The top three winners of the 2022 Religious Freedom & Business Film Competition hail from Pakistan. These films will be showcased next week at the 2nd annual IRF Summit in Washington DC. The awards are making news in Pakistan as they showcase the important ways that religious freedom and inclusion of people of all faiths tangibly contributes to economic opportunity and growth.
Click on the images to read and watch the coverage.
by Steven A Hitz. Steve is a co-founder of Launching Leaders Worldwide. Launching Leaders, a partner of Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, has engaged participants in 60 countries on six continents through a faith-based personal leadership curriculum which empowers participants everywhere. This is part of our ongoing blog series, Authenticity & Connection.
In part one of this two-part series, we learned a few steps to increase our focus and purpose in this world of information overload and multi-tasking. In part two, we will dive deeper into the mechanics and disciplines that extend our focus and purpose to a higher level.
The Psychology of Focus
When I left Wyoming to pursue other interests, my mother was distraught. She wanted me to stay on at the bentonite plant until I could be hired by the oil industry where my father and brother worked. In her mind, this was my destiny. I totally respect those who have worked hard in the oil fields, and for many families tied to this industry this is the path to success. This is what they know, and their world other options are not imaginable. At least, that was my mother’s way of thinking.
Many people follow a path of familiarity, because “it’s always been that way.” Traditions become truth, and sometimes these traditions can limit our ability to gain deeper truth and also limit our discovery of how to bring purpose and real joy into focus.
In the early 1980’s, the Harvard professor B.F. Skinner was famous for his study of human behavior. He found that you could train the focus and attention of animals by reinforcing behavior. If a pigeon lifted its wing, and the response was to feed it, that behavior would repeat itself if there was a reward. Skinner suggested that free will was an illusion, believing that human action was the result of conditioning. He believed what he learned from the animals could be transferred to human psychology.
In fact, this type of instant reinforcement is now used by social media companies whose users number in the billions, getting their instant rewards for their actions. But instant gratification and reward doesn’t always transfer to an ability to focus and think deeply. In fact it can subdue them.
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly came to America challenging Skinner, believing there had to be a more positive explanation to the psychology of behavior. In part of his study, he observed a group of painters in Chicago working on their paintings patiently for hours on end. He observed that creative people were not so interested in the rewards, but rather the outcome of their work was more important. He observed other groups of people in other activities that required long-term focus, like chess players and rock climbers. He discovered that focus was a result of “flow” and created the concept of “flow state.” This happens when a person becomes so absorbed in that which they are doing, it carries them forward with pleasure.
Mihaly discovered, not surprisingly, that distraction and multi-tasking kill flow. Flow can only be achieved through monotasking. Choosing this path of flow requires a clearly defined goal, with meaning to you behind the goal, and working to the edge of your ability. If the goal is too easy, we go on auto pilot, but if it’s too difficult, we become anxious and do not strike the balance of flow state. As we progress in our abilities, the edge of our abilities also moves forward, but we need to be in a flow state to get there. This pocket is a recognizable mental state where we become one with the task.
When I flew airplanes, I could have the controls in my hands and could feel every axis of the flying experience, or I could put the airplane on auto pilot. On autopilot, I would easily forget about the immediate tasks of flying; but it didn’t take me to the edge of my abilities. Interestingly, no pilot keeps the airplane on auto pilot all the way to the runway. At some point they must have had the experience of having the controls in their hands and knowing exactly how to absorb the conditions around them to fly safely to the ground. In this flow state I would become one with the airplane – a joyful experience.
The Skinner approach suggests rewards at each step of the process, but does not allow the space to enter deeper focus. The Mihaly approach allows the focus to be derived from the goal and passion, rather than the conditioning for results method of thinking. The Skinner theory rewarded learned behavior sometimes at the expense of focus, while the Mihaly theory discovered the pleasure and joy people experience during periods where focus is fully absorbed. This makes sense to me when I think of the few times my focus was so centered, I really did enter a new dimension and I evolved.
The challenge of our day centers on this question “How do I change my focus to that of a flow state, rather than a “click and switch” lifestyle”?
