(With an exhortation about connection in time of war) 

by Kent Johnson, J.D., Senior Corporate Advisor, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

Part of the blog series, Authenticity & Connection, category DIVERSITY

It has become clear to nearly all business and HR experts: Remote Work, done well, requires close attention to promoting authenticity and connection in diverse workforces. Personal relationships matter, whether they’re forged in physical proximity or over the internet. The implications of this idea reach far beyond our immediate workplaces.

Business experts routinely underscore that an organization’s culture and values are hugely important enablers of good remote work. Here are three examples from hundreds that I could cite:

1. (1) THE “AGILE WORK” MOVEMENT. Renowned Harvard Business Professor Timothy R. Clark notes that the concept of “Agile Work” has spawned a global movement shaping all kinds of work – especially remote work. “Agile” rests on shared values, the first of which is “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” The Agile literature is filled with appeals for personal “vulnerability” and “psychological safety” and many other ideas we’ve been spotlighting in these blogs.

2. (2) “MORAL INJURY.” Ron Carucci and Ludmila Praslova have identified “wounding of the soul” as a prime cause for employees quitting. To address this, they advocate sensitive connection with employees’ core values and cultures that encourage acknowledgement of wrongs, and forgiveness.

3. (3) “PRESSURE TO REMAIN SILENT.” In a recent study of 1400 workers, 90% felt emotionally or physically unsafe to speak their mind more than once in the past 18 months, and 38% felt unsafe either every day or every week.

Nearly all the mainstream business articles I’ve seen on coping with remote work touch these kinds of topics. They advocate cultures of personal openness and psychological safety, decry moral injury, and argue to dispel the pressure to remain silent about one’s core identity. They underscore the value of interpersonal connections and deep friendships. But the vast majority still scrupulously dodge the topic of religious expression at work. Until 2019, articles about the role of faith and belief in the workplace were almost entirely relegated to religious media.

This is changing. Companies like Intel, Texas Instruments, American Airlines and Amex are rocking the boat with success stories about how diverse religious expression is enabling rich, diverse connections, and enriching corporate culture. [See my blogs on HOPE for many more examples.]

Point is, work culture is a huge determinant of organizational effectiveness. And remote work certainly presents challenges to culture. Without physical proximity, the struggle to connect across diverse cultural lines is even tougher. Today, remote work and “The Great Resignation” are driving HR leaders to explore new ways to free employees so they can relate more meaningfully with one another.

Faith and belief has much to say on this. The work of champions like the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation is helping diverse companies everywhere turn the tide, even where work is remote.

I’ll close with a final note on remote work that pertains directly to the current crisis in Ukraine.

In all our blogs promoting cross-cultural authenticity and connection at work, we have more in mind than just making work more pleasant and more welcoming. Especially through remote connections, there’s a possibility of promoting civility and loving-kindness abroad in a personal way. Surely many of you have business interactions with people in places like Ukraine, and other places where freedom of religion and belief is far more constrained than here in the USA. Do the people you correspond with know that your faith (or belief, or core values) moves your heart to care about them? Are you communicating your heartfelt compassion? Are you praying for them?

This growing business movement for greater freedom of expression of religion and belief has a profound reach far beyond the walls of your company. When the doors are opened, freedom of religion and belief connects remotely, deeply. We help weave a fabric of civility in this sometimes-insane world. I hope many of you will apply the principles of your faith and belief to walk through these doors (both physically and online) and touch the hearts of individuals, whether they’re associated with oppressors or the oppressed. Impact world culture today.

Nominations are open for the 2022 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards. Business CEOs will be recognized for their work in interfaith understanding and peace. All of the leaders are recognized for using their businesses to build bridges of authentic connection between people of diverse backgrounds.

The awards will be presented by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation at the global Dare to Overcome conference on May 24, 2022, at the Busch School of Business at Catholic University in Washington, DC, in partnership with American Airlines.

Before completing the nomination form, please watch the short video from the Templeton Religion Trust (TRT), “Covenantal Pluralism,” which describes the philosophy of the awards. TRT is a supporter of the awards.

Brian Grim

Russia’s military might — unleashed by Putin on Ukraine — is deplorable. Many factors contribute to this or any war: economic or territorial gain, nationalism, revenge, civil discord, religion, to name a few. One that is usually overlooked is the role of government restrictions on religious freedom, which I’ll come to in a moment.

