Spiritual Intelligence: A Road Map to Future Learning
Abstract
Rational Intelligence helps us take logical decisions while emotional and spiritual intelligence can be blended together in a beautiful way. IQ and EQ have given a way to Spiritual Intelligence, which is considered as the base of all intelligences. It has been tried out through this study that how Spiritual Intelligence can guide a leader in the organisation to think beyond his/her own personal goals/identity. Authors have tried to conceptualise the Spiritual Intelligence / Quotient Model which enumerate the characteristics of a leader who is spiritually intelligent and also tries to co-relate the concept of Learning Organisational Culture with the extensive and wide use of Spiritual Intelligence in the organisations. Literature available on the subject has been reviewed extensively to arrive at the following concepts and to establish the correlation between Spiritual Intelligence and Learning Culture/ Habits of the Organisations. To test the above concepts, authors have chosen two Public Sector Undertakings, one is Bharat Petroleum, which has been a Fortune 500 Company and the other one is NTPC, which is a leading Navratna status and profit making Public Sector Organisation. It was observed that academically the respondents at all levels were unknown to this “Spiritual intelligence”, and they understood the concept as alternate to religion. In the view of literature the characteristics of spiritually intelligent leader should includes intrapersonal characteristics like self awareness, self realization, Self actualization, Self respect, Organizational awareness, Organizational actualization, Independence, Assertiveness, selfness and Altruistic Attitude along with other interpersonal characteristics, Stress management characteristics, Adaptability etc.
Keywords
Download Options
Introduction
Corporate world is fast waking up to the phenomenon of connecting within as the best means to achieve not only the organisation’s goals but also to meet the fast emerging external challenges. This phenomenon of connecting within relies on the fact that the internal and external business environment imposes many challenges on the Corporations and thus this is the only way out, left with the business organisations to rely on their internal strengths. These Corporations are not material things, but they are vibrant living entities comprising of people; people who are always self regulating, evolving and dynamic entities, who observe continuous change(s) in themselves and are in turn responsible for everlasting changes in the organisations. Those who do not observe the changes or those who do not follow/adjust to changes are clinically dead and Spiritual Intelligence is the academic link which provides answers to all the questions/challenges raised by such abrupt changes. Spiritual Intelligence is the highest ability of any individual to get smooth linkages from within the spirit i.e. to get smooth answers to all the questions –whether worldly or non-worldly as mentioned in SRIMAD BHAGVAD GITA as follows- “ Spiritual Intelligence is the nature of goodness, which factually knows the propriety of things as well as the impropriety of things, duty and non-duty, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation.” Chap 18.v.30.
Although this concept of Spiritual Intelligence was ever present in the world, but academically we have awakened very recently. In Ancient times this word the Spiritual Intelligence was mentioned in SRIMAD BHAGWAD GITA 1 for the first time, but we forgot it’s value and ignored its essence, and started running in the blind marathon. Now when we have achieved almost stagnation in the development of majority of Organisations, in spite of doing lot of hard work, then again we are trying to find out something within us which can enlighten us and this answer comes from the ultimate intelligence a human being can possess i.e. Spiritual Intelligence.
Conclusion
The then President of Republic of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam while inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of All India Management Association in New Delhi, in 2006 called for more Indian Companies to storm into the Fortune 500 list. He gave a mantra identifying the “righteousness in life” and “possessing an indomitable spirit” as the two key ingredients for making it big and emerging as a great corporate or a brand institution.10 The former President was absolutely right when he said that without the presence of spirit of ideal righteousness, one cannot reach the sky. If one person is having this essence of spirit with him/her then no worldly hurdles bother him, be it that these hurdles are at the personal level (ego, negative introvert attitude), interpersonal levels(frequent conflicts which arise in the interrelationships) or at the macro level (inter-organisational unhealthy competition, international conflicts).
It has been evidently brought out through this study that training in organisations is provided to polish the outer peel of the fruit (soul), but the real fruit inside that peel is left untouched, ignored by the materialistic training. Now the real requirement is to recognise that sweet fruit inside us and nurture it, so that each one of us can live life to the full and give our maximum contributions to the organisations where we work and to the World at large.