Here are three considerations to achieve a higher degree of focus and purpose:
1. Get your sleep. The National Sleep Foundation has found that 40 percent of Americans are chronically sleep deprived. Even during off hours and what would normally be sleeping hours, employers now commonly ask their employees to be accessible and expect them to respond to their devices like Pavlov’s dogs. Once the device goes “ding” and the screen comes to life, it takes another 20 minutes minimum for the senses to quiet themselves to achieve sleep.
A lack of sleep destroys the ability to focus, deprives one of creativity, and doesn’t allow one to enter the deepest sleep which heals and restores. You can’t cheat your way through lack of sleep with caffeine or other substances; these stimulants have their own set of damaging issues.
2. Learn to read again. Gallup found that 57 percent of Americans now don’t read a single book from cover to cover in a single year. Though I read around a hundred books a year – the real hold in your hands books – I find most of my friends either listen to books or read them on devices.
Apparently, the way we read books makes a difference. Johan Hari in his book Stolen Focus, interviewed Anne Mangen, a professor of literacy at the University of Stavanger in Norway who performed a two-decade study on this. She found that reading on screens causes us to read differently, with more tendency to skip and skim and not dive deep into the pleasurable immersion of reading from a book. Her research from fifty-four studies has labeled the difference as “screen inferiority,” which concludes that reading on screens diminishes understanding, retention, and the pleasure of reading. All told, it reduces our ability to focus.
3. Redefine Prosperity. Consider what prosperity means to you. We live in a world where financial wealth and growth is the litmus test for success. If the companies we work for do not grow, we don’t prosper. Financial wealth aside, If we don’t grow personally, we don’t prosper either. This is where the attention to improving our focus comes in. In my view, real prosperity isn’t the balance in your checking account (though that can help), rather, it’s the measure of your joy and peace. It’s the measure of the love that surrounds you. Personal growth then requires a deeper measure of focus, which in turn increases the reservoir that defines true prosperity.
Imagine a world where we spend more quality time with family, get enough sleep to be restored and healed every night, spend enough time and focus on our flow states, limit our intake, slow our roll, and learn to read again. This is the world I want to live in more fully. I am using these steps to enter and stay in that world. If these are your desires also, I invite you to join me in this journey.
At the first-ever high level higher education visioning workshop, featuring keynotes by the Honorable Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and H.E. Taranjit Singh Sandu, Indian Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Brian Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, provided the opening comments.
Grim shared findings from recent surveys, providing a window to the impact of education on the attitudes of people in India, drawing on his years of experience at the Washington DC-based Pew Research Center before founding the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation in 2014. He then shared findings on how education impacts international opinion about India.
Grim also highlighted some findings on how the major faiths in India share a surprising number of shared beliefs and practices, showing the great socio-economic potential of India’s pluralism and democracy. Grim finished with a sneak peak of the forthcoming groundbreaking national study with MIT World Peace University on the socio-economic value of faith to Indian society.
The education system in India is in a crucial phase. While on the one hand, thousands of quality graduates are entering a competitive job market and young entrepreneurs are arriving with innovative ideas, on the other hand, inadequate infrastructure to nurture innovators, weak networking between policy makers, industry, and academia is creating turbulence in the Indian education ecosystem.
The superlative achievements of the Indian diaspora in academia in the USA has immense potential to bridge the gap between American educationists, policy makers and visionary leaders in the Indian education system.
The dialogue between the 5000 year old Indian value-based education system and the technologically advanced American education system will lead the world to a better place for higher education for coming generations.
Part of the blog series, Authenticity & Connection, Hope
Our hearts were stirred by many of the events at the 2022 RFBF Dare to Overcome conference in Washington, DC. One especially transformative and hopeful message was conveyed by Tom Holdman’s inspiring traveling stained glass artwork that stood day after day in the beautiful foyer outside the main conference room. (You can learn about it at this link; but there’s no substitute for seeing it in person.)
The seven huge panels depict “Seven Pillars of Humanity”: Knowledge, Faith, Creativity, Love, Unity, Freedom and Courage. Together, this epic work sings an inspiring and powerful story; one that breathes hope. It incorporates real people, real events, and solid truths.