Numerous writers have discussed the religious motivations Russia has had in supporting Bashir Assad’s forces in the Syrian war. One direct connection was that the Russian Orthodox Church, which has deep historical connections with the Orthodox Christian communities of the Middle East, lobbied Putin to take a strong stand in defense of Syrian Christians. The titles of a few of the articles tell the story:

• — Defender of the Faith? Russia’s ‘Holy War’ in Syria
• — The [Russian Orthodox] Christian zeal behind Russia’s war in Syria
• — Is Russia’s intervention in Syria a ‘holy war’? Russian Orthodox Church: ‘yes’
• — Russian church: The fight in Syria is a ‘holy war’.

Religion is also a motivation in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. This time, it’s pitting Russia’s brand of Orthodox Christianity against Ukraine’s, which has separated from the Russian hierarchy. Again, a few recent articles tell the story:

• — EXPLAINER: How is Russia-Ukraine war linked to religion?
• — Religious nationalism and the invasion of Ukraine: Under Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church has resumed its czarist role as an arm of state policy.
• — How Is Russia-Ukraine War Linked to Religion?
• — Russia Attacks Ukraine: Why Some Experts Insist Putin Is Motivated By Religion

What I would point out is that it is not religion in general, but the government restrictions on religion that are the predictor of whether a state will be predisposed to starting a war.

In an award-winning 2007 research article (which I co-authored and which we fleshed out in a 2011 Cambridge University book), we empirically showed that it was not “religion” in general that led to violent religious persecution and conflict, but it was the level of social regulation of religion (SRI) the level of government restrictions on religion (GRI) that led to violent persecution and/or religion-related conflict.

That article and book were part of the background I brought with me to the Pew Research Center to establish their annual global studies on the levels of government restrictions on religion (GRI) and social hostilities involving religion (SHI) – not quite the same as our SRI.

The chart below shows that Russia is in a league of its own among countries in Europe when it comes to government restrictions on religion – it is the only country in the region to score very high. But what does that high score on the chart represent?

Explaining the Pew Research Center Russia Score

The government restrictions index is a score that takes into account 20 different measures. Russia scores poorly on the vast majority of the indicators, as summarized below:

• — There are limited national legal protections for religious freedom and the national government does not generally respect religious freedom in practice
• — The government prohibits worship or religious practices of one or more religious groups as a general policy; Public preaching by religious groups is limited by the government
• — Proselytizing limited by the government; Religious literature or broadcasting limited by the government
• — Foreign missionaries face restrictions
• — The wearing of religious symbols, such as head coverings for women and facial hair for men, is limited by the government
• — There was widespread harassment or intimidation of religious groups by the government
• — The national government displayed hostility involving physical violence toward minority or nonapproved religious groups
• — There were instances when the national government did not intervene in cases of discrimination or abuses against religious groups
• — The national government’s established organization to regulate or manage religious affairs is coercive towards religious groups
• — The national government denounces one or more religious groups by characterizing them as dangerous “cults” or “sects”
• — The government formally bans religious groups for both security and nonsecurity reasons
• — There were instances when the national government attempted to eliminate an entire religious group’s presence in the country
• — The registration process for religions clearly discriminates against some religious groups
• — There were between 1,000 and 10,000 cases of government force toward religious groups that resulted in individuals being killed, physically abused, imprisoned, detained or displaced from their homes, or having their personal or religious properties damaged or destroyed
• — The government shows a high level of favoritism to one religious group above others

Putin’s New Best Friend, China

In the geographically larger, more populous, and highly diverse Asia-Pacific region, one country stands out as having the highest government restrictions on religion, according to the Pew Research Center – the People’s Republic of China (see chart). The list of items for which they gain this very highly restrictive score are similar to the list for Russia, only more so.

One difference that may seem a ray of hope is that China has much fewer social hostilities involving religion. However, the reason for this is ominous: their government restrictions are so pervasive and powerful that social dissent or uprisings are quelled forthwith.

While this does not predict that China will necessarily go to war, the data and the policies reflected by the data are nevertheless alarming not only for the state of freedom of religion or belief, but for what the lack of these portend for China and the world.

2022 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards
Normally, the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards would be held in the host city of the Paralympic Games, as we have done in Brazil, South Korea and Japan. However, such events are not welcomed in China.

They will be held in Washington DC this May and in India in 2023. The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation works for peace in various ways, including shining a light on the work that business leaders do to promote interfaith understanding through their companies, philanthropies and advocacy.

At Dare to Overcome, we will honor these leaders (along with CEOs from the 2021 virtual awards) before the gala concert on May 24.If you know a business leader working for interfaith understanding and peace, please consider nominating them for the 2022 award.

With prayers for an end to the war in Ukraine,

Brian Grim
RFBF President

To make Kent Johnson’s Authenticity & Connection blogs more accessible, we’ve now organized them topically.

