Written by: Mira Taylor, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As someone who worked in both the corporate and government sides of the business world, as well as having spent a large amount of that time coming from project leadership and management positions, I am speaking from a place of personal experience when I say I understand how deeply the entire business world needs a spiritual overhaul. We’ll start with the simple matter of whether there is a willingness to accept the idea of the spirit of business in America in a real way. I state this because from my perspective it is abundantly clear that the business world needs to heal its spirit and the only way it’s going to do so is by a collective and genuine consensus on the acceptance that is has one. The spirit of American business is clearly exhausted on a macro level and it’s going to take some macro management style spiritually aware leadership to lift its heart again. One of the first steppingstones to this new and much healthier business world will be architected in the form of sincere efforts by existing leaders and business owners. These leaders will have a willingness to express and exude a sensible awareness and interest in developing spiritually enriching environments for daily life and work. These qualities will be showcased through a demeanor toward the idea of the business world existing from a more heartcentered and spiritualistic perspective. It will also be expressed in the way that these individuals choose to lead from a more mindful, adaptive, and divinely inspired space.
In all spiritual evolutions throughout human history there have been divinely inspired leaders who have answered a higher calling which they understood and intuited from within themselves. The truth is that every leader in the business world has this sacred gift innately available to them to hone. This is achieved by accepting the call to action of a spiritual centered purpose in their life and, especially, through their business endeavors. But before we discuss the more specific traits and qualities that these spiritually aware business leaders have, I think it’s important to set the tone for the existing “leadership” style being expressed in the present business world, at least from the perspective of someone who put in more than a few years exhausting my own spirit trying to change it. In doing so, I am hopeful to explain why and how the heart of the spirit of American business can be healed and adapted to the modern age through a spiritual evolution that is nurtured by a collective of faithfully inspired and inspiring business leaders.
Understanding the Existing Leader Archetype and Why It Isn’t “Working”
We’ve all met the “Leaders” of the existing business world and I don’t have to go into much detail for many of us to get a clear picture of this persona in our mind; they are an archetype all their own. They have a certain “way” about them. Why? Because they are the product of the existing unhealthy and spiritually neglectful business world model. There seems to be an oddly accepted understanding for the way in which these “leaders” look, think, behave, and speak. In the current spiritually unwell business world, these leaders have been led to believe that they need to act like someone else to be successful leaders who are able to “move-up” within corporate rank & file. The existing business world seems to actually be most busy with the practice of stamping out the spirits of the few genuine leaders they have available to them instead of encouraging a desire to truly embody authentic leadership. This is being accomplished by forcing potential leaders into narrowly defined “successful leadership” boxes that are ultimately forgetful of the true spirit of leadership. The true spirit of leadership is to be a self-defined and self-actualized Individual… to live and breathe a purpose… and to share a connection to that purpose with others through your leadership. One of the biggest dilemmas presently is that none of the boxes that get checked along the way to “successful leadership” allow for a personal sense of purpose within individual leadership styles. This subsequently stifles the spirit of the business as well as the spirits of those who work for the business entity. These highly programmed dispirited leaders, usually called managers or supervisors within corporate or governmental staffing structures, are also usually entirely lacking in a sense of genuine self-confidence or an availability of emotional awareness and connection to their team. In fact, it most often seems that these misdirected leaders are completely lacking in a connection to themselves. It’s important to note that it is fundamentally impossible to uplift and motivate the spirits of others if you give off the impression that you are lacking a connection to your own.
To further the issue, there is a sense of indifference present in many of these leaders and it can often be felt in the emotional and spiritual energy of the entire organization. This spiritually lacking atmosphere is usually most evident in the amount of emotional disengagement that many who work with these misdirected leaders tend to feel. There just always seems to be a shortage of emotional connection available with present leadership, because many of them have been trained to think that that kind of connection might make one too “soft” as a leader. This lack of “softness” (realistically a lack of nurturing) seems to have laid the groundwork for the spreading of this mindset of indifference which is rooted in an imbalance toward overly rationalistic and analytically driven initiatives and mindsets. While it is an important leadership quality to be able to remain levelheaded and impartial in the right moments, there should never be a space for indifference within leadership. This kind of indifference leads to a disconnection from the underlying essence and energies of the workplace and the spirit of the business industry as a whole. These are the very energies which spiritually minded business leaders appreciate, acknowledge, understand, and work with. Doing so allows one to properly alchemize in a way that allows one to connect to and work within the flow of these energies within the industry. Without this flow present and a genuine care and concern for sustaining and working with it – it is challenging for any business or any business leader to become and remain wholly successful in the truest sense.