Such is the fabric of work, as it should be. Just as the creation of this artwork required significant collaborative work of teams of people over time, so does today’s work. Every person, from the most powerful to the humblest newcomer, indeed, every slice of light, is an essential part of the whole story.
I so love the way the panels integrate all the pieces into a unifying, ennobling panorama of what it means to be human. The trials and tragedies are integrated into a holistic picture. And it’s beautiful. And hopeful.
In coming months, various companies will take turns to prominently display this powerful work in their office centers. This is fitting.
Everyday work ought to capture our imaginations and our spirits, and raise people’s sights to noble hopes and dreams like those reflected in these exquisite stained glass panels. Our workplaces, seen through this lens, serve as a crucible for humanity’s refinement and advance. As we create, make and market the useful products and services for which our companies are best known, our companies can also deliver a compelling cultural “product”: a way of relating that ennobles humanity.
And take notice: FAITH is an integral part of – and impetus for – that refinement and advance.
I pray that those of us up and down the reporting chains in workplaces everywhere will open up and receive “art” like this… and will begin to purposefully play our own unique roles in fashioning a bigger cultural artwork – pillars of humanity – right there, where we have been planted. At work.
The Ninth Summit of the Americas, chaired and hosted by the United States, will be held on June 6–10, 2022, with a focus on “Building a Sustainable, Resilient and Equitable Future” for the Western Hemisphere. Within this framework, the Second Interreligious Forum of the Americas (FIDELA) convened in Los Angeles, on June 7-8, 2022, like other stakeholder forums, in the format of a hybrid conference. The deliberations were structured in plenary sessions and concurrent panels (with English-Spanish interpretation).
Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, shared a plenary talk about how business is a powerful force for interfaith understanding, religious freedom, and peace.
FIDELA offered a platform where religious leaders, representatives of faith-based organizations, government officials, and academics came together to provide concrete practical recommendations to the Heads of State and Government who will meet at the Ninth Summit of the Americas, and also contributed to better implementation and follow-up of their commitments.
All sessions of the Forum were live streamed.
Corporations Are Embracing Religious DiversityFaith-based cooperation in the workplace might provide a model to unite a divided nation.
By Kevin Stocklin, The American Conservative, June 2, 2022
Does corporate America hold the keys to religious inclusion?Making workplaces religiously diverse and inclusive boosts the bottom line; the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s third annual Religious Diversity Equity and Inclusion Index reveals the companies getting this right
By Mya Jaradat, Deseret News, May 29, 2022
American Airlines dubbed most faith-friendly Fortune 500 company ‘You just cannot compartmentalize the things that are your core value,’ said Greg McBrayer, American Airlines chaplain.
By Kathryn Post, RNS, May 23, 2022
Four tech firms round out top five in religious freedom group’s rankings
By Mark A. Kellner, Washington Post, May 23, 2022
American Airlines has just been named the most faith-friendly Fortune 500 company, edging out two tech companies for the top spot in 2022.
By Matthew Klint, Live and Let’s Fly, May 25, 2022
Religious Freedom & Business Institute has released their annual index measuring the commitment of corporations to religious inclusion in the workplace. The latest index covers all U.S. Fortune 500 companies, while last year’s covered only the 200 largest corporations.
Posted by Ash D., WRN, May 31, 2022
BY BILL MURPHY JR., Inc., May 2022
One of those key differentiations has to do with how the big players try to make customers feel about them, given that so many customers make decisions based on emotions, rather than pure cost-benefit analysis. For example:
Any of these could be effective, and Southwest’s competitors clearly think that they are. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines had embraced this quirky, humorous ethos from its very beginning as a company dating to 1971.
American Airlines Takes Top Spot on First-Ever Opt-in Corporate Religious Diversity Index SurveyWASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES, May 23, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — American Airlines is the most faith-friendly corporate workplace among the 500 largest companies in America, according to the 2022 Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index.
Part of the blog series, Authenticity & Connection, Hope
I was in Washington, DC, at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s Dare to Overcome conference when the news of the May 24th school shooting in Uvalde hit on participants’ phones. We interrupted our proceedings for Father Greg McBrayer of American Airlines to offer a poignant, powerful, heartfelt prayer.
