Ethics and Spirituality of Sustainability: What Can We All Do?

This article approaches the topic of sustainability in a broad, interdisciplinary fashion − in the manner of our total footprint on the planet, not just our carbon footprint. It proposes to bring together the two allied areas of sustainability and spirituality in a dialectical manner, with ethics as a balancing force and spirituality playing the role of the proverbial invisible hand guiding our quest for sustainability. It takes the view that, in essence, spirituality and sustainability are vitally interlinked. When the spiritual dimension of our being is underdeveloped, we turn into pleasure-seeking automatons, plundering the planet in a mindless race called progress. This makes us self-centered and greedy for material wealth which leads to social disharmony and over-exploitation of natural resources. When we live a life of greater self-awareness, we tend to consume less and, more so, less mindlessly. With this understanding comes the liberating realization that there is no sustainability without spirituality. For material development to be sustainable, spiritual advancement must be seen as an integral part of the human development algorithm. Our societies are human nature writ at large; therefore, we believe that the solution to society’s current chaos lies in the spiritual transformation of each one of us. The choice we face is between conscious change and chaotic annihilation. We believe that the most important eco-spirituality struggles will be won or lost during this decade. While policymakers and governments can play their respective roles, each one of us has to do our part by consciously adopting spirituality and sustainability as a way of life. Only an individual life rooted in the continuous harmony with nature − a life based on moral and spiritual awareness − can preserve the sanctity of the planet

Celebrating Diversity through Spirituality in the Workplace: Transforming Organizations Holistically

Managing diversity effectively is the key to attract and retain a productive workforce. Research demonstrates that celebrating diversity leads to greater productivity, increased creativity, and heightened morale and motivation. Organizations often benefit from the differing perspectives and rich experiences a diverse workforce provides. Similarly, organizations can enhance their creativity by encouraging diverse perspectives and opinions. Thus, issues of managing diversity, valuing diversity, and celebrating diversity have assumed added importance. This paper suggests that diversity is not a problem, but rather a solution to most of the challenges organizations face such as employee engagement and participation. Managing workforce diversity effectively transcends meeting a company’s legal requirements and complying with equal opportunity and non-discrimination regulation. Leaders need to understand and deal constructively with their own biases and prejudices that hinder diversity. Celebrating diversity is the extension of healthy spirituality that leads us to celebrate our differences and view diversity as different manifestations of the underlying Unity that permeates every phenomenon. This paper discusses key advantages of celebrating diversity, pinpoints barriers to organizational diversity, and offers some perspectives to overcome barriers to inclusiveness

Celebrating Diversity through Spirituality in the Workplace: Transforming Organizations Holistically

Managing diversity effectively is the key to attract and retain a productive workforce. Research demonstrates that celebrating diversity leads to greater productivity, increased creativity, and heightened morale and motivation. Organizations often benefit from the differing perspectives and rich experiences a diverse workforce provides. Similarly, organizations can enhance their creativity by encouraging diverse perspectives and opinions. Thus, issues of managing diversity, valuing diversity, and celebrating diversity have assumed added importance. This paper suggests that diversity is not a problem, but rather a solution to most of the challenges organizations face such as employee engagement and participation. Managing workforce diversity effectively transcends meeting a company’s legal requirements and complying with equal opportunity and non-discrimination regulation. Leaders need to understand and deal constructively with their own biases and prejudices that hinder diversity. Celebrating diversity is the extension of healthy spirituality that leads us to celebrate our differences and view diversity as different manifestations of the underlying Unity that permeates every phenomenon. This paper discusses key advantages of celebrating diversity, pinpoints barriers to organizational diversity, and offers some perspectives to overcome barriers to inclusiveness

The Routledge Companion to Leadership and Change

The unique leadership challenges organizations face throughout the world call for a renewed focus on what constitutes authentic, inclusive, servant, transformational, principled, values-based, and mindful leadership. Traditional approaches rarely provide a permeating or systematic framework to garner a sense of higher purpose or nurture deeper moral and spiritual dimensions of leaders. Learning to be an effective leader requires a deep personal transformation, which is not easy. This text provides guidelines in a variety of settings and contexts while presenting best practices in successfully leading the twenty-first century workforce and offering strategies and tools to lead change effectively in the present-day boundary-less work environment. Given the ever-growing, widespread importance of leadership and its role in initiating change, this will be a key reference work in the field of leadership and change management in business. The uniqueness of this book lies in its anchorage in the moral and spiritual dimension of leadership, an approach most relevant for contemporary times and organizations. It represents an important milestone in the perennial quest for discovering the best leadership models and change practices to suit the contemporary organizations. Designed to be a resource for scholars, practitioners, teachers and students seeking guidance in the art and science of leadership and change management, this will be an invaluable reference for libraries with collections in business, management, sports, history, politics, law, and psychology. It will present essential strategies for leading and transforming corporations, small businesses, schools, hospitals, and various nonprofit organizations. It brings the research on leadership and change management up to date, while mapping its terrain and extending the scope and boundaries of this field in an inclusive and egalitarian manner.https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/gsepbooks/1016/thumbnail.jp

Proceedings of International Conference on Women Researchers in Electronics and Computing

This proceeding contains articles on the various research ideas of the academic community and practitioners presented at the international conference, “Women Researchers in Electronics and Computing” (WREC’2021). WREC'21 was organized in online mode by Dr. B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar (Punjab), INDIA during 22 – 24 April 2021. This conference was conceptualized with an objective to encourage and motivate women engineers and scientists to excel in science and technology and to be the role models for young girls to follow in their footsteps. With a view to inspire women engineers, pioneer and successful women achievers in the domains of VLSI design, wireless sensor networks, communication, image/ signal processing, machine learning, and emerging technologies were identified from across the globe and invited to present their work and address the participants in this women oriented conference. Conference Title: International Conference on Women Researchers in Electronics and ComputingConference Acronym: WREC'21Conference Date: 22–24 April 2021Conference Location: Online (Virtual Mode)Conference Organizers: Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, INDI