One of the other fascinating features of the existing leadership archetype that I would like to address is attached to linguistic styles, or rather the language that has been indoctrinated to “motivate the room”. No matter how many of these motivational key words are sprinkled throughout meetings, without a genuine presence to them, they most often end up being deflating to the group rather than inspirational or motivating. If you have worked with or been trained on how to “speak like a leader” in any of these spaces long enough, you begin to notice a certain theme to the leadership language style. From this existing standard of leadership there seems to be a limited set of responses that are “allowed” to be used within business communications. There is even a certain tone with which they also seem to be instructed to deliver those phrases. These language styles are usually rooted from a place of distressing motivation in mottos like “We’re going to persevere and get it done!” or “Let’s get this challenge accomplished!”. It’s important to understand that the psychology behind this kind of language is really only ever effective at feeding an already unhealthy ego. Moreover, it is hardly capable of connecting to and nurturing or enriching each employee’s spiritual Self. It’s time for the business world to recognize the unique nature of each leader and allow these spirits to breathe and exist in a way which lets them burn brightly and share their divine spark with the those whom they are intended to lead.
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” – James Keller
I am hopeful that more leaders will adopt the concept of this quote as a sentiment and mantra for how they share and express their spirit in all aspects of their life. I wholeheartedly believe that the true nature of business is spiritually enriching, abundant, cooperative, and communally minded. I am hopeful that many of you who read this article will agree that it is a truth which we are all ready to actualize into the American business industry. To do so, the business world will need leaders who understand how to lead from a place of genuinely self-defined purpose, who have an ability to communicate and create conversations with an authentic heart-led rapport. While each of these leaders will be exceptional and distinct in their leadership styles, there are some core underlying character traits which will identify these leaders by the ways in which they conduct themselves and through the belief systems they hold.
They Care For Their Business And Employees As Spiritual Beings
It might seem obvious to say that leaders who answer the call of inviting spirituality back into business are going to be the kind of leaders who care about their own and others’ spiritual wellness. Nonetheless, it seems necessary to note and explain this characteristic. There will, of course, be companies and leaders who don’t take the true sentiment of spirituality in business to heart and who will continue to try and write rule books, training manuals, and policies, procedures which don’t truly speak to it. As an example, if you must take a mandatory training course on how to listen to your heart and be a more “spiritually centered employee”, I highly doubt you will go into that class with an open mind or heart to what is intended to be taught and gained from it. The truth is that a spiritually aware leader doesn’t need to force others to have an interest or to care for their own spiritual wellness. Such a leader brings this interest and quality out of employees and other leaders by speaking about their own spiritual needs and interests openly and without bias. In addition, they speak freely about what they feel are the spiritual needs and interests of the organization. They are willing to address these matters because they understand that the root of success for their company is planted in the hearts, minds, and spirits of the larger group that makes up the whole. If the larger group has harmony and balance or disharmony and imbalance, so too will the organization. These leaders also know that as a projective force and active influence within the company that spiritual wellness is a necessary and crucial area of understanding to develop. To be more specific, this doesn’t mean there will be a requirement for everyone to sit down, hold hands and sing “kumbaya” together before every meeting. What I mean is that these leaders are so well attuned to the energies of the room and the rapport of those within it that they are able to intuitively engage in implementing simple rituals and practices to create better synergy. By facilitating this synergy there are always more collaborative, effective, and inspired communications and results will always occur.
They Speak A Different Language
As already mentioned in the opening words of this article there is a certain linguistic style present in business and business leadership communications which just isn’t working. It preys on more detrimental emotional states such as fear, anxiety and a constant inducement of the fight or flight response. A spiritually aware leader speaks a totally different language and I’m not talking about a foreign one (although they often do that too). I’m talking about the language that is native to the human spirit. This is the language of wisdom and intuition that speaks eloquently and connects and inspires the room through symbolism, metaphor, and mythology. This language is the language of the soul and resonates and connects more deeply than pure logic, literalism and rationale could ever hope to induce from communications. This language can only be accessed and shared by someone who has done the work to understand the efficacy of its subtle and more individually subjective nature. Such leaders understand that by speaking in this sort of language it can be experienced on a more intuitive and personal level by those with whom they speak. Like the experience of a more abstract piece of art everyone hears the same words or metaphorically “sees the same painting” from this kind of language, but each individual is also able to have a unique connection to what it means and represents to them on a more personal and intuitive level. In this way one message is shared but limitless interpretations are possible. Because of their understanding of the true nature of this spiritually native language these leaders not only understand the wide range of interpretations which will result from this kind of rapport, but they welcome and value the vast spectrum of potentials which become available to the organization as a result of it. They know that when they speak with wise words more wonderful wisdoms are born and conceived from them in the minds of others. This leadership approach isn’t afraid to start a meeting with something like a Zen Kōan¹ to intentionally connect and open the minds of those present.
EXAMPLE: “Where can you soften to attain greater strength?”
