Spirituality is a broad concept yet we could identify a spiritually
intelligent person as one who has a sense of connection to something bigger
than themselves, loves self and cares about people, animals and the planet.
Spiritual persons understand their
oneness with nature and empathetic to the universal human experience.
As corporations
impact on the sustainability of this planet, I postulate that we need
spiritually intelligent business leaders to balance with their IQ and emotional
intelligence. Their enlightened
leadership may then drive corporations to be more responsible, to minimize harm to this
earth and its beings.
Dr. Ronald Heifetz, founding director of the
Center of Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of
Government said to a group of business leaders at a Harvard Business School
session to discuss how their spirituality helps them be powerful leaders - "There
are so many pressures on you as a leader to lose your compassion and develop a
thick skin, to lose your capacity for doubt and curiosity," [i]
The audience did not disagree with him.
Mindfulness is a way to become aware of words
and actions that can afflict self and others, therefore mindful leaders will be
spiritually intelligent who can transform organizations to be more responsible.
However, spiritually intelligent mindful leaders are few and far between as the global status quo - the mainstream narrative beginning with education leads to a material and money oriented culture of consumerism.
That is why
it is good to see an initiative such as the United Nations Global Compact
(UNGC) bringing many businesses on board to align them with the UN’s
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG) for the planet.
The Global
Compact operates on ten principles divided into fundamental responsibilities of
human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
The UNGC
website[ii]
states that;
Corporate sustainability starts
with a company’s value system and a principles-based approach to doing
business.
Responsible businesses enact the
same values and principles wherever they have a presence, and know that good
practices in one area do not offset harm in another. By incorporating the Ten
Principles of the UN Global Compact into strategies, policies and procedures,
and establishing a culture of integrity, companies are not only upholding their
basic responsibilities to people and planet, but also setting the stage for
long-term success.
The above description calls for spiritually intelligent corporate leaders.
Since the UNGC released its 10 principles more than 15
years ago, nearly 12,000 companies worldwide have committed to adopting the
sustainable and socially responsible policies.
This is a remarkable achievement.
UNGC’S
principles have been effective in getting many global businesses to become more
mindful of their impact on this world and its people, yet in real life these
principles, which are voluntary, can be compromised as soon as profitability and a business’s survival is at stake.
Bad Behaviour
 |
| Picture: freemalaysiatoday.com |
Even that is
not a criteria for bad behaviour as we saw Volkswagen – a member of UNGC to falsify
its diesel engine emissions to promote the sale of its cars globally – just to
gain market share and make more profits.
The Boeing
debacle with 737 Maxx also makes a mockery of these principles with what came to light after two deadly crashes - Lion
Air in October of last year and Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019 killing 346
people. In the months following the crashes, a report commissioned
and paid for by institutional investors with large holdings in Boeing stock
stated that pilot error was “the most consequential factor” in both crashes,
when that was false.
What has come to light was a profit motive to sell more
planes. The new software technology called MCAS was required for the
new version of the 737 with the bigger engines placed differently on the wings, which risked the planes to stall after take off.
When operating the plane manually, the MCAS senses if the nose lifts too high leading to a stall and forces the nose down automatically. In these two crashes, the MCAS took control
away from the pilots who had no idea what was happening, as none of the pilots were
informed or trained to operate it. That would have cost extra money and made the plane not competitive in the market.
That is why
people like Cloe Franko, a senior organizer at Corporate Accountability
International, a non-profit organization fighting to stop corporate abuse is
more cynical. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Franko stated[iii]:
The UNGC provides a
platform for corporations to advance their brands and promote their association
with the UN - with
little or no action. It's a voluntary initiative, which corporate actors use to
advance their own agendas and bottom lines. But they don't significantly change
the playing field around, for instance, health, the environment and labor -
which the UNGC claims to advance. It is primarily a PR scheme.
As well
meaning and effective UNGC has been to bring the global sustainable agenda
including the SDGs to the private sector, it is difficult to change a leopard’s
stripes. Corporations who hide behind
the limited liability laws and its business-as-usual practices for growth and
profits only, will continue on this path without significant change in
organizational culture and attitudes at a deeper level.
Transforming this culture begins with enlightened leadership with a combination of rational, emotional and spiritual intelligence.
Changing Human Behaviour
As we
develop corporate responsibility and sustainability agendas, protocols,
processes, rules and regulation, there is one thing that is hardly addressed,
which is human behaviour. It is not to
examine behaviour through academic disciplines of psychology, sociology or
economics alone, but adding culture, attitudes, values, ethics and spirituality. A holistic view encompasses the spirit, the
mind, emotions and the physical.
