Seeking Meaning for the Contemporary Workplace: Insights from the Desert Fathers and Mothers

Abstract

Contemporary organizations have become increasingly aware of an employee’s desire for meaningful work. According to Afsar, Badir, and Kiani (J Environ Psychol 45:79–88, 2016), employees who feel a “sense of self-worth, meaning, interconnection, interdependence and collective purpose” (pp. 95–96) in their work are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to accomplish tasks and be more innovative (Afsar and Rehman, J Manag Spiritual Relig 12:329–353, 2015). Organizations that create a climate characterized by trust, open communication, and service see an increase in productivity and efficiency, a reduction in expenditures, higher customer satisfaction, lower rates of employee turnover, and deeper organizational engagement (Afsar and Badir, J Work Learn 29:95–108, 2017; Podsakoff et al., J Appl Psychol 94(1):122–141, 2009).

As twenty-first century organizations and their members continue their quest for greater productivity and purpose, one historically distant source has emerged as an enduring reservoir of wisdom. Distressed by a lack of respect for human dignity and authentic community, the desert mothers and fathers disentangled themselves from secular society in search of a deeper grasp of interiority. For instance, in his Conferences, fifth-century C.E. monk and writer John Cassian (1997) tells the stories of individual spiritual leaders who lived and prayed in the deserts of Egypt. One such spiritual leader, Abba Moses, explains that while the ultimate goal of monastic life is the kingdom of God, the more immediate goal (that which leads to the kingdom) is the acquisition of puritas cordis, or purity of heart. Thomas Merton (The wisdom of the desert. New Directions, New York, 1960), a twentieth-century C.E. monk and writer, wrote that one who is pure of heart “has an immediate apprehension of the way things really are” (p. 8); i.e., such a person is not prey to extreme emotional reactions, considers things from a transcendent point of view, has discretion, and responds appropriately and completely to each person and every situation he or she encounters. In other words, personal well-being.

Whether religious or secular, leaders are prey to addictive and neurotic thinking, segmentalism, and psychological projection, and their dysfunctional thinking and acting leads to unhealthy organizational environments. The concept of purity of heart, developed in the early years of Christian monasticism, has much to offer leaders and scholars of leadership, not only in understanding “the way things really are” in organizations but in how personal well-being is connected to community well-being, and vice versa.

To that end, the purpose of this chapter is to draw wisdom from the stream of experience shared by the early Christian monks – the desert mothers and fathers – and illustrate their relevance to the contemporary quest for workplace well-being and human flourishing.