They Work With And From A Place Of Love…
The spiritually aware leaders of the new business world think, speak, and act from a place of sincere love. They have open hearts and minds and are able to be vulnerable, empathetic, and emotionally engaged with the heart of their business, as well as with the hearts of those who work alongside of them. The spiritually aware leader is willing to truly love who they are, what they do, and why they do it as well as the people they work with who share in this endeavor. They feel driven by an affection for their lives and their businesses and are in turn called to share this understanding and love with those with whom they work in a way that affords these same moods, outlooks, and understandings to the group. Many of us know that love is a force that is incredibly powerful. In the business world the western business world especially, it seems that the existing understanding places love on the other end of the spectrum. This understanding implies that love is detrimental rather than as having a genuine benefit in business. Even as I write this portion of the article, I think about how bringing up an emotionally centered word such as love is something which I know will likely be met with many odd stares and probably some silent posturing in existing business environment. These are the same environments and individuals that hold beliefs like “Why would we love when there is work to do?”. The idea or belief that an emotion such as love could be the very thing which makes or breaks a business is considered totally absurd by many existing CEOs, executives, and industrialists. Developing new business beliefs such as an interest in supporting love in the workplace is why the business evolution needs to be a spiritual one. Many of the existing belief systems about how leaders are intended to “work” within the system are the reasons for the existing lack of love and unwellness present. A spiritually aware leader knows that these false and unloving belief systems are actively pushed by false and unloving idols of the business world. They understand that these beliefs are more interested in defining how business is “supposed” to work rather than in how business should work and how work should feel. A leader who loves is always trying to make their business and the spaces they work in feel more heart centered. They understand that when a business is heart centered it is able to act more intuitively and have more open communications. By leading with love these spiritually aware business leaders are also able to successfully create more fearless and efficient work environments. They know that the most beneficial quality of love lies in its wonderful ability to calm unnecessary or limiting fears which leads to sustainable success. Example: When there is less fear and more love exuded from the leaders of the organization everyone has any easier time communicating about more vulnerable subjects such as potential shortcomings and other issues which may arise through business endeavors.
Because of the approach of a loving leader these sorts of difficulties are able to remain “mole hills” instead of becoming potentially highly detrimental and energetically arduous “mountains” to climb. It was always amazing to me how many of these metaphorical mountains I had to climb together with other organizational members, when I was in a space that was lead from and bred a sense of fear and urgency. This was a leadership style that had basically no love present in the rapport. I am certain that many of these more difficult situations could have been avoided by a more loving leadership approach and workplace environment. In similar context, this is also the way in which a more loving leader understands how to exorcise the procrastinator in each of us. Such a leader understands that love will inspire each employee in a way that reminds them that they as individuals and the organization are totally capable of meeting any challenge while still having fun. When experiencing the leaders who lead from a place of love, the organizational members who work with them are also able to be connected to a deeper sense of who they are and the way they feel about the business they work for. When leaders speak from a place of love, they are able to create that love in others and build businesses where employees fall in love with what they do every day. The belief systems held by a spiritually aware leader are lovingly open to the idea that something like love not only has a place in the life of a successful business but that it is literally the heart and soul of what makes that business a spiritual and meaningful entity all on its own. If you find yourself reading this from a place that isn’t quite convinced yet of the importance of heart, love and soul within the business industry, I ask you to think about and answer the following questions:
How can a business have a healthy heartbeat or spirit if its leaders don’t sincerely believe that it has a heart and spirit to love?
How can a leader or business owner truly understand and be connected to the spirit and heart of their business through their own heart if they don’t love what they do and why they do it?
They Successfully Balance Pride And Humility
Let’s start this section off by diving a little more deeply into what it means to be proud in a spiritually healthy way. While it is true that egocentric pride embodies many harmful qualities and spiritually diminishing qualities, it’s important to understand that there is, in fact, a beneficial side and role for feeling and having a sense of pride in yourself and others. Having a sense and appreciation for the power of pride, when it is properly rooted in the heart, is an important part of mental and spiritual wellness. I’m starting this section off this way because many of us grow up with a subconscious definition of pride as an emotional quality that is “wrong”, “sinful” and(or) “selfish” and therefore push it away from our life and self entirely. There are many existing leaders in the business world who hold little to no pride in themselves and therefore don’t imbue a sense of pride in their work, the work of others or the organization(s) which they are supposed to lead and represent. From a mental health perspective, not being able to be proud of your Self often grows into an inability to own and accept a healthy sense of your own significance and that you deserve to be proud of your own and others’ accomplishments and talents. I am certain that if you take the time to think about it, you will have an innate understanding of what it feels like when you aren’t able to feel proud of who you are, what you do for a living, or of the intentions and principles of the organization and leaders with and whom you work for. As a business leader having a spiritually healthy and heart-centered sense of pride allows you to own and acknowledge how much of an impact you make and create in the world. It is truly the emotion of pride that is most useful to us as individuals, leaders, and collaborative entities. A healthy sense of pride allows us an ability to appreciate and understand that our actions and purpose matter and that in that purpose we make the world a better place. The world and spirit of the American business industry is most assuredly included. I have high hopes that one day all American workers can be proud of themselves as active and integral members of the American Business Industry. It seems that a more collective, healthy, and spiritually enriching sense of pride is what is needed most to uplift the heart and spirit of American business, as well as the businesses and organizations within.
