MGT 420 Module 7 Discussion Question 3:

How does an individual’s faith or worldview inform their personal management practices?

ADDITIONAL DETAILS 

The impact of individual faith or worldview on personal management practices

Introduction

Faith and spirituality have been studied as a means of personal management (PM) for many years. However, the focus has been on how individuals adopt PM practices on an individual basis in response to their own religious and spiritual values. This article suggests that it is important to consider the role of religion and spirituality as social processes that impact PM practices within organizations. Faith can be defined as “a set of beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors held by an individual or group” (Cochran & Bailey, 2012). Within this definition lies a number of different forms of faith such as worldviews: “a person’s worldview is defined by her or his patterned beliefs about life” (Cochran & Bailey, 2012). A person’s world view consists not only in what they believe but also how they act within their lives based on these beliefs.

Individualism and collectivism in relation to spirituality and faith

Individualism and collectivism are two different ways of looking at the world.

Individualism is a Western concept, whereas collectivism is more Eastern. In this article, we will explain both concepts and how they apply to spirituality and faith.

Faith as a tool for personal management (PM)

As you consider how faith might impact your personal management practices, it is important to keep in mind that faith is not about religious beliefs. Faith can be defined as a set of beliefs or values and can be found in any number of religions or non-religions. In this article, I will focus on three different types:

• Personal faith—the belief in oneself and one’s own ability;

• Social/cultural/political/economic worldview—the way people view the world around them;

• Religious worldview—a person’s understanding of God’s plan for them

Transformational leadership and PM practices

Transformational leadership and PM practices are a powerful combination. The following examples illustrate how they can be used to transform an organization and individual alike:

• A CEO who has been chosen for her transformational skills, but doesn’t have a strong foundation in PM, may not be able to implement the right changes because she lacks the necessary knowledge and experience. She needs someone with technical expertise on analytics so as not only understand what works best for her company but also practice it effectively herself.

• An employee who has been given responsibility for managing projects within his department but does not know much about project management in general will struggle if he or she doesn’t have anyone willing or able to mentor him or her through this process.

Studying the interaction between spiritual values and management practice

As you reflect on the patterns of your own leadership and management practices, it’s important to keep in mind that these are not universal. They are shaped by individual differences and by the specific context in which they take place.

We can use this information to explore how different religious beliefs impact PM. If we look at how the most common view of god impacts our everyday life (and if we understand how it relates to other aspects of our worldview), then we will have a better understanding of why some people may be more likely than others to value competence over compassion for example. We might also be able to identify whether these differences lead us towards certain types of behaviors or away from them when we make decisions about who should lead an organization or what kind of workplace culture needs addressing within an organization

Conclusion

The next step is to study the interaction between spiritual values and management practice by comparing the results of different studies on spirituality and PM practices.