Manila, 14 November 2024 — How spiritual intelligence makes you a more effective leader.

Story

It happened this week. As I listened to three of the most innovative authors in advancing spiritual intelligence in our world today, it struck me how relevant and practical their insights are for how we leaders show up to make a difference in our work and life. Sadly, most MBAs and other leadership programs have been terrified to explore how spiritual intelligence forms part of leadership. We have, therefore, been missing out on learning about spiritual intelligence as an important ingredient in our growth as leaders. No longer.

As Cindy Wigglesworth, author of SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence, explains, “You can be spiritual and not religious. We are all born spiritual with the innate need to be connected with something larger than ourselves.” With her science-informed research method, Wigglesworth defines spiritual intelligence as “The ability to behave with wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace regardless of the situation.” The operative word is behave, which we know well from the research into leadership behaviors. Wigglesworth and her team have also developed an innovative assessment tool for spiritual intelligence, available on her website deepchange.com.  

In Finding Radical Wholeness, Ken Wilber, philosopher, author, and creator of Integral Theory, writes about using our multiple intelligences, and how spiritual intelligence addresses the question “What is it that is of ultimate concern (or ultimate reality) for me?” Meanwhile, A. H. Almaas, author and creator of The Diamond Approach, shares, “To contact the deeper truth of who we are, we must engage in some activity or practice that questions what we assume to be true about ourselves.” A process of inquiry, in other words. The three authors regard spirituality distinctly from religion and emphasize the need for creativity when we inquire into our spiritual intelligence. There is a lot we can learn from their work.

Challenge

So what is our challenge in exploring how spiritual intelligence can make us more effective leaders? While this may work out differently for each of us, the three authors point to a set of common tasks. All three were motivated in their research, writing, and teaching by a deep hunger to find out about ultimate reality in life. They rolled up their sleeves and got to work. That is our path too.

Wilber asks us to “Make a list of all the truly and deeply important things in your life—the most important of the most important things—and at the top of that list is your ultimate concern. That’s your God.” Seeing spiritual intelligence as one of our intelligences to be developed, he challenges us to find radical wholeness in ourselves by engaging in five sets of practices that he calls Waking Up, Growing Up, Opening Up, Cleaning Up, and Showing Up. He sees spiritual intelligence as part of Opening Up. As a student of Integral Life Practice, I have seen my life transform with this innovative adult learning approach.

Wigglesworth also recognizes spiritual Intelligence as one of our multiple intelligences. She encourages us to develop our physical body intelligence, our cognitive intelligence, our emotional intelligence, and our spiritual intelligence. In her book, she sets out the skills we need. The assessment can point us to our blindspots. That approach makes sense to me. Almaas, meanwhile, encourages us to critically examine our reality by engaging in a process of deep inquiry. To be open to learning and not to automatically accept what teachers, experts, and wise people tell us. We need to work on our realizations, he says, explaining that this process of inquiry can take years, even decades. That sounds like being a life-long learner and a student of leadership. I particularly like his book Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery. While I’m still new to Almaas’ teaching, I am definitely on that path. 

Question

My question for you this week is what is of ultimate concern to you in your life? Go ahead and make a list of important concerns, and see what floats or emerges at the top of your list as your ultimate concern. This may take you a few days, and you can review and update it regularly afterward. In my experience, this question is a helpful and practical entry point into developing and using our spiritual intelligence to become more effective leaders. 

For me, my ultimate concern is to bring out the best in people. That is the context and purpose of my quest for leadership development. I invite leaders to drive positive changes together for a more prosperous, peaceful, and sustainable world. Moving forward in that direction is much more than a techno-managerial challenge. It calls on each of us to develop and use all our intelligences, including our spiritual intelligence. And to help each other in the process. 

At TransformationFirst.Asia, our mission is to coach leaders through transitions that bring out their best, in their workplace and life. We work with our clients—individually and in teams and our community of practice—on using all of their intelligences in developing their leadership. If that resonates with you and makes you curious about your own leadership development, set up a Free Strategy Call so that we can discuss your next transition and how to get started.