113. Does Faith Fit? - Leading Organizations That Matter

Summary4 min read

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Leading Organizations That Matter
Host: Rey Spadoni
Episode: 113. Does Faith Fit?
Date: June 16, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers around the challenging question: Does faith fit in our professional lives, especially within organizations and networks like LinkedIn? Host Rey Spadoni vulnerably explores his own journey of keeping faith and work separate, observes shifting cultural trends, and invites listener feedback regarding the intersection of personal beliefs and professional spaces. It's a reflective and open-ended conversation rather than a definitive stance, encouraging dialogue on a topic that resonates with listeners in mission-driven workplaces.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Locked Door” Between Faith and Work

Personal Practice: Rey shares his longstanding habit of compartmentalizing faith and professional life, treating them as “two distinct rooms with a locked door in between them.”
- Quote: “For the entirety of my career, I kept my personal faith and my professional life separated like two distinct rooms with a locked door in between them. I held the key and rarely if ever, opened up that door.” (01:00)
Public Perception vs. Authenticity: While candid about his faith personally, he's long avoided explicitly integrating it into his professional presence.

2. The Door is Opening: Societal Trends and Personal Experiences

Changing Culture: Observes that younger generations are returning to faith spaces like churches, possibly as a reaction to feeling “lost, abandoned, and frustrated with the popular culture.”
- Quote: “They seek the great adventure and in ways that today’s culture doesn’t seem to satisfy. Churches are full again.” (02:45)
A Broader Phenomenon?: Suggests a possible cultural shift—faith may have new relevance in public and professional life.

3. Faith-Related Content Resonating with Audiences

Popular Episodes: Spadoni notes that his podcast episodes touching on faith—in particular, interviews with figures like Matthew Potter of Pray.com and members of The Ignatian Project—have been his most popular.
- Episodes:
  - Episode 64: Matthew Potter, founder of Pray.com
  - Episode 69: The Ignatian Project representatives
- Quote: “These have been very popular episodes, my most popular. And because I always provide announcements of the shows on LinkedIn, I also get to see which shows attract the most attention there too. And guess what? The faith ones are the ones that most people listen to and comment on.” (04:00)
Surprise Element: Discussions of faith sometimes emerge organically from guests, even when the topic isn’t intended.

4. Observable LinkedIn Engagement

Metrics & Authenticity: Posts and appearances related to faith, such as a recent interview regarding Rey’s leadership of a Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, drew exceptional LinkedIn engagement.
- Quote: “This got tons of LinkedIn engagement impressions, as they call them, plus a lot of comments. The door connecting the rooms is slowly opening now.” (05:00)

5. Personal Reflection and Openness

Inner Dialogue: Rey acknowledges the conflict between his professionally ingrained separation and the feedback/metrics favoring faith-based openness.
Not Pushy, but Present: Emphasizes his intent is not to preach, but to treat faith as a natural, accepted topic within the broader context of leadership and organizational life.
- Quote: “Not in an in your face, you know, preach from the mountaintops, you sinners of the world, repent and be free sort of way, but more subtly just to talk about it like it’s no big deal, like it belongs, and as though the doorway is wide open.” (06:10)

6. Invitation for Listener Engagement

Call to Conversation: Rey closes by explicitly seeking feedback: “What do you think?” (06:50)
Mission Restated: Reinforces the podcast’s aim of empowering purpose-driven leaders and organizations.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On separation of faith and work:
“For the entirety of my career, I kept my personal faith and my professional life separated like two distinct rooms with a locked door in between them.” (01:00)
On cultural shifts:
“They seek the great adventure and in ways that today’s culture doesn’t seem to satisfy. Churches are full again.” (02:45)
On faith-based episodes' impact:
“These have been very popular episodes, my most popular.” (04:00)
On subtlety and authenticity:
“Not in an in your face, you know, preach from the mountaintops ... but more subtly just to talk about it like it’s no big deal, like it belongs...” (06:10)
Invitation for feedback:
“What do you think?” (06:50)

Key Timestamps

00:45 – 02:30 | Rey discusses his strict separation of faith and work, and hints at recent changes in his personal approach.
02:30 – 03:30 | Observes the resurgence of faith among younger people and ponders if this is a wider societal trend.
04:00 – 05:00 | Shares metrics and anecdotes about faith-related podcast episodes’ popularity and LinkedIn engagement.
06:00 – 07:00 | Deliberates how to approach faith in professional spaces moving forward, stressing authenticity and a non-confrontational approach.
07:00+ | Closes with an open question to listeners, inviting dialogue.

