Standing at the Intersection of Spirituality and Business
I find myself today contemplating the possibility of integrating my spiritual practice with my business consulting on more of a deliberate level. I facilitated two very powerful programs last week with two fabulous clients and threw out some deeper questions to the crowds (each engagement involved around 170 or so people). I'm inspired to go this road partly because of what I'm seeing for my own life, and partly because of an article I read in Worthwhile Magazine a few months ago.
That May 2005 article by Danah Zohar, entitled "The Latest Q" pointed out how the world of work used to talk about a person's IQ, then we moved into the EQ or Emotional Intelligence. But now we're ready to talk about the SQ, or Spiritual Quotient in our workplaces.
The article highlights information from a book Zohar and Ian Marshall wrote called SQ: Connecting With Our Spiritual Intelligence and also Spiritual Capital: Wealth We Can Live By.
In the article Zohar says that in the business world today we are dominated by four negative motivations: fear, greed, anger and self-assertion. She says we need to move into the next five or six higher motivations. In order, they are: exploration, cooperation, personal integrity, sense of mastery, and servant leadership.
Although I would call them "inspirations" instead of "motivations," (see Lance Secretan's book Inspire! for more information about that), I wholeheartedly agree with Zohar's assessment.
I'm currently having conversations with current and potential clients about assessing their current level of SQ and then determining how we might move from the current level into another level, according to Zohar's list. She says very few people move through the entire list, but it's very important to get from the negative four to at least the exploration or cooperation levels.
How might we all - together - support each other in this shift? It doesn't have to be a HUGE shift ... just a small distinction can produce huge results.
Are you ready to join in this conversation? What are your ideas for taking this on in your own life? Identify where you might be at the level of fear, greed, anger and self-assertion within your business world and let's work together to first identify those areas and then move into exploration. I'll share what I'm noticing for myself and we'll take it from there.
Thanks for being with me on this journey!
posted by Jodee Bock @ 9:20 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Well done Jodee! The fundamental problems of business (and indeed culture) cannot be solved by means of power because they are not problems of power. They cannot be solved by means of politics because they are not political. They cannot be solved by means of clever strategies, because they are not strategic. They will not be solved by technology because they are not technological. And on and on.
I disagree with you on one point. It is a HUGE shift—a shift of consciousness, after which we must learn to talk hard about soft stuff.
Jodee:
Great idea! I think you're spot on. I find as I get deeper into my volunteer work with my church -- finance committee, pre-school committee, administrative council -- it helps me realize my strengths and wants, mostly since there is no financial motivation for my hard work. I look forward to more on this.
Thanks Dick & Jeff for your comments. I think that as we delve deeper into the concept of spirituality (aliveness - connection with a Higher Power), we'll find that connection with Cause instead of treating effects will allow huge breakthroughs.
I agree, Dick, that a shift of consciousness appears to be huge, but it doesn't have to be a daunting undertaking. Simply noticing what we notice in our lives for one week will start the ball rolling. It doesn't have to be any bigger than that to start. But it's got to start somewhere.
COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF SCIENCE OF RELIGION (THEOLOGY)
A Scientific Understanding of Meditation and Yoga
In Bhagavad-Gita Lord SriKrishna says to Arjun:
“I taught this immortal Yoga to Vivasvan (sun-god), Vivasvan conveyed it to Manu(his son), and Manu imparted it to (his son) Iksvaku. Thus transmitted to succession from father to son, Arjun, this Yoga remained known to the Rajarisis (royal sages). It has however long since disappeared from this earth. The same ancient Yoga has this day been imparted to you by Me, because you are My devotee and friend, and also because this is a supreme secret”.
Yoga (Application) which was based on the control of the body physically and implied that a perfect control over the body and the senses led to knowledge of the ultimate reality. A detailed anatomical knowledge of the human body was necessary to the advancement of yoga and therefore those practising yoga had to keep in touch with medical knowledge. (Romila Thapar, A History of India, volume one).
I suggest : Mind and brain are two distinct things. Brain is anatomical entity whereas mind is functional entity. Mind can be defined as the function of autonomic nervous system (ANS). It is claimed that mind can be brought under conscious control through the practice of meditation. But how? ANS is largely under hypothalamic control which is situated very close to optic chiasma (sixth chakra or ajna chakra). Protracted practice of concentration to meditate at this region brings functions of ANS say mind under one’s conscious control.
Although Danah Zohar has coined the term Spiritual Quotient for the first time but she did not establish any mathematical relationship for this. Without establishing mathematical relationship spiritual intelligence can not be termed as spiritual quotient.
Deepak Chopra has given a formula of spiritual quotient in terms of Deed (D) and Ego (E). According to Deepak Chopra S.Q.=D/E. According to him if E is ‘zero’ the S.Q. will be infinite. This appears to be very fascinating but it is highly abstract which can not be measured experimentally accurately and precisely. However, this formula has immense value to understand S.Q.
I have also discovered a mathematical relationship for S.Q about eight years back in 2001. I have used physiological parameters which can be measured accurately and precisely and can be tested and verified experimentally. According to this formula S.Q. can be expressed as the ratio of parasympathetic dominance (P.D.) to sympathetic dominance (S.D.). Parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) are the two parts of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which is largely under hypothalamic control. Hypothalamus is situated very close to the Sixth Chakra. During practice of meditation at Sixth Chakra these centres are galvanized which has very positive effect on practitioners spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical well being.
According to this relationship spiritual quotient can be written as:
S.Q. = P.D./S.D.
If the value of S.Q. comes >1 (greater than one), it can be assumed that the person is moving towards self-realisation and if the value of S.Q. comes <1 (smaller than one) it can be predicted that the person is living under stress.
This formula can be tested and verified experimentally.
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