We also acknowledge the four frames of a
modern organization[iv]
– Structural (hard systems and processes), Human Resources (hard and soft),
Political (soft) and Symbolic (soft).
With enlightened leadership these soft systems and processes linked to
emotional and spiritual intelligence can impact behaviour to transform
organizational cultures to become more responsible.
There
is yet a reluctance to delve on the soft and ‘wooly’. Going deeper than what
the five senses offer and what can be proven “objectively” (hard) with quantifiable results seems mysterious and emotionally fraught.
In the
quantum world of science, we use new physics in our modern communications
technologies. However, our education,
hence our worldview, is based on Newtonian Physics - left brained, rational and
reductionist, so we find comfort in the hard objective areas and avoid the soft
as these can be emotional and uncertain.
Anything to
do with the spirit, the mind and the body is outside the educational curricular
and we wonder why the world of economics and business is not taking into consideration
externalities – impact on human and eco-system well-being - the cradle to grave
costs that are not internal to those businesses. Hence the corporation operates with its legal
license with limited liability and the choice to be a responsible
citizen or not is in the hands of its share holders, directors and the top
management.
Ethical Leaders Exist
If corporations are led by the rare likes of the late Anita Roddick of Body Shop,
late Ray Anderson of Interface Carpets, Paul Polman of Unilever, Ratan Tata of
Tata Sons, the chances are, “Purpose
and Passion” is lived through enlightened leadership values and vision
where a profitable business is a means of giving back to society and the
environment.
These are names from the past and if I search for personalities who are going against the grain in 2019, not many corporate leaders are shaking the tree at the moment, except many who are moving towards being more sustainable as it makes business sense to do so.
There are corporations like Virgin led by Richard Branson who is committed to reducing the environmental footprint, coffee and tea company Grosche who are providing natural-sand bio-filters for millions of rural people around the world to have access to clean water as cited among others in the article "50 + Real Live Examples of Private Sector SDG Leadership" in Corporate Knights article (Dave Klar: March 2019). However, not many leaders are championing the need to make the globe more equitable, mitigate or help communties adapt to climate change, for instance.
That is because most
corporations are run by highly trained rational and focused people immersed in
the reptilian, competitive world acting out their default behaviour to maximize
profits, grow at any cost, as it is survival to the fittest in a culture driven
by fear. They operate on the edge,
constantly on guard, hoarding, not sharing, not trusting, which is so outside
the nature of the compassionate human being, that it causes the spiral of
stress on people and the planet.
Playing the Winning Game and Losing
I play a
game in organizational soft skills training programmes called the Winning
Game. The rules give away the fact that
it is a game of interdependence. I
divide the group into 4 teams (Typically 4 – 12 per team), allocate names of
departments of their own organization and tell them the objective – “To win as
much money as you can”. Six to ten
rounds can be played depending on the time and each team has to decide on one
of two options, yet they know, their result will be predicated on how the other
teams score.
Invariably,
most teams become competitive focusing on winning at any cost, even when given
a chance to speak to each other to collaborate, at least one team may deceive
the others, which causes all the teams to lose trust and then begins the spiral
of collusion, revenge and unskillful action.
It is also interesting to watch the energy levels, emotions of people,
who seemed to have composure and calm, rise to action as they become reptilian
to deal with the emerging threatening environment.
When at the
end I tot up the earnings of each team and add all four team’s total and say,
everyone has lost - there is surprise.
Post game
discussion is dominated by finger pointing - blaming each other and also laying
blame on me as the facilitator for deceiving them with partial information, yet
not many put a mirror on themselves.
Within one
hour, this game replicates normal human behaviour. Organizations that may lack an enlightened leadership vision and values based on human integrity, generosity,
graciousness and dignity – in effect spirituality, may get trapped in the default competitive human nature.
Very rarely
have I seen a situation where an organization wins together at the Winning Game
and these have been with rural agri-based organizations where interdependence
is crucial for survival.
The Protestant Work Ethic
Most western
corporations were founded in the Protestant Work Ethic. The
desire for a good life provided a moral framework for good
behavior for employees. It also provided
a meaning and purpose to work
and the workplace.
 |
| Luis W. Fry |
However, the Industrial Revolution also ushered in a Newtonian
deterministic, machine-like universe through scientific method, removing free will of man. It postulated that the universe and man were stable and materialistic in
nature (Luis W. Fry 2004).
