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Center for Spiritual Intelligence® Inc |
THE SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE®SM
ADVISOR
A monthly newsletter bringing you great ideas for spiritual development and
practical success!
Published by Yaacov J. Kravitz, Ed.D., © May 22, 2002, www.spiritutalintelligence.com *************************************************************************** IN THIS ISSUE:
Destructiveness,
Spirituality and Leadership.
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Enron,
Qwest, WorldNet, and now Xerox!! Corporate America has clearly lost its compass. Service,
community, honesty and plain old hard work have taken a back seat to the Gods of
Corporate Profit and “Me first.” Fortunately, many corporations are not
joining in the sad parade of business catastrophes that we have seen lately.
However, the disturbing news from corporate America must serve to caution us,
yet again, about what Eric Fromm, the great psychoanalyst, called the
"marketing character." The “marketing character” transforms
everything into a commodity. Things,
people, skills, knowledge, opinions, feelings, are all commodities from which
one may profit. The focus on profit
and commodities stands in contrast to interest in life, people, nature and
ideas. (See Fromm’s THE ANATOMY OF HUMAN DESTRUCTIVENESS for more on this
idea) In opposition to the indifference to life,
and fascination with the mechanical, Fromm observed that there is also a
widespread, normal, character impulse termed "biophilia” that expresses a
true love of life. This love of
life is seen in protests against greed, exploitation, pollution, waste and war.
Love of life is reflected in the attitude of individuals who strive to
find work that is meaningful and interesting, and rejects jobs that may be more
prestigious or financially rewarding.
While “biophilia” represents normal, positive growth, the
destructiveness of the "marketing character" is a pathological
expression of narcissism and a feeling of impotence that is overcome through
life negating acts of destruction. The “marketing character” is a common
figure on our TV screens. We are
all quite familiar with "road rage," "going postal," angry
teens, and our own impatience with people and problems that frustrate us in our
maddening drive to "get things done."
These problems are destined to destroy our society unless we develop more
ways to cultivate “biophilia” in our youth and accept the challenge of
spiritual leadership for ourselves.
SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP will vary from
"marketing leadership" in significant ways. Along with facilitating the achievement of a goal
(production, financial, or personal), spiritual leadership will strive to convey
and model spiritual values such as the sacredness of each life, mutual
responsibility, and the idea of service to a Higher Power.
Environmental and social sustainability are, for the spiritual leader,
important goals along with profitability, which is the sole concern for the
marketing leader. Practices that demonstrate love of life by not polluting, by
recycling resources and by supporting the social and economic life of local
communities are essential for sustaining life on this planet.
A spiritual leader will have a sense of awe
towards life that will find expression in feelings of gratitude and love for
life. A great spiritual leader will
be able to make these qualities transparent, sharing his or her love freely with
others. In order to prevent his
charisma from overwhelming others a spiritual leader will also have a solid
sense of his own ethical path and the limits and boundaries that must be honored
in dealing with others.
While caring deeply for each of his or her
followers the spiritual leader balances sensitivity with accountability.
When individuals make mistakes they are provided with opportunities to
correct their errors, to learn new skills and improve their performance.
Unlike the “marketing character” leader who may simply count up the
strikes against an individual and considers only how much the organization can
get out of the individual, the spiritual leader takes a deep interest in the
welfare and growth of every individual.
The spiritual leader makes the practice of
deeds of loving kindness an important part of her work.
Always wary that her own vision of success and efficiency has limits, she
takes time to consider alternatives suggested by her followers and to convey her
respect for them by listening attentively and treating them with dignity. Organizations can and do pursue goals such as sustainability along with profitability. Each of the spiritual leadership qualities referred to above is associated with one or more of the Skills and Abilities of Spiritual Intelligence described on the Spiritual Intelligence®SM web site. Visit www.spiritualintelligence.com to learn more about Spiritual Intelligence and the professional resources available to help you increase your leadership potential. In the coming months watch for our tele-conferences on Leadership, Spiritual Intelligence and other exciting topics. If
you would like to bring spirituality into your personal work or your
organization we can help.
Send an e-mail to yaacov@spiritualintelligence.com
briefly describing your goals and request a complimentary half hour
consultation. You can continue to
LEARN MORE about Spiritual Intelligence®SM by Reading
about Spirituality on our web site Becoming
part of our Spiritual Mentoring program
or Professional Coaching
program. ******************************************************************************** Please send us your
comments. Let us know if there is a specific topic you would like addressed in
this forum. ******************************************************************************** ABOUT YAACOV J. KRAVITZ,
Ed.D. Yaacov
Kravitz, a psychologist, certified pastoral counselor and coach, has spent 30
years working on the integration of spirituality and psychology. His favorite
personal spiritual practices include meditation, mindfulness, yoga, prayer,
chanting and study. He has developed a comprehensive program for learning the
skills of Spiritual Intelligence®SM
based on the ancient mystical teachings of the Kabbalah and the insights of
modern psychology. You
can contact Dr. Kravitz at yaacov@spiritualintelligence.com. ******************************************************************************** SUBSCRIPTION
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