• — The “WHY” of Faith & Belief at Work
• — The “WHAT” of Faith & Belief at Work
• — The “HOW” of Faith & Belief at Work
• — The “WHO” of Faith & Belief at Work
• — The “HOPE” of Faith & Belief at Work
• — The “DIVERSITY” of Faith & Belief at Work

There’s also a link to contact Kent directly, as well as a link to access occasional guest posts from RFBF and partners.

This week’s blog focuses on a small part of the HOW of religious freedom and belief at work; specifically, the apparent tension between “Getting It Done” and “Building The Relationship”.

by Kent Johnson, J.D., Senior Corporate Advisor, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

Part of the blog series, Authenticity & Connection, category HOW

Suppose you’re a middle manager who was recently assigned an important full-time project that’s expected to last a year. Your project co-workers don’t know one another. They’re of different races, nationalities, social backgrounds, cultures and religions. The project necessitates close, trusting collaboration among all of you. The time-sensitive business objective and general guidelines on how to accomplish it have been clearly communicated to all.

How will you help this group get started on a positive trajectory? How (if at all) will your core beliefs, and those of your teammates, help shape your course of action?

Some workers might reasonably decide to focus exclusively on accomplishing the specific business objective and ignore all the differences (since time is precious). Let’s call that the “Get It Done” (or “GID”) approach.

On the other end of the spectrum, some might seek to encourage personal dialogue up and down the reporting chain, so as to strengthen mutual understanding and connection (since it’s hard to build trust without seeking connection). We’ll call that extreme the “Building The Relationship” (or “BTR”) approach. WHERE WOULD YOU FALL ON THE GID/BTR SPECTRUM?

For those who lean toward GID: Would it make a difference if you knew that several essential team members consider it part of their personal “calling” and passion – their reason for existing – to connect meaningfully with their coworkers; and that they’d interpret an extreme GID approach as a signal that their core identity is devalued? What if this constraint on connection would cause them to disengage from the task at hand? Should you nonetheless silence the BTR extremists, and promote those like you, the GIDs? Is that approach likely to advance your cause?

For those who lean toward BTR: What if you learned that several team members ascribe highest value to accomplishing the task, and are sincerely worried that a focus on getting to know one another is a waste of time and will distract the team from the objective? Should you sit these diligent workers down against their will, and take time to try to persuade them that it’s better to BTR? Is that approach likely to change the GID devotee’s heart?

Your coworkers’ core beliefs, values and sensitivities (whether “religious” or not) shape the way they approach situations like this. Every individual is different. In some cases, a person’s hesitancy to discuss core beliefs and identity may result from introversion. Many may not have thought deeply enough to form a core belief. Or the hesitancy may stem from worry that personal disclosure of core beliefs would be viewed as rude or improper.

The diversity movement has shown that diverse perspectives strengthen a company’s performance and influence a more engaged, more civil environment. It’s almost always counterproductive to force individuals to behave in a way that they think violates their core values, beliefs and identity (unless, of course, those core values promote cheating, lying, bullying or other unethical behavior!) It’s demoralizing to feel shut down.

As is normally the case, Management has got to convey an urgency to “get the job done.” But most American work cultures already have this part down pat. Where it’s entrenched, the GID culture’s silence about coworker relationships is often interpreted as a message that efforts to connect on a meaningful level would be frowned upon. Worse, a dominant GID culture spawns a palpable fear among relationship-builders that they’ll be demoted or fired if they engage (or, at best, that they’ll be viewed as frivolous time-wasters). This is why, in our experience with diverse workforces, there’s usually a critical mass of team members who have a deep-seated, strong, but stifled desire to connect more meaningfully with their coworkers who are willing.

There are often ways to “get it done” and “build the relationship” at the same time. But FORCING middle-of-the-road uniformity on all individuals is often destructive. So here’s our advice, based on the experiences of many companies: Never try to force personal disclosure and relationship-building on unwilling individuals. Respect those on the GID side of the spectrum. Let it go. And in the same spirit of respect, be purposeful and vocal about freeing your BTR workers to live in accordance with their personal sense of ”calling” to connect.

There are many other facets of the GID/BTR spectrum at work, and we certainly haven’t provided the needed answers here. Hopefully these ideas trigger some useful dialogue in your workplace. Let us know if we can help you think through these nuanced issues.

In future installments we’ll discuss other apparent tensions; including questions concerning the role of faith and belief in “Social Responsibility vs. Profitability,” “Quality vs. Marketing Hype,” and “Product Design vs. Manufacturability.” It’s not a zero sum game in any of these cases. Advancing the one objective need not compromise the other. Authenticity and Connection can help.

