Leadership2050 edition 9: The Seven Principles of Spiritual Leadership

Welcome to the 9th edition of the?Leadership2050?Newsletter. In this edition I plan to explore what I'm calling the ‘Seven Principles of Spiritual Leadership’. These principles capture the essence of a collection of mindsets, practices, behaviours and outcomes that embody what I believe will be a contribution to defining the archetype of what it means to successfully lead, between now and 2050.?

The development of these principles has come from three different sources. Firstly, I have taken much from extensive reading of such authors as Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzburg, Eckart Tolle and?Thich Nhat Hanh. At the end of this article, I present a list of books that I would recommend if you want to learn more prompted by the content in this newsletter. The second source is my own experience as a leader and regular meditator. By no means do I claim to have perfected the implementation of these principles; for me, this is a life’s journey of practising. However, I have learned enough to know when I have experienced these principles and when I have moved away from them. The final source comes from conversations that I've had with individuals who are pioneering how to implement these in practice. As I write down these principles, I am deeply aware that I am ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’. I am not claiming originality in any of the ideas embodied here. Rather, the originality is in bringing these ideas together in a simple way and focusing on a set of principles for leaders to follow.?

1.??????????The first principle: self-awareness.?This encompasses our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and behaviours. These largely come from memories of the past and the future(s) that we anticipate. Without awareness, such thoughts and memories frequently distract us from being fully present ‘in the moment’. These can be particularly challenging for a leader, as you interact in 1-2-1s and with teams, the wider organisation and the external world. This principle is very simple, yet profound at the same time. It means noticing what you are experiencing – not being defined by it – and not reacting to it (and thus furthering the cycles of stress and harm from which we consciously or unconsciously suffer). One of the easiest ways to manage this is by paying attention to your breathing, through a meditative process. The more you practise this, the more present you are in the moment, and the more aware you are of the inner (self) and outer (others) context of what is experienced, what is said and not said, and the impact that your words and behaviours have.?

2.??????????The second principle: social awareness.?As our self-awareness grows, we see more how our judgements of other people and situations that we face are informed by our own experiences. Hence, we don’t see these people and situations for who or what they really are, and what they might be. When we bring our attention to these judgements, we notice them soften and weaken, and a deep social awareness of others and the parts of the world that we impact and that impact us develops. This opens up a space for us to realise what we do not know, to move into a place of curiosity, to become more creative and to develop an openness to the potential of all the people and situations that we face.?A stronger sense of our ethics and values develops, as we act from this place of stillness.?

3.??????????The third principle: compassion. When we bring our attention to the self, it is not long before we will encounter the individual and collective stress, pain, suffering and trauma in ourselves, in others and in the natural world in which we live. As we turn our attention to this, the process of healing begins. This healing leads to a more unified sense of self as a person and leader, thus changing how we lead the organisation for which we are responsible. This in turn changes the organisation by developing a powerful capability for purposeful service that has a positive impact on people and the planet.?

4.??????????The fourth principle: energy.?As we develop a growing strength in neither being distracted nor deeply affected by the events that we encounter, and feel an increased sense of purpose coming from a place of stillness, we find a deeper sense of a balanced flow, and access to individual and collective energy available to us. Practices?such as yoga, breathing exercises and?tai chi?can also help to access the energy needed to face difficult situations.?

5.??????????The fifth principle: equanimity.?As we realise that we are not our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and behaviours, we experience a sense of just ‘being’, characterised by equanimity, stillness, peace and a sense of impermanence in the face of conflict, crisis and other challenging situations. This place is often referred to as ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’, or ‘stillness’ rather than being caught up in the ‘busyness’ of life. As we experience equanimity, we experience what it means to transcend the ego and lead from this place of ‘being’.?

6.??????????The sixth principle: evolution.?This is characterised by the transition from a passive to an active approach to the evolution and transformation of the self, others, communities, organisations and the wider natural world of which we are part. The movement beyond the conceptual mind allows us to find compassion, abundance, insight and wisdom towards all people and all situations around us. This changes our behaviour, priorities and decisions, and allows for a greater level of creativity, which leads to new business models, products and services.?

7.??????????The seventh principle: transformation.?This is about ensuring that the business models and strategies that you are responsible for, the decisions that you make and communicate and the organisational policies and processes that you operate originate from a deep place of ‘being’.?As a leader implementing these principles, you will not find this journey to perfection without making mistakes; rather, return to the first principle and follow the cycle to find a deeper sense of stillness, peace and equanimity from which deeper transformational evolution can develop.?

As you read these principles, you may be asking how it will look when a leader manifests them in practice? I recently had the privilege of interviewing David Katz, founder and CEO of the?Plastic Bank. David is manifesting not just a different style of leadership, but also enabling a business model that is having a transformative impact on the world through the communities and companies with which the business works. The podcast that captures this interview will be launched in late September 2021, so if you want to know more about how David is leading, please do tune in. I will put details of how to access the podcast in future editions of this Newsletter.?

Many of you have come back to me in the comments section and in private messages to speak about the need for a new archetype of leadership for the 21st century. In addition, some authors have outlined what this could look like conceptually. When I interviewed David, I felt for the first time that I had met somebody who was manifesting this in practice, what David Rooke and William Torbert called being an ‘Alchemist’ in their?Harvard Business Review?paper?Seven Transformations of Leadership. The table in their paper shows that only 1%?of leaders surveyed manifest what they describe as the ‘Alchemist’, which they define as?an?‘ability to renew or even reinvent themselves and their organizations in historically significant ways’?and that?‘they’re able to catch unique moments in the history of their organizations, creating symbols and metaphors that speak to people’s hearts and minds’.?Rooke and Torbert?go on to talk about ‘Alchemists’ generating social transformation that integrates material, spiritual and societal perspectives.?

In summary, for me, if the world is to transcend many of the current challenges that it is facing, then this type of leadership and versions of these principles will be at the heart of this. When I consider the paradoxes that I?presented in?Leadership2050 Newsletter 2,?what David is manifesting, as well as these principles, offer an answer to how these challenges might be transcended. The challenge is how do we move to a place where we put these principles into practice? To this end I am in the process of creating and will then be presenting 7 meditations that will help you do this. I will put details of how to access these in a future newsletter.?

In coming to a close, I am reminded of the quote by Teddy Roosevelt (President of the United States of America) in a speech that he made in 1910, entitled?The Man in the Arena.?It captures what it means to break new ground in any leadership endeavour and I'm deeply aware that, in presenting work that seeks to capture an ideal state, an equal dose of humility is needed:

‘It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.’

Finally,?you may be interested to know why I am asking these questions. As a Senior Fellow of Management Practice at Said Business School (SBS), University of Oxford, my research and teaching focuses on how leaders transcend 21st?century challenges such as disruptive technology change and the climate crisis; also, how they create cultures that are diverse, inclusive, resilient and high performing, alongside the ongoing challenge of delivering profitable growth. At Oxford, I direct the Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Programme and, in this capacity, work with leaders from many geographies, industries and governments. All this has given me a deep understanding of how good leaders create value and bad leaders destroy it, as measured from multiple perspectives. One could argue that never before has this been so important on a global stage; hence why I am undertaking this work.?

(c) Dr Andrew White August 2021

Recommended reading:?

Eckart Tolle –?Stillness Speaks

Sharon Saltzburg –?Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection

Jack Kornfield –?The Path with Heart

Thich Nhat Hanh –?Peace is Every Step

Shanida Nataraja –?The Blissful Brain: Neuroscience and Proof of the Power of Meditation