‘Spiritual intelligence’ or ‘spiritual IQ’ (SQ) helps you live a life of wisdom, compassion and authentic leadership. It’s the focus of a new book, SQ 21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence, by Cindy Wigglesworth, a corporate consultant who worked for almost two decades at ExxonMobil before forming her own company in 2000.
The four intelligences
Wigglesworth says leaders need four intelligences to optimise their personal and organisational performance: IQ, emotional intelligence (interpersonal skills), physical intelligence (taking care of the body) and spiritual intelligence.
Spiritual intelligence is the ability to behave with wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace, regardless of the situation. It enables you to shift from the perspective of your ego-activated self and see and act from your higher self or nobler nature.
Why SQ matters
SQ makes people better leaders by enabling them to see things from the perspective of the people and groups they interact with, so that they can make wiser and more compassionate decisions.
The benefit is that they are more likely to find solutions that work in the longer term. Ego, on the other hand, tends to be defensive and self-focused. It creates more tension and fewer successful solutions.
Organisational benefits
SQ is important because making decisions that consider just your own financial compensation or just the shareholders’ gets you sub-optimal results in the long term, says Wigglesworth. Some CEOs and executives may get short-term gains and then hit the road, taking their large bonuses with them.
But as companies get more sophisticated boards and shareholders, the focus will have to shift to holding a longer-term view that preserves the equity value of the company, the long-term earning potential of the company and – crucially – does not destroy relationships with other stakeholders.