Now that we have established an understanding of a spiritually healthier sense of pride within business and business leadership, we can begin to discuss the character trait of humility. Humility must be equally present within a leader to be able to properly balance their pride towards a sense of dignity. It is easy for a spiritually aware leader to be proud of their own and their organization’s accomplishments without coming across as being pejorative, derogatory, close-minded, or egocentric. For example, a spiritually aware leader might balance their pride and humility harmoniously by their ability to be proud of an organizational member’s confidence to speak up intuitively within meetings or to have a willingness to question the ideas of leaders. Because of the balance they have within themselves they are able to be open to and appreciative of the perspective given without holding a sense of offense to it. In the balance of their pride and humility they hold the dignity to appreciate the value of this sort of rapport and what it stands as evidence to regarding the openness from individuals within the organization. The sense of dignity that is created and projected by the successful and mindful balance of these two seemingly opposite characteristics within leadership creates space for other individuals to have and to hold a sense of dignity about themselves as well. Without dignity in leadership there is a lack of intuitive inner understanding of “worth” from the leader, whether that be self-worth, business worth or group worth. It’s pretty much an impossible task to hold value as an individual or a business if you don’t have the dignity to define it for your Self from a place that is appreciated by both your pride and your humility. Spiritually aware leaders who have this harmonious balance might be described by others as the “quiet, confident kind”. It’s not that they don’t have things to say, but rather that they have enough of a sense of humility to observe the conversations and environment at hand before they come to a place of feeling it’s the right moment to speak. These types of leaders also project such a sense of dignity about themselves, at a spiritually energetic level, that it is truly their more quiet and observant natures which attracts attention to them in a room. These leaders don’t have to make a fanfare to be noticed in business and organization settings as their very state of being naturally draws awareness in in a way that feels connective and inviting instead of required or authoritarian.
They Develop & Embody Their Maternal & Feminine Attributes
The maternal archetype and feminine principalities need to be openly invited into spaces like board rooms and business meetings and be given a proper respect and voice in the business world. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not everyone needs to experience the warm embrace and the nurturing and supportive voice of their “Mother”. The business world and those who work and lead within it are no different. The truth is that right now most of the business world has only made room for a rather toxic form of masculinity to be the way in which leaders present and conduct themselves regardless of their gender. This unhealthy and unbalanced overly masculinized expression ironically comes across as a being akin to the type of persona which exists as a result of the sort of arrested development which occurs for a child who never got to experience the love and support of a mothering figure. Just as children need to experience a balance of the maternal and paternal archetypal forces in their lives to be raised in a healthy and nurturing way, so too does a business need to be provided with access to these feminine and maternal archetypal principal forces. These feminine and maternal forces should present in a way that balances and creates space for a healthy paternal or masculine archetype and expression to be achieved also. Spiritually aware business leaders understand that regardless of physical gender expression that consciousness and the spiritual self can and should be balanced across these archetypal feminine and masculine principles to be wholly healthy.
FEMININE PRINCIPLES OF CONSCIOUSNESS: EMPATHY, INTUITION, IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY, COMPASSION, HOLISTIC THOUGHT, STILLNESS, PATIENCE, FORTITUDE, SAFETY, VULNERABILITY, AUTHENTICITY, ARTISTRY, SYMBOLIC THOUGHT, REFLECTIVE, NURTURING
MASCULINE PRINCIPLES OF CONCIOUSNESS: STRUCTURE, DISCERNMENT, TECHNICALITY, DISCIPLINE, ANALYTIC THOUGHT, ASSERTIVENESS, DEFINING, SPECIFIC, STEADINESS, FUNCTIONALITY, INTENTION, RESPONSIVE, IMPELLING
It is through the balanced union of the maternal/ feminine and paternal/ masculine attributes within the mind and heart of a spiritually aware leader that allows a business to be raised to its fullest and most brilliant potential. Without the maternal and feminine forces available to business leaders as a way for them to perceive, exist within, access, and express through themselves, it is rather difficult to be able to properly embody or evoke any of the qualities of the healthy expression of the paternal and masculine within us either. A spiritually aware business leader is not only unafraid of letting their maternal and feminine aspects express, but they are intentional about developing and cultivating this part of themselves as a balanced part of their total expression. This means that they actively make time for and hold space for things such as intuition and instinct, not only in their own mind and life and through business but in a way that invites others within the organization to engage these principles within themselves more often. This is achieved by making room for things like a sense of play, daydreaming and by promoting more free form spaces for personal creativity within the workday for every organizational member. This is because the feminine side of each of us is concerned with caring for and preserving an ability to remain a kid at heart and to have space to express that sense of yourself through your work. These more enlightened leaders ask questions like “does anyone have any instinctual feelings about this project?” or “Does anyone have any intuitive ideas about how we can make this meeting most successful?”. These leaders also hold a more maternal understanding of business which wants to instill a familial comradery and sense of “home” in the workplace via their communications and approach with the organizational members. They have an understanding that by balancing the feminine and the masculine within themselves that they are able to create a sense of structure for the organization which feels sheltering instead inhibiting or confining. Remember that old saying “home is where the heart is.”? It’s nearly impossible to be an authentic leader in business, or truly feel “at home” in the business world until there is a willingness to put heart into business and love the business in the way a mother would. Allegorically this type of structure is very similar to the way parents would approach running a healthy household; each family member is assigned certain roles that they fulfill individually and within these roles and responsibilities there is a supportive, nurturing, cooperative, and encouraging dynamic created. A spiritually aware leader knows how to affectively understand and implement this type of synergy in the workforce through a sense of being both a maternal and paternal influence in the right moments.
