Since 2013, I have had the privilege of teaching at OPERA America’s Leadership Intensive Program. This initiative trains mid-career opera executives to take on senior leadership positions at major opera companies. We meet for a week in New York and then I have a series of coaching calls with the leaders throughout the year. For our most recent cohort in August 2023, I was excited to introduce the SPIRE Happiness Framework. Now, almost a year later in our most recent coaching session, I was curious to hear how the leaders were applying SPIRE in their lives. Here is what resonated with them and how today’s leaders can implement SPIRE both in their personal and professional lives.
SPIRE in the Workplace
1. What is SPIRE and why it is important
SPIRE is a multi-dimensional model based on five elements:
S: spiritual well-being
P: physical well-being
I: intellectual well-being
R: relational well-being
E: emotional well-being
A recent study from Oxford University demonstrated the many benefits of employee wellbeing.
For staff members, wellbeing at work translates into:
- Greater productivity
- Better relationships
- Better teamwork and collaboration
- Higher levels of creativity
- More motivation and engagement
- Greater resilience
Moreover, organizations that promote wellness at work experience:
- Greater productivity
- Greater creativity
- Greater employee recruitment, engagement, and retention
- Better valuation, profits, and return on assets
2. SPIRE Leaders
If leaders want to promote wellness at work, they need to espouse the principles and be role models for their employees. Moreover, Tal Ben-Shahar, who co-created the SPIRE model, has observed that when leaders flourish at work, it also improves their performance as leaders. All of these factors go hand-in-hand with great leadership in the 21st Century.
In addition, for leaders who want to promote wellness in the workplace, leaders need to experience wellbeing in all aspects of their lives. There is a strong correlation between happiness in our personal lives and happiness in the professional sphere. A study from Oregon University found that a happy home life begets happiness and productivity in the workplace as well. And stress in one area bleeds into stress in other parts of life.
How Today’s Leaders Are Applying SPIRE
With these principles in mind, let’s explore how today’s leaders are implementing SPIRE in their personal and professional lives.
1. Spiritual Wellbeing through Mission and Purpose
We experience spiritual wellbeing when we feel a sense of purpose.
Our leaders all have a strong sense of mission around their work producing opera, engaging with communities through opera, and educating people about the importance of this great art form. This is one of the benefits of working in the non-profit world for a cause that you believe in.
It is also important for staff members to feel a sense of purpose and mission around their work. According to a Gallup survey on employee engagement, the best predictor of employee productivity and engagement is this statement:
“The mission and purpose of my company makes me feel that my job is important.”
In fact, according to the research on job crafting by at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management Amy Wrzesniewski School of Management, perceiving your work as a calling can help you to find greater meaning and satisfaction in your life and work.
Several leaders mentioned the importance of reminding their staff members of the organization’s mission and purpose. Doing so helps staff members experience their work as a calling, so people can feel a sense of calling in their work.
2. Physical Wellbeing
Our leaders resonated with three aspects of physical wellbeing:
- Reframing Stress:
Our attitudes and perceptions can affect our physical health thanks to the mind-body connection. A great example is how we perceive stress. While many people think of stress as harmful, research shows that stress, when properly managed, is actually good for us. It is how we perceive stress that matters.
Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, in her seminal TED Talk, explains that stress can be good for you since it energizes your mind and body to meet a challenge. Moreover, when you see stress in this light, you become more resilient.
One leader said by reframing stress, she feels better which, in turn, has helped her to be more productive at work. Another leader found that reframing stress motivated him to take on more challenges at work.
- Rest and Recovery:
A key aspect of physical wellbeing is getting enough rest and recovery. This idea was one of the biggest takeaways from our initial SPIRE session last August.
Several leaders shared how they have implemented more rest and recovery time in their organizations:
- “No meeting” days
- Time off to reset after major events
- 4-day workweek in the Summer
On the personal front, other leaders mentioned how they now take time off time off for lunch. Another leader has a buffer zone on weekends to recover and recharge from her busy week, and another now recognizes the importance of getting enough sleep and has begun to use a sleep-tracking app.
- Exercise:
Exercise is an important aspect of physical and mental wellbeing. This principle also resonated with our leaders.
One leader leaves the office every day at lunchtime to take a 10-minute walk and clear her head. She tells others about it because the break and the walk make her feel so much better.
Another leader takes a daily walk on the beach. Not only does it make him feel better but it helps to relieve his work-related stress. Yet another leader takes advantage of a hiking class and makes time to play tennis with friends.
