Transition to sustainability requires a transition from self-centeredness to other- and nature-centeredness, and from materialistic management to spiritual and ethical management. This, in turn, affects life satisfaction and human health and well-being. It is believed that today’s business model focuses on the goals of egoism and the materialistic conception of man, which results in the increased exploitation of employees, decreased community well-being, and serious environmental decline.
Spiritual leader enhances the need for connecting to others at work and to work itself, indicating a sense of meaning that allows one to see work as a calling rather than a job. Viewing work as a calling is related to employee motivation and satisfaction, group productivity and performance, as well as leader motivation.
Job satisfaction has been associated with workplace satisfaction, which is one of the elements of a sustainable workplace. Moreover, some research has indicated that the more sustainable and spiritual a working environment, the less absenteeism and turnover.
Thus, spiritual leadership works not only by stimulating positive feelings but also by eliminating negative feelings, such as stress and fear.
Employees who consider being spiritual are less fearful. Many human resources specialists often focus on symptoms of disengagement such as stress, burnout, poor decision-making, and high absence rates rather than the root causes.
Many researchers have shown that spiritual leadership can mitigate the negative effects of job burnout and counterproductive work behavior. Absenteeism, job stress, and depression cost businesses billions of dollars in lost productivity. This evidence has shown that a spiritual workplace leads to beneficial personal outcomes such as increased positive human health and psychological well-being and, in the bottom-line, issues of productivity as well. This leads to maintaining sustainability in the workplace.
Helping workers express spiritual values in their work improves leader effectiveness in job satisfaction, morale, and commitment. Spiritual leaders, identifying the basic needs of employees, can motivate them intrinsically by giving them faith and hope so they can be a highly committed, motivated, and productive team. This strong intrinsic motivation provides task involvement and goal identification because it meets the higher-order needs of individuals, such as self-efficacy, a sense of autonomy, and connections. Several studies have shown that these qualities are positively associated with higher levels of organizational commitment and productivity not only at an individual level but also at team level.
