The Bandjoun nomad

Spiritual Intelligence  is one of the latest buzzwords in the leadership field. It is increasingly recognised that leaders not only need emotional intelligence but also spiritual intelligence. Depending on how we define spiritual leadership, it can be seen as a crucial component of authentic leadership necessary to cope with a dramatically changing world constantly threatened by toxic behaviour. In essence, spiritual intelligence is the quest for better understanding of two key foundation principles of authentic leadership: The inner self : The quest for self-knowledge is a crucial component of inner peace and confidence. Such inner peace is the foundation of authentic behaviour that is not corrupted by compliance with fears, doubts and the corrupted opinion of others. The inner self is a world of self-discovery where the age old question is asked: Who am I? It is the world of seeking after the divine heritage that beats in our souls. The inner self is where we find the c...

Recently I tweeted this quote by Billy Graham: “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. When character is lost, all is lost!” I then added: “We CAN’T escape this truth: A country, organization almost always reflects the character of its leader, in some way!” The retweets were phenomenal! One can therefore assume leaders agree with this important statement. Lately we have discussed the types of questions leaders ask . Building on that we now throw out a couple of questions to prompt your thinking around this all important topic – does an organization, entity, team or country reflect the character of its leader? In our newsletter next week we will expand with specific and important views by a Leadership Platform panel that included Professor Theo Veldsman from the University of Johannesburg, Opinion leader and change maker Rich Simmonds, Advocate Dali Mpofu and Louis Groenewald. So we can ask ourselves further questions. For example: Does the EFF ...

To be sure everyone knows what they're responsible for, you need to assign one of these four roles to every employee in every project. Image credit: Hero Images | Getty Images Reader Resource Apply now to be an Entrepreneur 360™ company. Let us tell the world your success story. Get Started » The following excerpt is from Riaz Khadem and Linda Khadem’s book  Total Alignment . Buy it now from  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  IndieBound When determining accountability within your company, there are two groups that should be held responsible. First, process indicators should be pushed down to the lowest appropriate level. This gives the power to act to the right person, thus empowering all levels of employees. In many organizations, decisions are made at the wrong level, sometimes several levels removed from the person whose action can impact the indicator. This not only creates confusion but distracts teams from meeting their individual goals. ...

Some types of criticism are more valuable than others. Image credit: Shutterstock Danielle Harlan Founder and CEO of the Center for Advancing Leadership and Human Potential Reader Resource Apply now to be an Entrepreneur 360™ company. Let us tell the world your success story. Get Started » Whether you’re an aspiring leader or a seasoned senior executive, it’s unlikely that you’ve gotten this far without experiencing at least some (if not a whole lot of) criticism from people you know and work with. In over a decade of working with leaders and managers across a variety of organizations and roles, I’ve observed that one of the key factors that distinguishes the most successful leaders is their ability to identify and leverage high quality criticism to push their work forward -- and to tune out and even ignore the rest. Related: Tell It Like It Is: Radical Candor Is the Feedback Method Your Startup Needs Sounds good, right? But, how do you make it happen? The answer i...

Once you have a vision statement in place, find out how to choose the right indicators that will determine if you're meeting those goals on a daily basis. Image credit: Pinkypills | Getty Images The following excerpt is from Riaz Khadem and Linda Khadem’s book Total Alignment . Buy it now from  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  IndieBound To measure your company’s vision requires a deeper understanding of what the words that you use to define it really mean. You’ll need to dig a little deeper to make sure that everyone has the same understanding of each key phrase, so try to consult with key staff and reach a consensus about those meanings. Related:  Vision Statements: Why You Need One and How to Create One Next comes defining the right indicators that measure progress towards vision. Let’s look at one common vision statements as an example: “outstanding value to customers.” How can this statement be measured? How do you know when it’s achi...

Einstein once said, [the human being] experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. It's quite obvious that we don't always see our circle of influence in that manner. So one must really think about their place on this Earth. One can potentially walk down the road, see someone struggling or hurt yet have a preconceived idea of that person's demeanor or that person's threat and the feelings that go with it. So through that process one runs away from the obvious where the obvious being that a person is hurt and needs your help. Now we live in the country here in South Africa that encourages awarenes...

An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin. Proverbs 29:22 How do I keep from sinning when I am angry? That is the challenge given in Ephesians 4:26, which says, “Be angry, and do not sin” (nkjv). King Solomon echoes the same sentiment in Proverbs 29 when he reminds us that a hot temper can lead to many kinds of sin. We’ve all seen evidence of that, whether the sin is hurtful, cutting words; physical violence; or reckless behavior. There is a better way. Yesterday we looked at the first step for handling anger in a positive way: Consciously acknowledge to yourself that you are angry. Today we look at step two: Restrain your immediate response. Don’t jump to action; think. Most of us follow the patterns we learned in childhood, and those patterns tend to cluster around two extremes—verbal or physical venting on the one hand, or withdrawal and silence on the other. Both are destructive. How do you change these patterns? How do you restrain your immediat...