Your Soul in Business

“Today we are engaged once again in a battle for the soul of the nation.”

President Joe Biden

Every political season seems to be a good time to resurrect the idea of having a soul.

In the last election, we were concerned about the soul of our nation.  Lately, many writers are discussing the soul of our corporations.  And through that, many are wondering how to manage our individual souls in light of social unrest and community divisions.

Your Soul

Not to be disrespectful, but most of this is confusion and nonsense.

A soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.  It is also defined as the essence or embodiment of a specified quality.

Can a nation have a soul?

It does, and that soul, based on the definition, is found in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  You know, the one that starts with “We the people. . .”  Beyond that, I do not see any commonality in our political process that could be referred to as a unifying “soul” that anyone could believe we are “fighting for.”

People, however, have souls.

Each one of us.  We each have something that is our essence, something that makes us, us.  It is our true nature.

Your soul is that spark of life force from the creator – the one thing that is always you.

Through space and time and dimension – it is the part of you that is connected to all things, the part that is part of the whole, as a drop of water in the ocean is to the whole ocean. It is not your mind or your brain. It is not your conscious waking part. It is not the part that remembers you have an appointment.

The Soul of a Business

So, can a business have a “soul” in the same meaning that we each individually have a soul?

As Ken Segall, in his book Insanely Simple, writes.

“Every company has a soul. Every company has a distinct set of values that colors its priorities and behaviors. Companies believe in different things to different degrees, including innovation, value, quality, freedom, choice, price, and so on. This unique mix is visible in a company’s products.”

Just like with human interactions, your company’s soul is expressed through a feeling that stays with customers after engaging with your product, service, or team.

Maybe you have never heard anyone explicitly say that your company has a lot of soul, but that is the level of impact you should seek for your customers.

At the heart of every company is a mission, a purpose that drives the product or service offered. But the purpose is inert without people who believe in it. Those people contribute their creativity, skills, and experience to fulfill this higher organizational purpose.

Your company is also an expression of your core values — the cultural cornerstones that determine everything from where you work to how you determine pricing. We have clearly defined values that are freely embraced by every team member and color our every decision.

The Bible

Your soul is breathed into you by God.  Genesis 2:7 says.

The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God designs your soul to integrate and enliven all aspects of your person – spiritual, psychological, and physical – into one unifying personality or flow of being that runs almost on its own.

This is why the Psalmist often talks to his soul in the second person, often saying things like, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone” (Psalm 62:1, 5).

Unfortunately, our souls have been split by sin.

Neglect, anger, lust, deceit, judgment, pride, and other sins coming from our hearts or imposed upon us by others cause our souls to be malformed and to malfunction.

Only God can heal and restore the soul to the glory it’s created for.

Each business has the soul of its creative entrepreneur and business leader.  Our soul is the gift of God, and we transfer those values to our companies.  And from that, we get to enjoy their benefits by passing them on to our clients and customers.