|
In organizations, our success as leaders is measured by
the degree to which weve mastered the external environment
and delivered results in the form of revenues, profits, new
product breakthroughs, cost savings, or market share
increases.
External results, of course, are important.
However, by trying to conform to the external
requirements of leadership what are you doing to yourself?
Are you enjoying the paradigmatic doing of
leadership? Is it possible for you to let go, when you want
to? Does the consequences of failing in your job scare you? Do
you feel endangered by exotic species of new-age leadership?
Are you really going where you want to go, as an
individual or this role of leadership seems to be coming in
the way?
Well, if some or all of this seems to be your concern,
the unique participative space of Spiritual Leadership is
meant for you to participate in.
We come from a belief that leadership is not so
much about something we do.
It is a process, an intimate expression of who we are.
Its our being in action.
At its deepest level, leadership is authentic
self-expression that creates value.
Viewing leadership from this essential vantage point,
Spiritual Leadership is founded on three core principles:
- How authentic are we?
- How deep and broad is our self-expression?
- How much value are we
creating?
The journey entails search for answers to fundamental
questions like:
- How do I go about expressing
myself more authentically?
- How do we find out where is
my leadership coming from?
- Do my actions originate as a
response from a sense of purpose and intent or are they
reactions to a superficial, limited space?
- Is my leadership arising
from my character, the essence of I am? Or is it only coming from my persona, the
external personality Ive created to cope with life
circumstances?
- Am I obsessed with always
doing and saying the right thing or I am sensitive and
responsive to the environment, in the moment?
- Is it okay for me to not
know what I am expected to know as a leader, show up with my
vulnerabilities and seek help?
- Am I too steeped in my need
for independence and freedom or I am ready to value
interdependence?
- Is my innate power in being right,
or is it in being real.
The Five Touchstones
of Spiritual Leadership
Touchstone
One: Know
Yourself Authentically.
Instead of focusing on finding the right partner (in
business or friendships) you will seek to be the right
partner. Get to
commit to authentically in discovering your complete atman.
Touchstone
Two: Listen
Authentically.
Authentic listening is the soul of synergy. Authentic
listening is about being generouslistening with a giving
attitude that seeks to bring forth the contribution in
someone, versus listening with our limiting mindsets, opinions
and judgments. Authentic
listening is about being open to the purpose and the learning
forthcoming from the other.
Get to learn how to create the platform for true
synergy and team effectiveness through authentic listening.
Discover what it takes to be open to valuing and
attending to different perspectives from diverse sources,
leading to a more complete understanding of issues and more
effective decisions.
Touchstone
Three: Express
Authentically.
Authentic expression is a delicate subject for many
leaders. We
rarely meet leaders who admit readily that they lack some
degree of integrity. We
also rarely meet leaders who have complete integrity in all
parts of their lives. Integrity goes far beyond telling the truth.
Integrity means total congruence between who we are and
what we do. It is
a fundamental challenge for most of us. Get started on the
path to getting there.
Learn how not to hold back something that we feel is
important because were fearful of expressing it. Learn how
not to make things appear appropriate and yet be accepted.
Learn to be ruthlessly compassionate about sharing bitter
truth with others. And learn to be genuinely proud about who
you are than feigning modesty.
Authentic expression is the true voice of the leader.
We speak from our character and it creates trust,
synergy and connection with everyone around us.
Authentic expression is not about refining our
presentation styleits deeper than that.
Some of the most authentic leaders I know stumble
around a bit in their delivery, but the words come right from
their hearts and experience.
You feel their conviction and the integral connection
of who they are and what they say.
Expressing authentically is about straight talk that
creates value. Its
about sharing your real thoughts and feelings in a manner that
opens up possibilities.
Touchstone
Four: Appreciate
Authentically.
As leaders we tend to do too much and appreciate too
little. Love is
an extreme case of appreciation.
However, the L word is a taboo in business
circle. Thats
in spite of the fact that the L word is the substance
that unifies teams, builds cultures, fosters commitment and
bonds people in an organization.
Learn to leverage your self-love to appreciate. Create
value in the environment you are in through appreciative
self-expression. Energize people around you and make them want
to exceed their goals and perceived limits.
Touchstone Five: Serve
Authentically.
This is an age of servant leadership. A leader is not
judged by how well he or she leads, but by how well he or she
serves. Our real job is to serve all the constituencies in our
life and, in the process, to appreciate genuinely the fact the
only through our interdependence with others do we create
value
As leaders, get to move from control to service. Get to
acknowledge and appreciate the systemic design and that
were not the sole architect of the consequences. Begin to
sense the Karma yogi in you..
Commit yourself to the
lifelong process of authentically growing as a person in order
to grow as a leader. Those
who stay connected to each of these five touchstones of
spiritual leadership not only enhance their own effectiveness
as leaders, but improve all aspects of their lives.
Created by
Indraneel Mukerjee,
Founder-Promoter
iProdigy.
|
|
