September 26, 2008
Writing in The Times, Zaki Cooper, a consultant to the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, describes how business bosses are creating faith-based networks, activities and office space to cater for the religious beliefs of employees.
While once believers kept faith and work relatively separate, now they are increasingly intertwining. With the growth of mass migration the UK’s population has become more diverse, and its labour market, in consequence, multifaith rather than, as once was the case, predominantly Christian. In London alone, there are 42 nationalities with communities of more than 10,000. It is now common for people to work in environments with at least one person from another religion or ethnic background.This makes the workplace an inadvertent forum for interfaith encounters…
…Alongside the higher profile of a diversity of faiths in the workplace, believers increasingly show signs of wanting to integrate faith and work. Ken Costa, the committed Christian who is one of the City’s best-known investment bankers, has argued that:
“if the Christian faith is not relevant in the workplace, it is not relevant at all”.
…Faith and business do not necessarily have to be reluctant partners, they can reinforce each other. Recent research by the management consultant firm McKinsey Australia shows that companies which embrace “spiritual techniques” benefit from improved productivity and turnover. In any case, as current trends develop, faith looks set to become an issue for the boardroom.
You can read the full article here.
As the World Economic Forum gets underway in Davos, Ken Costa writes in The Times.
The banking crisis, politicial tensions and the threat of terrorism fuel international fear…
The annual gathering of Davos is always a stimulating way to start the new year, offering a chance to discern the critical trends lying ahead for the global economy. Beyond the eclectic seminars and high-visibility plenary sessions that frame the formal agenda for the meetings, it is always fascinating to find out what the underlying, and often unexpressed, key issues are.
Tellingly, the closing session of this year’s forum, to be led by Tony Blair, is on the unsettling, if prevailing, topic of: “Why are we afraid of the future?”
I am particularly looking forward to the debate on two topics that have been given high prominence this year: sovereign wealth funds; and the role of religion in the global economy.
Tony Blair will be spearheading a discussion on the implications for the global economy of religion and faith communities in the world. It will need his skills to steer the discussion on faith and modernisation, something that is never easy when the debates are theological and not economic.
Will faith-based societies be a restriction or an advantage in developing the global economy? As the corporate landscape changes, and companies become more involved in the communities of the developing world, new corporations will emerge in strongly religious societies. So the debate on the relationship between the business community and the faith-based world can only intensify.
Davos is ahead of the curve by giving this debate the prominence it deserves. Many institutions lack the basic tools for undertaking co-operation, dialogue and effective decision-making in the context of intensely held religious views. Davos could help in creating such a model and so helping to diffuse one of the most serious fears for the future.
September 5, 2007
‘…Whatever happened to moral responsibility among the financial institutions? Do their employees have no conscience at all?
One robust answer to these questions came earlier this year with the publication of God at Work: Living Every Day with Purpose, by Ken Costa, the South Africa-born vice-chairman of UBS Investment Bank, and a 30-year City of London veteran.
It might seem surprising to see a seasoned dealmaker fromone of the world’s toughest professions trying to get a discussion going about God. There is not always a lot of evidence of benign intent in the banking sector…
But Mr Costa is not advocating a softhearted approach to business. He would not have survived at SG Warburg, SBC and now UBS had he ever done so. He reminds us that in the Bible’s parable of the talents (Luke 19: 11-27) it is the two servants who put the master’s money to work who are rewarded, while the one who preserved the capital and took no risk is punished. And he quotes the great Methodist John Wesley, who told his followers: “Gain all you can, without hurting either yourself or your neighbour.”
Mr Costa has written his book because he senses the need for a greater awareness of spirituality even in the heat of commercial battle. The world may be more efficient, but perhaps it is also “more efficiently unfair”. And the - now faltering - recent bull market has made him even more aware of the dangers of excess. “There seemed to be a headlong compassionless pursuit of financial reward without restraint,” he writes…
…at a time when scepticism per-sists about “do-gooding” ap-proa-ches to business, religious faith may offer an alternative values-based code of conduct. The credit crunch of 2007 suggests something other than a market triumphalist free-for-all is needed…
Could Christianity even prove a winning business strategy? The idea might provoke hollow laughter among many in business, even those who consider themselves Christians. Mr Costa, an evangelical Christian, is prepared to be mocked. “If the Christian faith is not relevant in the workplace it is not relevant at all,” he says…’
Read the full article here.
Rediscovering the religious debate in the corporation
The title for this talk is easier to formulate than it is to answer. Where does one begin? A discussion on success raises as many questions about definition, objectives, and values as there are people in the room. Groucho Marx once pronounced, ‘The key to success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made!’ I am trying to look at success, stress, and purpose from a distinctive perspective. That is a values-based, or specifically Christian, point of view.
But are the two concepts, ‘success’ and ‘Christian teaching’ not diametrically opposed? Surely to be successful one needs to thrive in the competitive, cut-throat demands of the marketplace. There is a widespread popular view that God and the pursuit of success simply don’t mix. Was CNN founder Ted Turner right when he said that Christianity is for losers? As you can imagine, I think not.
The Inconvenient Truth
The Inconvenient Truth of our time is not climate, important as it is, but Christ. After 2000 years he continues to make his presence felt…
Read more here.
Ken Costa addressed The Trinity Forum at The St Stephen’s Club, London on the subject, ‘Success, Stress and Purpose in Today’s Business World’ on Monday 19th March.
Founded in 1991, The Trinity Forum is a leadership academy that works to cultivate networks of leaders whose integrity and vision will help to renew culture and promote human freedom. Their programs and publications have offered the opportunity for leaders to consider together the big ideas that have shaped Western civilization and the faith that has animated its highest achievements.
Hosted by Jonathan Aitken, the Executive Director of The Trinity Forum in Europe, Ken was introduced by a long standing friend and competitor, Lord Griffiths, Vice-Chairman of Goldman Sachs International.
Read the speech here.
