The fundamental experience of entrepreneurship is a value driven endeavor. Individuals have come to the realization that they need to grow with their businesses and their priorities should develop as well. To be driven by profit and profit alone will leave you to be a lonesome business owner with no one to manage, however, to be driven by the sense of work ethics and team work is a sustainable way of developing one’s prospects of a long term entrepreneurial success. Freedom of rules and regulations drives an individual to decide to become an entrepreneur, nevertheless, how he stays one is solely up to him and his work ethic. The entrepreneur dives into this field in the hopes of reaching a sense of self-fulfillment and spirituality, in the hopes of living out his life’s meaning and purpose.

It might be considered uncommon to discuss spirituality in an entrepreneurial environment, the concept of the soul in the realities of business might seem incongruent. There is an unexplained dogma that business is linked to money and greed. However, times are changing especially in the realm of entrepreneurial decisions. Individuals are slowly acknowledging that the relationship between themselves and their businesses is quite an intimate and isolated one. The entrepreneur usually views the world differently than others. The latter used to focus on growth and profit, but that is no longer sustainable since financial gain is no longer considered a motivator in maintaining a business. Spirituality in the scope of entrepreneurship is not linked to practice; it is a certain way of being. It helps us acknowledge things as they are, it teaches us to treat people around us in a more humane demeanor and help them develop their skills. It goes beyond just making profit. It is the understanding that we are working collectively in order to achieve a desired goal. A spiritual leader in a business setting is someone who brings his human soul to business and leadership.

Times are changing and what was a given a decade ago is no longer applicable. Understandably, the next generation of workforce seeks meaning through work, and desires personal growth at work, at the same time leaders are under pressure to deliver results in a very competitive and uncertain world. In Lebanon, for example, the real estate business is ever so growing, and the competition keeps on expanding. Nevertheless, what differentiates one business to the other, is its owner and how he manages his team and how he deals with potential buyers. Some are ruthless and only care about the money while other want to have a positive working environment where buyers have the possibility to negotiate. This resonates even more in our Arab culture, where the sense of family and the feeling of acting as one is highly valued and encouraged.

Some people learn everything they need to know about a business in the comfort of four walls, while others use the people around them, the environment and the setting to develop a set of skills that would enable them to grow. A lot of people forget to be themselves, to be honest with oneself as well as others. Honesty and who I am got me a long way in life, even if I did not reach my goal yet, I do have the means or at least the set of skills to develop the means to reach my goal.

It is said: “try not to become a person of success but rather a person of value”, over quoted but nonetheless very true. A comparison can be made between being a PhD student and an entrepreneur; both working alone in what can be considered the loneliest job ever in order to achieve an ultimate purpose. Paradoxically, both having numerous people crowding you with their opinions and inputs. This is where your spirituality comes into practice: know your truth. Nothing stops you from learning from others’ experiences, they are the most valuable asset you have, in terms of what works and what doesn’t but one should always remember that what works for others might not always work for you. Therefore, spirituality and humanity in entrepreneurship comes down to one basic rule: be true to you.