The Undercurrent of Success: Spiritual Quotient
August 15, 2015 | Written by Sree Ravela
Image by Galactic Nikita
Most corporate leaders know about the physical, intelligence, and emotional quotients of human potential. While it’s important to consider these metrics for an individual to experience success, I’d like to share my observations about the importance of an undercurrent quotient—the spiritual quotient (SQ) for sustained success.
Physical Quotient (PQ) refers to how you choose to carry yourself. This is measured by the level of effort you put into your outward appearance, unrelated to physical attributes outside of your control. In simple words, PQ is about how you want to portray yourself.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) measures cognitive abilities like learning, reasoning, and problem-solving. IQ is not necessarily something that God automatically bestows upon all individuals at birth or simply a result of genetics. Research shows that individuals can enhance each of these intelligence faculties, though some may improve more readily in one intelligence area than another. Ultimately, IQ is all about how you think.
Emotional Quotient (EQ) deals with one’s developed ability to handle both intrapersonal and interpersonal matters. In today’s world, stress is inevitable, but how do you manage it? EQ is all about how you react.
The Spiritual Quotient
The spiritual quotient informs spiritual awareness—a combination of IQ and EQ. As much as one strives to achieve success, eventually, being able to manage success becomes challenging. We’re most familiar with accounts of people enjoying success in their lives with the right blend of PQ, IQ, and EQ. But in order to enjoy sustained success, you must also factor in the SQ.
Most people attribute spirituality to religion, but profoundly religious people don’t necessarily possess higher SQ—atheists often carry higher SQ levels than their religious counterparts. Conscious efforts can enhance SQ levels, regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof.
Behaviors of High SQ Individuals
Whether you subscribe to a particular faith or not, managing success becomes easier when we exhibit spiritually sound behaviors. People with higher SQ values than others often display these traits.
Clear vision/foresight
Holistic thinking
Improved self-awareness
Improved personal value system (e.g., ethics and morals)
Courage to challenge conventional thinking
Adaptability and flexibility
Photo by Ashely Batz
Self-awareness is a key driver in effective leadership. Leaders benefit from making intentional attempts to improve their self-awareness. In the corporate world, analytical tools like the DISC profile are often used to evaluate personality assessment.
Strong leaders develop the courage to accept mistakes, solicit regular feedback, identify blind spots, and aim for continuous improvement. Without the wisdom that comes from introspection, happiness and spiritual growth remain stunted.
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Pro tip: Meditation increases self-awareness. Check out my feature with the Buddha-CEO Quantum Foundation to hear about how meditation increased my self-awareness and manage stress, which made me a more effective leader.
Edit: This feature occurred after this blog was initially published.
Benefits of Improved SQs for Overall Organizational Growth
Improved spiritual awareness allows individuals to communicate effectively. One way to achieve this is being able to come up with analogies and metaphors, helping constituents understand pragmatic reasons for why you are advocating for a particular change.
For example, what could you possibly learn from a coconut tree? As it turns out, no matter how widespread coconut palms grow, they lean toward water. They do this because of a phenomenon called phototropism, which refers to how plants tend to grow toward a source of light and how water is a reflective source of light. This can be interpreted as a lesson in staying grounded. Confidence is important, but maintaining a sense of humility helps us stay closer to reality. Here are some of the many benefits of improved SQs throughout an organization.
Increased self-awareness of employees, resulting in the ability to accept the facts of a situation vs. disillusioned thinking
Empowered visionaries, resulting in calmer, matured leaders
Invigorated minds helping break silos, promoting improved collaboration
Reduction of self-inflicted stress, resulting in personal growth
Better harmony between functions and facilities, resulting in joyous teamwork
Effective Change Management, resulting in impactful outcomes
Photo by Mohd Lazim Ath Thany Bin Mohd Lazim
A Spiritual Journey Through a Fast-Paced World
Many people feel it's not practical to start their spiritual journeys during the jet speed of the 21st century. In fact, I used to think this way. But this mindset is a fundamental flaw in how we think about the world around us.
A common misconception is that spirituality is something that doesn’t allow you to fully “be yourself.” However, a spiritual journey provides maturity to tread the middle path between the materialistic world and the idealistic world. Because in today’s day in age, it’s virtually impossible to escape our worldly duties from whatever roles we play in our day-to-day lives. But spirituality isn’t a zero-sum concept—you don’t have to leave “your world” in order to enter another.
Self-awareness and spiritual transformation are highly impactful attributes of effective leaders and pleasant people, in general. In addition to an improvement in personal growth, happy employees are highly productive employees. Beyond PQ, IQ, and EQ lies the SQ—the key to maintaining balance. I invite you to share your spiritual experiences and how your journey has helped you achieve and sustain success.