All of this said, I have no intention of laying waste to the idea of the paternal or masculine principles and ideologies being present in the business world with this article. In fact, I am hoping to reawaken a healthier masculine energy and paternal archetype within the American business industry by making the initiation of the feminine and maternal a priority within leadership development. The existing unbalanced and unhealthy masculine energies that are present within the current leaders of the business world seem to have lost touch with the idea that there is intended to be a kind, connective, and gentle side to the way in which business is conducted. By these leaders actively prioritizing an intentional expression of the maternal and the feminine allows for the healthier paternal and masculine energies to exist within the business also. This means having leaders who aren’t afraid to let the “mother” in them take the lead in more conversations. The way that the masculine mind approaches communication is very different from the feminine in that, if left unchecked, it can become dogmatic, inflexible, and overly concerned with things like data analytics and trying to avoid or evade risk in a way that is limiting to the success of the business. There is a reason that the saying “no risk, no reward.” has been around for a long time in business. Without the more believing, *irrational and encouraging feminine principalities and mindsets to balance the masculine mind’s concern for avoiding risk there isn’t much space left for growth or for organizational members to allow their intuition and instincts to provide valuable wisdoms toward actionable solutions for the business.
They Live And Lead With Guiding Principles Instead Of Rules
A spiritually aware and minded leader isn’t interested in coming across as someone who is telling others what to do and how to be. That said, they don’t have a desire to carelessly throw out the rulebook either; they just understand that people would rather be guided in all parts of their lives instead of feeling limited by a sense of what they are told they can and cannot do. The spiritually aware leader who works with guiding principles is ultimately trusting of their employees’ abilities to appreciate and connect to the guiding principles of the business because they are congruent with these principles themselves. By staying aligned with these principles themselves they are easily able to trust that in doing so, their employees will feel called to align with and believe in these principles also.
Guiding principles feel uplifting, supportive, and mindful of the nuances of behaviors within individuals. Leaders who lead from a place rooted in guiding principles don’t force or enforce but instead look to show the way to others by “being the change they wish to see in the world”. The principles these leaders create and implement also have a clear sentiment of intention for being spiritually enriching instead of coming across as repressive. There is a reason that so many employees feel more scared of the rules than they do protected by them in the modern business world. Guiding principles on the other hand, are intended to have a sense of security and hopefulness to them. As a priority of purpose these principles are meant to be something that leadership holds and uses as an active spiritual rapport and connection across the business and amongst those who work there. Many of us have been or have seen the employees who rebel against the sense of rules and policies placed upon them because it makes them feel as though they aren’t allowed to even take the lead in their own life as human beings. In opposite effect, guiding principles allow for individual interpretations and expressions and are appreciated as a guiding force and intention within the business or organization that feels collaborative and personal to each individual. The truth is that most people feel “herded” and boxed in by overcomplex business policies and procedures. I know I have worked for at least one governmental organization that needed an entire room dedicated to the policy and procedure manuals and codes of conduct (aka “rule books”) that were intended to be upheld at all times. Even thinking about that room existing was spiritually exhausting to me as a member of and leader within the aforementioned, organization. This is the opposite of the sentiment which is intended to be understood by a set of guiding principles. Spiritually aware guiding principles are shaped by an interest in a shared sense of purpose and don’t hold space for the egocentricities of establishing a sense of hierarchy. If anything, spiritually aware leaders use their guiding principles as a way to become more connected to the individuals that make up their organization, not to separate or pedestal themselves above others through autocratic rules.
They Appreciate The Invaluable Worth Of Simplicity Over Complexity
Spiritually aware leaders have done the work within themselves to become and express a solution-centered mindset. This mindset looks for simplicity in each arena of life, including within business practices and leadership styles. One of my own personal favorite quotes from Einstein that I wish more leaders would appreciate is that “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t know it well enough.” The current business world is sick with a sense of complexity because it has become too egoic and feeds itself with an unhealthy diet of needing to feel affirmed and aggrandized by its ability to create and cope with complexities and problems. The reality is that we are ALL mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from this mindset and leadership style. Spiritually centered individuals and leaders understand that there is always a simple solution available and make a point of focusing and motivating the group with that mindset on a regular basis. These leaders also understand that you can have, implement, and appreciate solutions in the workplace and business settings without having to find or create a “problem” that necessitated it. The idea that any business would seek for or create problems as a way to keep operations running (anything but smoothly, I might add) seems funny, doesn’t it? It is, however, the unfortunate truth that the majority of the business world operates and sets its initiatives and practices from a place rooted in seeing problems instead of solutions. The current spirit of business has been blinded and suffocated by its obsession with complexity; it needs an air of ease breathed back into it to have its senses reawakened. This can only be done through the approachability of simplicity as a guiding principle that is actualized by leaders who intentionally create and embody simplicity within the business and organizational settings. These leaders will accomplish this by having a willingness to ask for and set the framework for simpler and solution-centric ideologies and policies within the smaller and larger frameworks of their businesses & organizations.