Tone and Style

Rey Spadoni’s tone is reflective, candid, and conversational. He frames the faith question as a genuine inquiry, not a prescriptive message, demonstrating humility and openness to community input.

In Summary

This brief but compelling episode explores the evolving relationship between personal faith and professional identity in the social and organizational domains. Rey Spadoni reflects on his own journey, observes the surprising resonance of faith-based discussions, and invites listeners to help answer the question: Does faith fit?

Listeners, especially those leading or supporting purpose-driven organizations, will find this episode a thoughtful prompt for their own reflection and conversation.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome to Leading Organizations that Matter, a podcast about leadership and how we find meaning and joy in our work and lives. I'm Ray Spadoni and today's topic is Does Faith Fit? The title of this week's episode is a Question, not because I'm going to propose an answer. It's an actual question that I've been pondering and I'm honestly just seeking some feedback. So if you're inclined to engage, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me@rayspadoni.com My question has to do with faith in our culture, on social media platforms, especially LinkedIn, and in industry for the vast majority of my career. Let me correct that. For the entirety of my career, I kept my personal faith and my professional life separated like two distinct rooms with a locked door in between them. I held the key and rarely if ever, opened up that door. This has definitely been true of my professional writing, podcasting, speaking, consulting, and coaching. But anybody who knows how to use a search engine will quickly learn that faith is important to me. I don't hide that fact. I couldn't if I wanted to, actually, but I always kept the door locked and let each room remain distinct. But then something funny happened. The door started to open up a bit. Now, maybe this has to do with the fact that people, especially young people, are returning to church. Many have felt lost, abandoned and frustrated with the popular culture and are searching for something different, something durable and everlasting. They seek the great adventure and in ways that today's culture doesn't seem to satisfy. Churches are full again. So maybe what I'm talking about here is a broader phenomenon. But let me break down what has been going on over here. People reach out to me all the time and ask to be interviewed on this podcast. I've done a bunch of those, but since I get great traction and resulting metrics from my brief essay style episodes, I don't do a ton of interviews. And frankly, so many people who ask to be on my show are selling something and I don't want this podcast to become about all that. So I've been selective. Over time, a few people have reached out on the topic of faith. The first was episode 64 with Matthew Potter, founder of prey.com. episode 69 was with a few folks from something called the Ignatian Project. And then on a few other shows, guests who were discussing decidedly non faith related issues brought faith up themselves and sometimes in very powerful ways. In ways I didn't prompt by my questions. So here's the thing. These have been very popular episodes, my most popular. And because I always provide announcements of the shows on LinkedIn, I also get to see which shows attract the most attention there too. And guess what? The faith ones are the ones that most people listen to and comment on. Also, I was interviewed myself on a podcast recently to discuss the fact that that I am leading a Camino de Santiago pilgrimage to the burial site of St. James the Apostle this fall. This got tons of LinkedIn engagement impressions, as they call them, plus a lot of comments. The door connecting the rooms is slowly opening now. The well exercised part of me that holds the key and is a good bit skeptical about all this thinks maybe I should just carry on as I have in the past. But then again, the part of me that sees the metrics and hears the comments and favors authenticity wonders if something is afoot. If there's more room for faith here and on LinkedIn and out there in the working world. Not in an in your face, you know, preach from the mountaintops, you sinners of the world, repent and be free sort of way, but more subtly just to talk about it like it's no big deal, like it belongs, and as though the doorway is wide open. What do you think? Thanks for listening. Leaving a positive review and letting others know about this podcast will help a great deal. My mission is to help empower organizations that matter by supporting those who lead them. I offer coaching, mentoring and consulting services. You can learn more about me and my work@racepadoni.com. Sa.