3. Intellectual Wellbeing
Intellectual well-being means:
- Being curious
- Being open to new experiences
- Engaging in deep learning
In our fast-paced knowledge economy, it is necessary to foster a culture where leaders and their employees feel challenged and encouraged to learn.
One of our leaders reads a little bit every morning and finds that it energizes her before starting the workday. Other leaders resonated with the idea of promoting a learning culture at work. Two leaders shared how they hold “chat and chew” sessions over lunch, where participants share their learning from books and articles they have read.
4. Relational Wellbeing
Relational well-being encompasses two principles:
- Cultivating meaningful relationships with others
- Having a healthy relationship with oneself
Our leaders strongly agree that relationships are critical to one’s wellbeing. Research from the 8-decade Harvard Study of Adult Development shows that having quality relationships with others is the single biggest predictor of happiness. A recently published book, The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study on Happiness by Dr. Robert Waldinger and his colleague Marc Schulz, finds that:
“The stronger our relationships, the more likely we are to live happy, satisfying, and overall healthier lives.”
In addition, the study demonstrates that “the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life.” The key is to have quality relationships, whether in the workplace, at home, or in other areas of your life.
- Workplace Relationships
Relational well-being in the workplace is important both for employee satisfaction as well as organizational success. Research from the Gallup Organization shows that having a best friend at work leads to higher levels of job satisfaction, engagement, and less turnover.
Leaders in the areas of development and community engagement practice relational wellbeing in the course of their jobs! Another shared that in her new leadership role, she spends time cultivating new relationships. She has reframed this as important work because it helps her and others feel more engaged and motivated.
Another leader shared that her workplace is very formal and “buttoned-up”. To break the ice with her colleagues, she opens up about her tastes outside of work which has helped her to forge positive relationships with her co-workers.
To cultivate better relationships at work, one leader shared her organization’s program for 20 people to work in other departments so that staff members learn about and appreciate what others in the organization do. Another leader shared that he invites different staff members to make presentations at board meetings. In this way, board members know and appreciate what the staff does. One such board meeting even took place in the scene shop! This leader also clarifies that each department is unique, with different deadlines and periods of intensity so that staff members have a better sense of when their colleagues are under pressure.
- Relationships Outside of Work
Moreover, relationships outside of the workplace are also important. One leader who recently moved to a new city shared that he invests a lot of time in meeting people and cultivating personal relationships, which in turn, helps him be more engaged at work.
A leader who has a small child used to spend all of her time at work and now makes sure to be there for her baby. She discovered that she can be flexible about where and when she works and is just as productive as she was before.
Another leader also prioritizes her family relationships because she does not want work to define her. She values having a full life and that helps her to feel more motivated at work.
- Relationship with Self
One leader discovered that the SPIRE principles helped her to be more compassionate with herself. This also helps her to cultivate her relationships with others. Another leader found that by enhancing his physical wellbeing, he felt better about his ability to effect positive change which, in turn, has given rise to a better relationship with himself.
Yet another leader found that by encouraging his staff members to forge quality relationships at work, he is now able to prioritize nurturing himself. He even has found a buddy to help him with this!
5. Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional wellbeing—the fifth SPIRE element— sums up the four other SPIRE elements. One leader shared that SPIRE has helped her make more space in her life for rest and recovery, which in turn has given her more time to cultivate relationships, lean into her intellectual wellbeing, and increase her emotional wellbeing. Other leaders shared how prioritizing their physical wellbeing through rest and exercise has also enhanced their emotional wellbeing.
Another leader said that she feels emotionally healthier, which makes her more confident professionally. She is now more forthcoming about her areas of both strength and weakness and chooses to focus on developing her strengths.
One way to experience emotional wellbeing is through gratitude and expressing your appreciation of others. One leader shared that she is now more purposeful about cultivating relationships and that she routinely thanks people and tells them how important they are to her.
Moreover, emotional wellbeing means that you give yourself permission to be human and experience all of your emotions. Then, you look for ways to bring about more pleasurable emotions. As documented by psychologist Barbara Frederickson, when you experience positive emotions, you are more creative, more collaborative, and more productive. No wonder leaders who experience greater emotional wellbeing find that they are more effective at work!
As we have seen, the SPIRE framework has provided our leaders with meaningful ways to enhance their wellbeing and their effectiveness. In my next post, we will explore how the leaders are implementing SPIRE and recommend solutions that you can start applying to your life.