A spiritually aware leader simply trusts that any established set of simpler, solution oriented guiding principles will be properly implemented by the individuals and groups of the larger organizational entity. These leaders aren’t obsessed with or evenly slightly interested in the complexity of constantly tracking, controlling, and analyzing everything as evidentiary proof of their and their organizations productivity, worth and(or) success. Instead, these leaders simply create an intentional balance between the dreams of their business and the individuals who work there while keeping in mind how and when analysis can support those dreams toward manifestation and actualization. Instead of letting overly rationalistic and reductionist numbers complicate and define the business or organization in a way that takes away the heart of their success, these leaders choose to define their success from a simplified and spiritually correspondent perspective. These leaders simply understand that success and how successful you appreciate yourself to be is Self-defined and doesn’t require complex numbers or data analytics to be understood as genuine and true.
They Understand That True Equality Requires Diversity
Diversity is one of those hot button words within most businesses and organizations. It’s important that we start by accepting the highly unhealthy and trivializing way in which diversity is currently being managed and defined within the majority of the business industry. In the present mindset of the industry, most leaders and businesses are only interested in creating a sense of diversity that is justified as a marketable datapoint for them. This standard is, unfortunately, set in the superficial idea of indifferently fulfilling a numeric idea of diversity. This idea of diversity is also generally overly complex and objectifying to the individual. A spiritually aware leader understands that diversity is not merely about race, gender, age, and(or) other objectifying physical attributes that are too often measured for the sake of proving diversity within an organizational model. Instead, these leaders have a strong appreciation for and understanding of the importance and genuine value of things like diversity of thought and self-expression within the organizational environment. These leaders instead look at diversity as a way to create a healthy balance and harmony within their business instead of as something they have to do to prove diversity through unfeeling facts and figures. While numbers and analysis are wonderful tools to assess how successful a business or organization is at cultivating an organic level of diversity, these figures shouldn’t be the driving force behind things such as the hiring process or what the human resources department ends up doing with most of their time. A spiritually and energetical aware sense of diversity also allows for a freer communication and is interested in the development of each member’s willingness to be more intuitive, artistic and holistic-minded, a mindset that has been proven to create some of the most successful and inventive concepts within businesses.
When a leader wants to cultivate this sense of diversity within the workplace, they are less concerned with filling an objectifying quota and are more concerned with how expansive they can make the spectrum of potential for the total mind and spirit of the business. This diversity is established in the collective diversity of the minds and expressions of each of their organizational members. Because these leaders appreciate the kind of diversity that creates more open-mindedness and individuality amongst the organizational members, they are able to have a better understanding of the necessary structures required for a healthy balance of the diversity needed for the success of the organization as a whole. The balance of this diversity doesn’t appear at a purely objective or physical level but at a spiritual and energetic one. It is easy to recognize these kinds of leaders by their abilities to observe a particular team or department and how they will have an intuitive sense of the types of personalities and energies that might be missing from that space that would help diversify it. This intuitive engagement is the way in which these leaders allow themselves to be concerned with fulfilling and enacting a spiritually healthy sense of diversity within the organization. These leaders judge diversity through a sensible understanding of not just the way it “looks” but by the way, it “feels” to have a healthy level of diversity across all levels of the business. They recognize authentic diversity as a representation of the wellness of their business or organization and are willing to be consciously responsible for understanding what the present types of diversity fulfillment mean about their existing leadership style. This is to say that diversity should be able to exist at a functional and energetic level and not just be recognized as how the business is proficient at scrutinizing employees by defining, assessing, and “valuing” or viewing them from a place that is purely about their surface identity or physical attributes.