I wish you were there. Devout Baha’i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists, Sikhs, “None’s” and others, were all together – physically – at The Catholic University of America, each praying, meditating and imploring the divine in his or her own way… each one coming alongside those stricken in Uvalde, and alongside each other.
I was left with a renewed hope in the possibility of civility in our time.
At the conference, interfaith panels at the Dare to Overcome conference wrestled with questions like:
It was a profoundly welcoming and hopeful gathering. No one was pressed to compromise his or her faith or belief; yet we came together in common purpose: to affirm the dignity of all human beings and to promote everyone’s freedom of religion and belief – freedom both of expression and practice – in the workplace. We connected over ideas, art, music and meals.
The personal testimonials were stirring. We heard of the work of diverse faith-oriented employee resource groups at Dell Technologies who collaborated and engaged others (with help from the A21 organization) to help end the dehumanizing scourge of human trafficking. We reveled as we saw evidence from Intel Corporation of the sincere, deep friendships that’ve been forged among Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, Hindus and others. We celebrated with American Airlines, this year’s most faith-friendly corporate workplace among the 500 largest in America… a company that truly “walks the talk.” Leaders from PayPal, Texas Instruments, Equinix, Target, Tyson Foods, AIG, Alphabet/Google, American Express, the Ford Motor Company, Intuit, Ameriprise Financial Group, Cigna, Meta Platforms (Facebook), Accenture, TeaPak, SAP and many others came to add their hearty support.
My point is this: There’s hope. Hatred and division need not prevail. Companies need not be driven solely by the pursuit of profits to the detriment of civility. We need not allow media and other cultural forces to shove us into mutually distrustful and fearful camps. Companies like these are producing “products” that are even more positively impactful than the ones that you associate with them. They’re producing cultural civility and warmth that embraces all people, no matter their religion, belief, race, language, orientation, or anything else. They’re treating people like people.
There’s hope!
Having the opportunity to work as an intern for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation has been an amazing learning experience for me. Starting in January, when I was introduced to Brian Grim and the foundation, I was drawn to the idea of increased pluralism in the corporate sphere. Up to that point, my research on religious freedom had not included any focus on how religious individuals are treated in the workplace.
Beginning work on the foundation’s Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index and researching employee resource groups (ERGs) in Fortune 500 companies opened my eyes to how often religion is excluded from various diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Religion is a crucial aspect of identity and is closely intertwined with human dignity. Having employee resource groups and other inclusive programs that allow employees to express their beliefs in the workplace is a pivotal step that corporations can take to increase pluralism and eventually overall productivity.
One primary focus of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation is the importance of employees bringing their whole selves to work. When employees are able to fully embrace this aspect of their identity in an accepting and inclusive environment, their motivation to provide their best work increases.
At the Dare to Overcome Conference, I was amazed at how important this idea was as I met with individuals whose lives were directly impacted by employee resource groups and other inclusion initiatives at their respective workplaces. The concepts I had spent the last few months researching suddenly took on a new meaning as I met individuals working tirelessly to advocate for religious freedom in their companies.
The uplifting environment at the Dare to Overcome Conference was inspiring to me as a student intern. I was surrounded by professionals who prioritize their faith and create inclusive spaces wherever they work, and was able to connect with them on a more personal level than I would have in almost any other situation. I am forever grateful that I was given the opportunity to attend the Dare to Overcome Conference and will forever treasure the connections I made there.
By Sara Caycho
I am excited to share with you my story as an intern at Dare to Overcome 2022 in Washington DC, and how this conference changed the way I see life now, pushed me to work for my dreams, and help me start my own company.
I arrived at the conference wondering what my real purpose was and how I could work in this field, and if this was only a dream or a reality.
I am a first-generation immigrant. When I went to college, I was constantly bullied and turned down because of my strong accent. It did not matter how much work I put into my classes, how great my research papers were, or that my poetry was published in other countries, or how great my guests on the television production classes were. Everybody always focused on my accent no matter what I did. I had to decide that my accent represented my beliefs, religion and my culture. This is who I am and I did not want to give up my identity.
