eBridge:
In your work with corporations you are engaging leaders in conversations about both emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence, how are these concepts interwoven?
Carole Kammen:
I'm finding that the notion of spiritual intelligence is becoming more and more common place in the workplace. Emotional and spiritual intelligence blend together in a wonderful way. Emotional intelligence focuses on our values and spiritual intelligence asks us to get in touch with our beliefs - knowing what gives us a deep sense of meaning and purpose in life. Our spirituality is what underlies our calling in life and our emotional intelligence drives the practices that guide our behaviors toward alignment with our calling. The very best leaders are deeply in touch with both emotional and spiritual intelligence. Leaders today want their work to create more than just money and stability, they also want to know they're making a contribution to life in alignment with their core foundational beliefs. I think of spirituality as an awakening through which we see ourselves serving something much larger than our immediate role. Leaders who are connected to their core sense of the sacred are people with a higher calling and purpose. Before they ask "What should we do?", they ask "What have I been called to do?"
eB:
Why is tapping into spiritual intelligence important for leadership?
CK:
Beyond earning a paycheck, people want to connect to something deep, intrinsic, and lasting. There's an old story about two stonecutters sitting in the village side-by-side doing their craft. A passerby stops and says to them both with curiosity “What are you doing?” The first stonecutter replies: “I'm cutting a block of stone”. The second says, “I'm creating part of the foundation of our temple.” Great questions for us all…what am I doing? Am I doing a task to achieve an immediate goal or, am I creating something long term and sustainable that will become part of my legacy? Leaders must attend to the long-term vision as well as the immediate challenges.
Doing for doing sake will not sustain us. To lead well we have to know what we've really consecrated our lives to. For some of us it's building a better world, and for others it's bringing truth, but whatever it is, it has to animate us everyday. Spiritual intelligence connects us to the core purpose that is living through us into life. The motivation becomes finding the deep meaning in our work. With this understanding we find the values and the environments which support our deeper purpose. Of course, we have to start with our own internal environment. When we are personally connected to the source of ourselves everything around us shifts.
Why is this conversation needed in organizations today?
We are in a time of unprecedented change, where all the paradigms we once held about the world are in question. As we operate in a global economy – and a shaky one at that- we have to change our whole perspective. This type of change is not at the surface, its deep within the organization at the level of organizational mindset. It's at the root of how people think – at every level of the organization. How we think (our mindsets) are the drivers of our behavior. In order to transform an organization we have to shift the organizational mind. The changes have to emerge from a new paradigm. Transformation isn't the same as change. Transformation requires a whole new foundational belief structure. In order to transform an organization the leadership has to assess the internal global mindset and question the commonly held perspectives. This leads to a deeper awakening of spiritual intelligence and soulfulness. Once mindset changes, behavioral shifts occur, and then training for those new behaviors can really stick. Once we change behaviors, cultures change.
How are organizations tapping into spiritual intelligence?
Changing the fundamental thinking within an organization begins by transforming a negative mindset to a positive one. Such transformation includes transforming fear into courage and action, transforming adversity into learning. Learning to ask the fundamental questions, those beneath the surface. When people change their mindsets and behaviors you begin to see, for example, how a naturally feedback adverse culture becomes a feedback rich culture. People manage their viewpoint of fear and replace it with a viewpoint of accountability. When they shift from thinking: “I work for a paycheck”, to “I want to, and can, make a difference and be authentic and true to myself in my vocation”, all types of things change in how people approach their work.
What are the challenges in changing our mindset?
As we connect to our deeper purpose we run smack into our fears. Those fears that held us back in the first place. For example, employees may want to bring new ideas to the company or suggest enhancements to work processes or time saving adjustments but fear often overrides such desires. Courage has to outweigh fear for the mindset shift to take hold. Through coaching and facilitation shifts in mindset can occur and allow breakthroughs in thinking to take place. Today, just by working with mindset and behavior shifts corporations are finding that they are saving millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars. Employees start making decisions that change the work process and become accountable for the outcomes. People begin to offer things that are not only self- serving but organizational serving because there is alignment between the organization and the individual.
When people are called upon to serve the larger purpose of the organization, they tend to work harder. When we are in touch with our core deep sense of meaning in our work we are fulfilled within.
How can leaders encourage employees to get to the core of what they love?
It's more about heart awareness than skill development. Most people think they have to leave their soul at the door when they go to work but that isn't so. Organizations can teach and encourage simple practices, for example, how to meditate as a way to connect with the soul. Researches at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that practicing even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance. Organizations where the ritual of meditation is practiced regularly, actually encourage employees to set aside work for a period of time in order reconnect to the soul and make the links of how they bring their best selves to their work. Through meditation we can uncover the feeling states that rest under our behaviors which helps us to discern our reactions to a particular stimulus. Through simple training programs in self-awareness, people become aware of their mindsets and identify the emotions that drive their behavior. With this knowledge they can consciously make different choices in how they respond. As this deeper awareness emerges, a greater sense of self-esteem emerges. As employees discern what is authentic and true within themselves they have a clearer sense about how they can make a difference in the organization.
When people become more authentic they naturally become happier and more fulfilled, and in turn, generate a sense of optimism. Harvard is now teaching a course on happiness in the business school; recognizing the importance of teaching students the art of creating a fulfilling and flourishing life! As we find our deep happiness, we find our true voice and tap into our greater sense of purpose. When we discover the intersection between pleasure and deep meaning, our work becomes significant and enjoyable.
Find out more about Carole Kammen and her work with Spiritual Intelligence through Pathways Business Institute.