They Motivate By A Sense Of Purpose Instead By Pressure
Spiritually aware leaders understand that there is more than one kind of stress or pressure in business environments. In psychology, there are two forms of stress that we experience as humans, which are defined as distress and eustress. Distress is the form of stress that most of us have come to understand through experience and that we often confront in new forms during our time in the workplace. In fact, and unfortunately, many business leaders lean into and attempt to motivate through language and initiatives that are intended to create a sense of distress. There seems to be an unhealthy belief or understanding in the American business industry that fear, urgency, and a survivalist sense of necessity is the way to “get things done” or “up production.” The reality is that the approach of attempting to motivate through fear-based pressures actually has quite the opposite effect. It places individuals into states of consciousness that think from the more reactive centers of the brain (our neo limbic system) and create spiritual withdrawal within the individual and consequently within the total work atmosphere. This sort of distressing pressure promotes a mentally, physically, spiritually unhealthy, and diminishing energetic ecosystem within the workplace. This type of energetic ecosystem is inherently less likely to be inventive, cooperative, mindful or to have genuine vision for the future at any level of the organization. Within this sort of environment, it is also almost impossible to be genuinely successful due to the lack of spiritual or energetic sustainability. It’s also the sort of environment that increases employee burnout, turnover rates, bad word of mouth, and the amount sick days organization members end up utilizing due to unnecessary levels of stress and anxiety.
On the other hand, a spiritually aware leader understands the concept of eustress. Eustress is a form of stress that allows us to engage with a sense of what many people in the modern world refer to as a flow state. A flow state is a state of consciousness that allows for a sense of fluidity between body and mind and between the conscious and subconscious in a way that allows one to be totally absorbed by and deeply focused on something beyond the point of distraction. More specifically, eustress and flow states are made accessible through beneficial emotional experiences such as when one is feeling inspired or inventive, when someone feels connected to something greater than themselves, feeling challenged by initiatives but not overwhelmed, and feeling symbiotically rewarded by the projects and assignments that are worked on. This sort of motivation is made possible by leadership genuinely bonding with the individuals who make up the organization in such a way that there is an appreciation across all levels of the business allowing each individual to feel personally successful and valuable through the work they perform. These types of leaders are far more concerned with the idea of purpose fulfillment for the individual and the larger business entity than they are with the idea of thinking about what pressure is needed to be created for things to get done.
Instead of performance reviews, spiritually aware leaders evaluate factors like the level of connection and interest each member has from a place that is centered in understanding and having awareness of the personal motivations that exist for each of their members. This doesn’t mean that these leaders have to meet with and hear the more personal intentions of every individual who works within the business. More so, this type of leader understands ways to implement a sense of consideration within all levels of leadership across the organization that promotes a sense of interest in the amount of connection and cooperation each individual feels toward the overarching sense of purpose for the business. This means that the spiritually aware leader’s sense of motivation is rooted in a desire to understand whether the work individual members are doing feels congruent to not only the principles, purpose, and interests of the business but also that individual member. These leaders understand and fully appreciate the value of the healthy and sustainable levels of productivity that occur when organizational members have a personal sense of purpose that feels as though it is constantly able to be fulfilled with the work that they perform on a daily basis. These leaders also understand that when the individuals that make up their organization feel a sincere and authentic connection between individual purpose and organizational purpose that these individuals are far more likely to retain a sense of Self-motivation that requires little to no energy and attention from leadership to maintain.
They Change The Way You Experience Time
If you were to ask the average American worker whether or not they feel like they have an enjoyable and beneficial relationship with time, the majority of them would probably tell you that the clock on the wall feels more like a prison warden than it does a friend. Spiritually aware leaders don’t concern themselves with the authoritarian tendencies of trying to force everyone in the organization to work on chronological time except when absolutely necessary. Because of their intuitive awareness these leaders don’t worry about ensuring that every employee shows up to work at a certain time, works a certain number of hours, or with the way in which their employees use and manage their own time whether at work or at home. These leaders understand that when a proper flow is established in the workplace their only role is to learn how to get out of the way it by letting go of trying to control that flow as their own or as an extension of their ego, especially through things like their approach with time management. Spiritually aware leaders let themselves appreciate the pure synchronistic and subconsciously coordinated nature of time; rather they understand the gift of the present moment and that this gift can often be taken away by trying to enforce a more controlling sense of time within Self or over others.
The type of time that spiritually aware leaders exist on and share with their organizational members is the type of time that Greek philosophers referred to as Kairos time. Kairos represented a version of time that was about understanding how one can work with and through time instead feeling subject time. Psychologist Carl Jung spoke explicitly on the concept of Kairos time (also known as synchronistic or divine time) as a spiritual wisdom of present self-awareness which understands the connectiveness of things. This connectedness is the underlying order that our conscious mind doesn’t always seem to be able to appreciate the proficiency of and, unfortunately, often perceives as disorderly from a more basal state of consciousness. It’s important to understand that a leader needs to be intentional about the development and understanding of this type of time within the organization to be able to truly set free the intuitive and fluid tendencies of the latent spiritual energies that are present within the business. These spiritual energies are connected and appreciated through the time shared by the individuals who make up the business organization. These are literally the kind of leaders who will ask their organizational members how they would currently describe their relationship with time during working hours and what kinds of changes these employees would like to implement in the business setting to create a better feeling about the organization’s relationship with time. These leaders fully appreciate that time is truly one of the most precious gifts we are able to experience as spiritual entities in any lifetime or form. They recognize that any leader who tries to control and dictate the utilization of this gift by micromanaging time is someone who truly just doesn’t understand the kind of leadership that this world really needs and wants to be able to grow an evolve in a healthy way.