In a way it has taken away human emotion out of the
process and good behavior meant, putting up with domineering and demeaning
managers, not reacting to unfair systems and processes. This may lead to a “survival to the fittest”
culture, silos, fear driven competitiveness, requiring selfish behavior to show
self in a good light to the management. According to Luis Fry, the current malaise in corporate ethics and social responsibility
has roots based on egoism and a perversion of the Protestant Work Ethic.
This
behaviour is reinforced through an education and social conditioning to be
rational, logical and to specialize.
Institutions yet designed in the old industrial age hierarchy and
operating in silos, the notion of interdependence and interconnectedness is
alien. The term spirituality in such a
formal structure is too vague and mysterious and may even evoke fear.
In his 2004 paper, Toward a theory
of ethical and spiritual well-being, and corporate social responsibility
through spiritual leadership, Louis W. Fry of Tarleton State University, Central Texas states;
Spiritual well-being is a result of satisfying the spiritual
survival needs for: (1) transcendence or
calling manifested in the desire to strive for those purposes and values that
express whatever a person feels is ultimately meaningful to him or her and (2)
membership which is the desire for people, especially at work, to feel
understood, and appreciated resulting in a sense of belonging and
partnership. Spiritual well-being,
however, is not obtained by striving for it directly. Organizational members cannot experience a
sense of spiritual well-being by trying to manufacture it. It is not produced when a company focuses on
its monetary goals, but instead occurs when leadership first establishes a
healthy workplace culture grounded in altruistic values and transcendent
goals. When members of an organization
have a sense of belonging and a commitment to a common purpose, the organization
as a whole is more successful in meeting or exceeding key stakeholder
expectations; this is also when sustainable monetary goal achievement is
realized.
Acknowledging our Spiritual Nature
Acknowledging
our spirituality helps us to find meaning in life, provides a foundation of our
values to guide us in the way we behave with self, others and the world around
us.
Spirituality is a way of facilitating a dialogue between
reason and emotion, between mind and body. Spirituality helps us grow and transform from our ego-centered material
self to an active, unifying, meaning-giving centre.
Spirituality
is about a transpersonal vision of goodness, beauty, perfection, generosity,
graciousness, and sacrifice. It hinges
on dignity for self and others and the foundation is true integrity. Love and compassion is its cornerstone.
Yet the 500
year Cartesian project promoting rational reductionist science has given many a
quality of material life and prosperity, but has left us with a life without
much meaning and little appreciation for the inherent goodness of what it means
to be human.
The
institutions that perpetuated this myth of man was formalized with Descarte’s
wisdom – “I think therefore I am” -
dividing the material and spiritual world, with science shaping the rational,
reductionist mind to accept the external world through the five senses on one
hand to the spirit, the humanities, art and the mysterious on the other.
This mastery
of the material half defined by money and power has created a competitive and reptilian world. This denies the modern
industrial human the wisdom of nature’s interconnected and interdependent
quantum universe, which is spiritual and mysterious.
So, we
continue on this treadmill of mindless conditioned thought and life, with our
egos driving us to consume more, as that defines our external success, yet deep
down questioning the meaning of all this stuff.
This has to
change if we are to find a meaningful transformation for this planet to sustain
it itself.
Getting to the Core
Making
a difference requires a shift in consciousness with individual leaders - a
transformation from a traditional, linear, task-oriented management to an
inspirational leader balancing intelligence with sensitivity to the human
condition and the environment through values and spiritual integrity. Then it becomes personal, human and close to
nature.
In a Guardian interview, Unilever’s Paul
Polman was critical of companies claiming their fiduciary duty to maximise
profits for shareholders in the short-term, arguing it a narrow a model of
Milton Friedman's old thinking.
If we focus our company on improving the lives of the
world's citizens and come up with genuine sustainable solutions, we are in
synch with consumers and society and ultimately this will result in good
shareholder returns - (Polman 2012).
This change in consciousness and behaviour is
not easy with the rational, reductionist worldview supported by education. A more holistic education, with a focus on
the complex-self as well as the external world from a young age will help in
the long run.
However, change is needed now and courageous
leaders like Polman are going against the grain. Among thousands of corporate leaders we count
few like him - Anita Roddick and Ray Anderson.
This is why adult learning programs on
leadership for sustainability like former Bath University MSc for
Responsibility and Business Practice and the Ashridge Business School’s
Responsible Business Masters are important.