Hear from folks at Google, Equinix, American Airlines, Intel & Tyson Foods

Would you like to see what religious freedom looks like inside some of the most innovative and successful workplaces in America? Here are three great opportunities:

March 3 (virtual): Interfaith ERG leaders at Google and Equinix share how they collaborate across companies to serve others (more details) (register)

March 23 (virtual via Brandeis Chaplaincy Lab): Jeffrey Murphy, a chaplain with Tyson Foods, shares what it means to support employees in a corporate setting (more details) (register)

April 21 (in-person, with BYU Management Society Phoenix Chapter): Intel Corporation and American Airlines ERG leaders discuss what their companies gain by having religiously inclusive workplaces (more details) (register)

And, for this weekend’s inspirational video, watch Texas Instrument’s (now retired) Senior Vice President Ellen Barker’s powerful talk on how a faith-friendly workplace benefits business.

• BYU Management Society, Phoenix*

• Luncheon Venue: EVIT (East Valley Institute of Technology)

• Thu, Apr 21, 11:30 AM (MST)

• Register

APR 21, 2022 – MORAL AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP (IN-PERSON EVENT)

Join us Thursday, April 21st for an enlightening panel discussion hosted by Brian Grim with the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. He will be joined by Craig Carter from Intel and Father Greg McBrayer from American Airlines. Hear what two businesses have gained when they are religiously inclusive in their workplace. Find out which Fortune 100 businesses are doing it, and how you can too.

* The Phoenix Chapter of the BYU Management Society is a group of business professionals dedicated to growing moral and ethical leaders in our community. They have a mutual respect for high moral and ethical standards as a code of business conduct and integrity. They serve the greater Phoenix area and deliver programs to help members live by high standards and grow as leaders. Membership is open to everyone who values and strives to live by moral and ethical standards.

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation supports this webinar.

• Date: March 23, 2022

• Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET

• Link to Registration

What does it mean to support employees?

Join Jeffrey Murphy, a chaplain* with Tyson Foods, for a discussion of chaplaincy in a corporate setting.

Corporate chaplaincy is a growing field. Yet many in the profession have little knowledge of chaplaincy in the corporate setting, not least because CPE is often based in the healthcare. How will our industry adjust to the growth of corporate chaplaincy and prepare candidates for work in this field?

This webinar will offer the reflections of one chaplain who moved to the corporate setting after nearly thirty years in healthcare. It will also look at the growth and potential growth of corporate chaplaincy, and the similarities and differences between chaplaincy in the healthcare setting and the corporate setting.

* Chaplains are pastoral/spiritual practitioners (of any faith or belief) who seek to build a relationship of trust through compassionate presence and thereby offer help and support to a wide range of people.

Join us Thursday, March 3 (9am PT / noon ET), to hear how people of different faiths and beliefs from Google and Equinix are working together as allies and collaborators to address challenges facing societies today.

Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company that Changed the World

Review by Brian Grim

As I reflected this week on the value of working with people different from myself, I came back to a point made by Chris Lowney in Heroic Leadership. With the provocative subtitle, Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company that Changed the World, he offers insights that benefit any organization – business or otherwise.

Chris Lowney vice chairs the board of CommonSpirit Health, America’s largest nonprofit health system with $29 Billion in revenues and more than 150,000 employees, and previously served as a Managing Director of J.P. Morgan & Co. on three continents.

But it is his stint as a Jesuit seminarian before his business career that influenced his approach. And the 450-year-old “company” is the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits (Pope Francis is a member), founded in 1534 by St. Ignatius of Loyola and his companions.

Reflecting on the large number of companies that were extolled in the 1982 “Best-Run Companies” book by Peters and Waterman, that are now no longer in business (e.g., Eastman Kodak and Kmart), Lowney offers a Jesuit insight.

Given that excellence is not a “timeless plateau that once attained is never forfeited … succeeding in this world requires individuals to cultivate the personal skills needed to thrive in an environment of near permanent change” (pp. 148-49).

One way that Jesuits cultivated the skill of such thriving is to “see God in all things.” This not only includes the people we encounter but each moment of the day, each sense and sensation, in the consolations and desolations we experience. This approach was in contrast to the monasteries and convents of Ignatius’ day, that found God within the walls, walls which were often viewed as providing protection from the vagaries, temptations and dangers of the world.

The principle of seeing God in all things means that we are actively seeking to see the good and excellent, and even the spiritual, in all we encounter. It embraces the messiness of the world rather than seeking protection from it. Such a skill breaks down barriers and creates workplaces that are innovative, trusting and collaborative, where people can adapt, create and respond quickly.

An example of this is the tremendous interfaith collaboration at one of today’s most successful global companies, Intel. To see it in action, check out the discussion between leaders from their Christian, Muslim and Jewish employee resource groups from our 2021 Faith@Work Conference: Today’s need for greater empathy and “thicker skin”.