Because of this rejection, I lowered my standards and expectations to places and jobs that did not challenge me. Believe it or not, days before the conference I was going to give up on my dreams and, even the conference itself, because as some think: “My dreams are too big and the people around me do not understand it.” What would a person like me would do in Washington D.C. and in a Dare to Overcome Conference for the Fortune 500?
How did I did end up at the Conference? Let’s say it was “Divine Intervention”
I was preparing some material for a workshop about Religious Freedom and the laws.
I saw the Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index from the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. I thought it was not for me. Days before the conference a friend who I had not see for two years wanted to meet with me to give me something and ask then to ask something. Later that day, my friend handed me a copy of the REDI Index that she got while she was interning for a Congresswoman in Washington. I saw the internship and I applied thinking I was not going to make it because it was right at the deadline, but I got accepted.
I remember the first meeting of the interns and Dare to Overcome Global Chairman Brian Grim saying: “I dare you to overcome, and be the best of the best. I know you can, because you are here!” We looked at each other and made these words our commitment to the conference. We took the challenge.
The conference was amazing because of the open-hearted people that were part of it.
The sponsors, the attendees, the interns, the organizers, all were amazing teachers in one way or another showing me the way to greatness and that it was possible for me too. I remember some of them telling me to break out of my shell during the first hours. Others helping me to feel comfortable, others cheering me up when I was tired. There was a moment touched my heart deeply: The interfaith prayer and when we could hear and respect the prayers of others in the conference. It was very beautiful.
As I was accepted as I am with my religious beliefs, my accent and me — I could be me. My talents could shine my light on others as they shone theirs on me. It was an enriching indescribable experience. And what I thought was my weakness became my strength.
With this new mindset, as I returned to Florida, I created Speaker with Accent, a corporation that provides a variety of services, but the main is Public Speaking services for individuals and organizations promoting inclusion in all aspects.
Conclusion
What is my conclusion?
If you had the privilege to attend Dare to Overcome, maybe we have the same conclusion. (If you did not attend, you should attend next year.)
My conclusion is that I was empowered and renewed by the conference, by the amazing sponsors, and by the attendees. When you are able to bring your whole self to a place, expect greatness!
by Steven A Hitz. Steve is a co-founder of Launching Leaders Worldwide. Launching Leaders, a partner of Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, has engaged participants in 60 countries on six continents through a faith-based personal leadership curriculum which empowers participants everywhere. This is part of our ongoing blog series, Authenticity & Connection.
So much information bombards our minds these days. We absorb more information than ever before. Let me re-phrase that. We are fire hosed with more information than ever before, but we actually don’t absorb any more – UNLESS – I’ll get to that in a moment.
In my early married life I had a job at a bentonite factory. I swept the floor from one end of the plant to the other. I would dutifully sweep in one direction, only to look back and see about the same amount of dust had accumulated on what I had just swept. Then I would turn around and repeat the process.
I hated that job. But in my mind it was a means to an end.
After a particular hard day at work I walked out from the plant in boots and mud and my wife picked me up. She announced as I hugged her, that she was pregnant with our first child, AND, there was no way she was having our baby in Lovell, Wyoming. At that moment I became acutely aware of my situation and my responsibility as a husband and future father, and I made a conscious decision. Just like Jed Clampett, we loaded up the truck and moved to California.
It was that experience that pushed me forward, out of that plant and into something that caused me to evolve.
Dr. Roger K. Allen, an expert on personal transformation, says we are not “locked in to earlier decisions; re-deciding requires that you be aware, take responsibility…and then act from a conscious decision.” The writer James Baldwin opined “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
The process of moving forward with intention, regaining focus and purpose, or in other words evolving, is not an easy process. Evolving, rather than running on the same hamster wheel all day and repeating, requires intentional decisions. Intentional decisions require focus. HOW to focus amid all the information and distractions is the question. Here are a few observations that may help.