They Are Connective And Cooperative – Not Competitive
Spiritually aware business leaders understand the inherently abundant nature of creation and trust in the belief that as long as they nurture, listen to and remain connected with the heartbeat of their company they will be able to establish wholly healthy and sustainable growth. If you spend any time in nature you have an awareness of the amount of abundance it really does produce. When you look at an apple tree for example, or even simply an apple you can see that just one fruit from the tree often bares the ability for even more fruitfulness, such as becoming 5-6 new trees that have the capacity to bare many more fruits. Of course, the only way this is possible is if you are willing to put in the time and effort to save and plant these seeds and also have the patience, commitment, and interest to tend to them properly. This is also why spiritually aware leaders appreciate the value of cooperation over competition; they understand that nature and, therefore our own spiritual nature is far more cooperative and abundant than it is competitive and lacking. This type of leader has consciously accepted that in cooperation there are always mutual and exponential successes and benefits that result from these collaborative ventures. This is an insight gained from understanding the true nature of the natural larger ecosystem we all inhabit (business or otherwise). They also understand that the market is usually a more favorable place then they have been made to believe by their predecessors. Many hardened business leaders have left an egocentrically voiced idea of things being difficult behind them by having repeatedly articulated this sentiment into the ears and minds of their successors and staff. Voices and phrases about how hard they had to work for their money and about how many hours a day they put in with the intent of aggrandizing themselves within the workforce can be remembered clearly by those now working in the modern business industry. These sentiments and the personas that embody them have spawned a sort of generational trauma within the business industry.
A spiritually aware leader is far more interested in how they can create flow and connectivity amongst the spirits of their employees, their own spirit, and the spirit of the business. They don’t waste time looking for ways to pedestal or rank themselves against the other businesses and leaders in their market because they would much rather learn from and(or) be inspired by them. These leaders understand that being able to look at others from a viewpoint of inspiration and self-aware observation is always going to create more beneficial outcomes than if they see others through the eyes of envy, comparison, and competition. This kind of leader doesn’t act forcefully in business but is instead intentional about learning how to connect with and comprehend the energetic language and dynamic flow of the energies that underlie every business and the industry as a whole. In this sense, these leaders are often able to see and experience what others do not. This sort of vision doesn’t come from looking at data projections or algorithms and deciding what those numbers mean about your rankings as compared to others within the industry; instead, this vision is born from an intuitive and instinctual sense of the entire business ecosystem which they inhabit and share with others. The embodiment of this sort of cooperativity and interest in establishing connection allows these leaders to act more like architects and alchemists of the industry than behaving as mere players within it.
To Whom It May Concern – Are You Ready To Answer The Call?
Now that we’ve defined the quiddity of what makes a spiritually aware leader (by discussing the comprehensive aspects of their characteristic traits and how they are embodied) let's close out by appreciating the ways in which these leaders will answer the call to lead the spiritual revolution for the American business industry and most successfully achieve this goal together. I want to make a point of stating and speaking to the concept of this sort of unity as a necessary construct of the various aim that these leaders will be working toward. Without the fulfillment of this more macro-aware and united approach along with a sense of cooperation embodied within the larger industry as a whole, it becomes a far more difficult task for these evolutions to be felt and understood at the micro level of the business world; this is the level of the individual and the level that matters most. One of my deepest hopes for this article is for it to act as a call to action for those who read it. I know that the interests in this sort of leadership and a spiritually rooted revolution within American business are concepts and considerations that many of us are hoping for. Hope is a wonderful thing and I would invite each reader to appreciate that when there is a sense of hope for something present, it is an invitation to be the change you wish to see in the world. The truth of the universe is that all things, literature included, come to us for a reason. If you are reading this article, I trust that you will appreciate that your spirit is aligning you with this information in the interest of igniting you to a greater sense of purpose – not just in business but in life.
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Mira Taylor, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Mira Taylor is an Integrative Therapist, Subconscious Medium & Organizational Wellness Consultant who focuses on guiding clientele toward total wellness by combining concepts of psychology, spirituality, philosophy, and sustainable life practices. Mira is a member of the International Association of Therapists and master certified in Modern Applied Psychology, Cognitive Remodeling Therapy, Subconscious Integration Therapy, Mind-Body-Spirit Wellness, Wellness Linguistics, and Archetypal Psychology.
Resource References and Inspiration Credits:
[1] A riddle or puzzle Buddhist monks work with to help unravel greater truths about the world and about Self
Rabbi Simon Jacobson – “A Meaningful Life Center: 7 Weeks to a Better You – Leadership”
Andrew Wallace – Business Alchemy: Exploring the Inner, Unseen Dynamics of the Business
Dan Millman – The Laws of Spirit: A Tale of Transformation, Powerful Truths for Making Life Work
Elizabeth Prophet – Your Seven Energy Centers: A Holistic Approach to Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Vitality
