Introduction to This Issue

Things are not always what they seem. Though I am nominally the Guest Editor of this Special Issue of the Journal, is actually Steven Beasley who did the patient, day-by-day, step-by-step legwork that resulted in getting an extraordinary bunch of authors to write about The Impact of Spirituality and Personal Values on One's Career. We will always need a bunch of authors, and not just one or two, to write on this topic. As the poem about The Blind Men and the Elephant by the American poet John Godfrey Saxe reminds us, each of us sees a different facet of the topic, and is only when we put all our perceptions together that we have an accurate sense of the whole. You can gather from the Table of Contents which facet each of our authors has elected to write upon. But, to elaborate (briefly): Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, writes of his collaboration with Norman Vincent Peale on their book, The Power of Ethical Management: You Don't Have to Cheat to Win. He concluded that leaders who were seeking to find meaning in their lives might want to move from success to significance in their own companies by operating and leading them in a different way. Hence, his article is titled: You Can Find Significance Where You Are Planted. Rabbi Moshe Fine, of Cleveland, Ohio, writes of Career Spirituality. Rabbi Fine, who is also a lawyer and career coach, recently completed Dick Knowdell's workshop on coaching individuals through career transition. He writes of his perspective on coaching with spirituality, and about how spirituality enables life to have meaning. Bob Snclling, founder of Snelling & Snelling, and of Resumes by Ross, in his article Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Proved that Non-Violent Protest Works, calls for nation-wide non-violent resistance to the anti-religious secularization trend in the United States. The late Larry Gaffin (and we miss him!), author of The Spirituality of Work: Purpose Beyond the Paycheck, in his article Spirituality That Works, described his program at the Center for Life Decisions, a career counseling program with spirituality at its core in Seattle, Washington. Tim Elliott, of Toronto, Canada, was a congregational minister for 25 years. In Clarity and Courage, he describes his learning through the doctoral program at the University of Toronto of work and vocation, and how to develop a pastoral guidance program. He now counsels people on their vocational and career transitions, and in the article he describes the questions one is asking and not asking, realizing what is clear and not clear, and reflecting on gifts of and need for courage to move forward. Sherry Connolly and Dick Cappon, of Toronto, Canada, write in You're Being Called...are You Listening? that it is the calling that is the essence of work, career, job. The calling anchors our work life. It validates career direction and provides the clarity and confidence that a chosen career path is right for me because is expressing my best self and is fulfilling my personal call. Arthur F. Miller, co-author of Finding a Job You Can Love, in his article The Integration of Spirituality with Vocation, tells of the designed giftedness in each of us, and how we can use our special gifts to express our spirituality in work and life. …

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