner for his helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article, as well as to the anonymous reviewers.

Publication Date

3-19-2018

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3167

Recommended APA Citation

Vasconcelos, A. F. (2018). Handling Spiritual Resources at Work: An Autoethnographic Inquiry. The Qualitative Report, 23(3), 636-658. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3167