In our last post, we shared how leaders from OPERA America’s Leadership Intensive Class of 2023 are applying the science-based SPIRE wellness framework. These leaders have learned the value of promoting wellness at work both for themselves and for the staff members. They are also implementing SPIRE into their lives and enhancing the wellness of their staff members and their organizations. In this post, we will explore how you can implement SPIRE into your life and your leadership.
As a reminder, SPIRE is a multi-dimensional model of wellbeing based on five elements:
S: spiritual well-being
P: physical well-being
I: intellectual well-being
R: relational well-being
E: emotional well-being
General Observations for Implementing SPIRE
1. Small changes, big impact
Often when we want to make changes in our lives, many people jump in and go all in for a short while, only to drop out when challenges arise. Psychologist Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, co-founder and professor at the Happiness Studies Academy, advocates starting with small changes and committing to them.
To do so, select one new activity that you would like to introduce into your routine. Choose something that will have a big impact on your leadership. Commit to taking the action steps consistently.
For example, if you want to improve your physical wellbeing by starting to exercise, select an activity that you enjoy and can commit to. Then, start small. Commit to exercising 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes. Slowly increase the duration and then the frequency. Observe how your new activity affects your overall wellbeing.
In the workplace, if you want to introduce a learning culture at work, start by sharing one article with your staff members and discuss it over lunch. Then, plan another lunch one month later, sharing another article. After that, you can make this a regular feature of your workplace.
2. Be intentional
As you work on your new activity, remind yourself that you are building up your SPIRE quotient. On the personal front, when you exercise, remind yourself that you are enhancing your physical wellbeing. At work, if you are committing to creating a learning culture, remind yourself that you are enhancing your intellectual wellbeing, as well as the intellectual wellbeing of your staff members.
3. Try things out and explore what works
When you decide to build a new SPIRE element, be willing to try things out and explore what works. One leader who attended my original SPIRE workshop for graduates of the Leadership Intensive program realized that he needed to work on his physical wellbeing. He decided to use the strengths from his other SPIRE elements to try things out until he found what worked. After trying and failing with running and other classes, he has been attending a great calisthenics class for the last five months and loves it! He is in the best physical shape of his life. This experience has contributed to both a higher emotional wellbeing and has enhanced his relationship with himself because he is no longer so self-deprecating.
In our example of creating a learning culture at work, assess how well your staff members are enjoying the reading discussion. Solicit their feedback and learn what types of articles and discussions are the most satisfying.
4. Share with others
To enhance the wellbeing of your organization, discuss the SPIRE framework with your staff members. One leader shared that a new employee is afraid to take time off because she worries that other people will think she is not serious about her job. Instead, our leader can share the benefits of rest and recovery and encourage her employee to take her vacation.
Then, using our example of promoting a learning culture, tell your staff members that reading and discussing articles together is a way to enhance their intellectual wellbeing. In addition, when you teach others something, you deepen your learning, thus improving your intellectual wellbeing.
You can also share SPIRE with friends outside of work. One leader, a former singer, has many singer friends transitioning to arts administration. She often gives them advice using SPIRE principles to help ease their transition.
5. Standardize SPIRE
When you implement a new SPIRE practice, tell other managers what you are doing and why this is enhancing the effectiveness of your department. In this way, you can set a goal of standardizing these practices.
Implementing SPIRE in the Workplace
1. Spiritual Wellbeing
- At staff meetings and in discussions, start by reminding staff members of the mission of your organization and invite them to reflect on and share how they experience a sense of purpose at work
- Create a collaborative values statement for your department or your organization with the input of all of your staff members
- Gather people in the conference room once a week for a 10-minute guided meditation on YouTube
- Share moments of beauty and inspiration with each other
2. Physical Wellbeing
- Institute “no meeting” days
- Allow time off after extended periods of intensity
- Block out dedicated work times and let staff members know that this is your work time and will be slow to respond
- Feel free to change the physical environments where you can work
- Reduce distractions by creating blocks of time to work and shutting off email, texts, and phone calls
- Encourage staff members to create “islands of sanity” a few times a day to close their eyes and take a few deep breaths or do a 3-minute mini-meditation session
3. Intellectual Wellbeing
- Share articles and books and hold regular discussion meetings
- Watch TED talks and YouTube videos of field experts at a monthly staff meeting and discuss the topic to capture the learning
- Read on your own and share your practice with colleagues
4. Relational Wellbeing
- Share the Gallup research on the importance of having friends at work
- Institute social time where no one discusses work
- Encourage employees to shadow people in other departments
- Go out for coffee with people from other departments
- Invite staff members to present at board meetings
- Share the deadlines and schedules of each department so that staff members understand when their colleagues are under pressure
5. Emotional Wellbeing
- Start every meeting by thanking individual staff members for their contributions
- At weekly staff meetings and company-wide emails, recognize an employee who has done a great job
- Freely praise staff members who do something well
By incorporating SPIRE practices, you can experience greater happiness and wellbeing in your life and your leadership. Select one area that you are ready to commit to and see how much better you and your colleagues feel!