Four Steps To Achieve Greater Focus and Purpose:
1. Limit the intake. Limiting the intake from the firehose of information available brings with it the usual dangers of detoxing from any other addictions. Often a chasm forms that must be bridged to move forward. It seems like an oxymoron at first, limiting the intake to move forward. Let me explain.
I had one of the very first car phones (before personal cell phones). Proudly mounted on my dash, it was a small phone booth-type telephone inside my car. The world became smaller.
This was the beginning, I’m almost embarrassed to say, when the world of instant data coming from all directions was not only addicting for me, but it filled the voids of my own loneliness. My focus diminished, but my knowledge of many things was expansive. I joined the hollow world of becoming a star in my own space. I was a “big deal,” and this mounted phone booth in my car proved it.
This self-made blanket of security, which built each year to circa 2015, was suddenly ripped away when I was fired from the company I had built and sold, exposing me to the real world and causing within me an identity crisis. It would, however, become an opportunity for growth and self-reflection. My cocoon of self-made narcissism had to be cracked open to let the butterfly within me get wings to fly.
Limiting our intake of the noise surrounding us is key to learning the art of focus. It might take a sudden reality adjustment. But the process of detaching from the daily firehose must start. If we can discipline ourselves regarding this intake of information and fake self-worth, we can then absorb the best life has to offer. For example, putting the cell phone down for dinner with the family, a movie, or a drive with your loved one is a small but important start. Even in church, I observe many people on their cell phones during the service. How did we get here?
Any detox has withdrawals and challenges. But control over the intake is key to evolving and not repeating the same processes of reaching for information every few seconds. Being unplugged makes the brain think again and the initial blank space is soon populated with the color of a new palette.
2. Learn the art of focusing. A recent study found that the average American college student switches tasks every 65 seconds. Adults in an office can only stay on a task for three minutes. This challenge of focus has been going on for centuries, but it has been accelerating in our time. In Johann Hari’s best-selling book Stolen Focus, he wondered if the motto for our era might be “I tried to live, but I got distracted.” He notes that Professor Michael Posner at the University of Oregon found that if you are distracted, it takes on average 23 minutes to return to that focus. How many times are you distracted in a day? How many minutes are lost?
Understand that “multi-tasking” is a myth. It was invented to help computers. But then it was applied to humans, thinking it would be successful. Professor Earl Miller at MIT discovered through his research that we can only focus on one or two thoughts in our conscience mind at once. It was found in a study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard, that multi-tasking, can lower your IQ by more than ten points. This practice of multi-tasking is also referred to as “switching.” If you do this, you will be slower, make more mistakes, be less creative, and remember less of what you ought to be focused on.
3. Slow the roll. Guy Claxton, a professor of learning sciences at the University of Winchester, analyzed what happens to a person’s focus if they deliberately engage in practices such as yoga, meditation, or other like practices that, as he puts it, “shrink the world to fit our cognitive band width.” Slowing our roll nurtures attention and focus, while adding speed shatters it.
I recently joined a group on a sailing trip. Our cell service was spotty, and we were “forced” to slow our roll. What happened? We visited, we read, we had meals together, and played card games at night. We had time to star gaze and ponder life. We nurtured things that otherwise were lost in our hamster wheel world. While sailing, it was impossible to multi-task as our attention was focused on the wind, the sails, the charts, and all that is required to not become shipwrecked. It was a detachment of real proportions from the world we live in. Magic happens when we slow the roll. We gain focus, get smarter, and gain a portion of this asset we call uninterrupted time.
4. Remove the mask and reveal yourself. You cannot evolve behind a façade. Our social media world creates a nagging sense of hollowness. As you detach from social media’s intended addictive conditioned behaviors, and your detox begins, it can create an absence of meaning. My friend who put himself through this detox found that the lack of all the texts, instant messages, emojis, likes, hearts, etc. were devastating—initially. Gradually, without the social web there to tell him how wonderful he was, he realized the shallowness of the substance he had previously counted strongly toward his self-worth.
We will continue this idea of increasing focus and purpose in part two of this series as we learn more about evolving, gaining focus, and purpose. Until then, if we can gain 20 percent more focus and become more fulfilled and happier as a result, isn’t it worth the effort?
Thank you for your support!