In the book, Leadership for Sustainability edited by Judi Marshall, Gil Coleman
and Peter Reason (Greenleaf; 2011) who founded the original Bath University
program with Anita Roddick, pondered as they planned; “What gives people sense
of agency, resources, awareness, the approach and the crafts to practice to
take action in the service of a more environmentally sustainable and socially
just world?”.
They created a leading-edge course helping
participants to step outside and challenge current formulations of society and
business - as transformation requires knowledge, wisdom and courage to question
the status quo.
Sadly, both these programmes, which have
contributed over 500 mindful leaders are no more as it runs counter to the
corporate culture - when employees become ethical responsible managers and
holds their companies to account, it does not serve its profit motive.
MIT-Sloan School of Management’s Edgar Schein speaks of assumptions we make
based on values that are ingrained through long-term acceptance – this is the
way business is done – and how its contrarian when going against this
grain.
This is what Marshall, Coleman,
Reason and Roddick were trying to unhinge by designing the innovative course in
a traditional school of management to influence change through action-research
and self-reflective inquiry, mindfulness, systemic thinking, power and
diversity, acting with and against organizations and communities. Thus was born the concept of the “Tempered
Radical” who influences change from within.
This innovative MSc was transformative for
many, including myself and inspired new leaders to face the sustainability
challenge head on. Alumni are leading
the way in the sustainability space, but we need many more enlightened leaders to influence the corporate
world to transform.
Mindfulness and Spiritual Intelligence
Invoking this change is not complex. At an individual level, it requires a shift
in mindset to quieten the mind by focusing on the breath to reflect and accept
personal responsibility for our own words and action that may impact the world.
Mindfulness meditation through a focus on the breath has been practiced for over 5000 years as a way of
creating deep self awareness. Western
proponents such as Ekhart Tolle and Jon Kabat-Zinn have been promoters of
mindfulness bringing these practices to the mainstream.
As mindfulness practice helps people to
differentiate between thoughts and pure awareness or knowing. It makes the
distinction that thoughts may be loaded with emotional biases through past
conditioning as opposed to
awareness, which is the present – the unconditioned here and now, just as it
is.
This distinction enables us to put
stress, anxiety and other forms of mental pressure in perspective as they arise
from thoughts and feelings. When we
bring them to the conscious rational awareness through mindfulness, we may act with
clarity.
We can alter the perceptions by focusing on
the feelings and the reason for them to have manifested – a need met or not met
– which can move people from emotion to rational awareness in order to alter the
self talk – the rumination that perpetuates stress and anxiety.
By quietening the chatter of the conscious
mind through a mindfulness practice, we can reach the subconscious mind to
unhinge hardened narratives embedded in us – such us our competitive
nature, the material consumerist mind, our single minded focus on growth at any
cost and the lack of understanding of our interconnectedness with nature.
This may help us as business leaders to change our narrative to
become more ethical and open to consider options that are outside the paradigm
of profit at the cost of externalities – impact on health and well-being of
people, pollution and other harmful effects on the environment.
According
to Ricardo Levy, Chairperson of Catalytica Energy Systems, executives are
trained for action—contemplation is not part of their rulebook. In his own
career, he discovered the need for spiritual guidance in crucial
decisions. Levy's guidelines are:[v]
·
Quiet the mind.
·
Reach deep inside. Go beyond the ego to hear the
inner voice.
·
Don't fear ambiguity; rest in the unknown. "This is the
most
difficult piece," Levy admitted. "We're not
comfortable unless we see
the path."
·
Stay humble in the face of temptation and power.
"Being humble is a
key issue. It's good for a leader to be
reminded of the intoxication of
power."
This is a typical mindfulness practice which makes
a person
aware of what is going on within them and the surrounding
world. That alone helps one become more
responsible
and ethical, especially when faced with ethical and moral
dilemmas.
At the core, us humans have an
inbuilt nature for
empathy and sympathy for self and others and will become
aware of
consequences of one’s decisions and
actions. Mindfulness also brings about an awareness of the
entire eco-system of
cause and effect leading to impacts.
The UNGC articulates it’s 10 principles well
with guidance. Mindful awareness enables
us to quiet our
minds to really understand what they mean and then take
authentic action to making meaningful change in
corporations to create a better
world.
Spiritually intelligent business leaders
will go beyond the
benefit of good PR to make a real difference in the world to
meet its dire needs to develop the SDGs to create a fair, just
and a happy,
harmonious world for now and the future.
As I drove
from Cleveland the day after the El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio mass
shootings in August 2019, I had 8 hours of listening to
various radio stations from news, talk shows, Christian stations and every host
honed in on one question - “what can be done to avoid another shooting like
that?”.
