Greed, Pride, and God

Then there is the other extreme. Many successful people keep religion and/or spirituality out of their professional lives entirely. Janet Reno put this view most succinctly when she told me: "It is my religious and spiritual world. It is very much a part of me. And I never inject it or permit it to be injected into my professional life."

Some go even further than Ms. Reno and actually criticize the use of religion in the professional world. Richard Parker, a Harvard Law professor who taught me constitutional law many years ago, used words roughly to this effect to describe his dislike for professionals who spend a lot of time talking about God: "Let's face it, to most people, the purpose of a career is to make money and/or gain some notoriety. Even in those professions like research, university teaching, and politics—where the money is bad—you have incredible battles of pride and ego—perhaps even more so than in the corporate world. To give God any credit or role whatsoever in that kind of cutthroat professional environment is hypocritical." According to Professor Parker, because greed and/or pride are two essential elements for professional success, to say that God got you there is a slap in the face to anyone who really believes in religion.

It is hard to dispute that a lot of very nasty people have gone far in the business world. However, as we discussed earlier and will discuss later, truly invincible executives display such qualities as care for their employees, contrition when they make mistakes, and other qualities that display an underlying morality. So perhaps the professor's view of the role of spirituality in the workplace is a bit too cynical.

But the professor does have one point that we must address squarely: most businesspeople have to do some pretty mean things to stay on top. So is there a place for sincere spirituality in a professional life? Do you need to "compartmentalize" your job and your faith? Or do you play "tag team"—as one software executive once put it—using your after-hours confessional to mop up some of the bad things you did during the workweek?