LEADERSHIP AND SPIRITUALITY
LEADERSHIP AND SPIRITUALITY – BASIL SPRINGER COLUMN WHICH APPEARED IN THE BARBADOS ADVOCATE’S BUSINESS MONDAY ON OCTOBER 28, 2013
“So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” – 1 John 4:16
We on earth are all spiritual beings having a human experience and not human beings having a spiritual experience, as some may believe. This contention is supported by Neale Donald Walsch, author of “Conversations with God” where he states that “The purpose of life is to recreate yourself anew in the highest version of the grandest vision you ever had about yourself. Challenge your present way of thinking and move into a grander and larger experience of who you really are.”
This statement prefaces a 1998 article in the publication Benchmark Coaching Inc. which goes on to say: “Yes, you are human, but you are also so much more. In truth you are a perfect spiritual being having a human experience, encountering life in the world of form. That sounds really great, even poetic and magical, but life can be hard anyway. Let’s face it, we all experience the imperfections that come with the territory of being human. Oftentimes, we feel like tremendously limited, ordinary people who enjoy occasional moments of spirituality. It’s certainly not easy to practice spotless ways of living all the time so we’re sure to slip up and have days when our attitude is more than a little self-defeating. And that’s okay.”
The DailyOM (Nurturing Mind, Body and Spirit) published an article on October 25, 2013 entitled “In Line with Spirit – Staying on Track” by Madisyn Taylor.
It states: “In a world where we have routines for nearly everything – our route to work, our physical fitness regimen, and our weekday schedule – it’s amazing how many people forget to create a routine for meeting their spiritual needs. We run around in an attempt to be at our many appointments on time and meet our many obligations. In our efforts to be as productive as possible, however, our spiritual needs tend to take a backseat. After all, taking care of our spiritual needs doesn’t directly pay the bills or tone our abdominal muscles. We may even wonder who has time to meditate or write in their journal when there are more pressing matters to see to. The truth is that nurturing ourselves spiritually is what gives us the energy and grounding that we need to make sure that our lives stay on track.
“How you choose to nurture yourself spiritually is a personal choice. For some people, meditating once a day may be what they need to stay centred. While spending 10-20 minutes with your eyes closed and your brain devoid of thought may seem like a lot of time doing nothing, this state of nothingness actually allows you to stay calm and focused so you can be as productive as possible. Writing in your journal everyday lets you stay in touch with yourself so that you are always tuned in to your feelings. Repeating affirmations for success, happiness, and well-being on a regular basis can help you live with optimism and enthusiasm and create what you want in life.
“Having a routine for nurturing your spirit that you do each day lets you feed energy to your soul and can serve you well if your life suddenly takes an unexpected turn into a difficult period. This kind of routine grounds your spirit in your body so that you stay anchored in yourself as you move through each day. Nurturing yourself spiritually allows you to not only stay on track in your life, but it allows for your life to stay on track with what your spirit wants.”
Peter Boos, a retired businessman, wrote an article published in the October 25 online edition of Barbados Today entitled “Leadership is Key”. In support of his theme, he listed a number of challenges which he thought could be fixed with good leadership. They included: “failure of our legal justice system; excessive Government expenditure with huge fiscal deficits; excessive debt and falling ability to borrow on capital markets; bankrupt Government (cannot pay its creditors on time); degrading infrastructure – roads, bush and so on; deep case of bureaucracy culture leading to Implementation Deficit Disorder; corruption being reported regularly; high costs of doing business; poor work ethic and low productivity enabled by an entitlement culture and restrictive labour practices; failed agriculture sector; lack of dynamic diversified export sectors; falling foreign exchange reserves; lack of strategic direction and consistent execution; rising unemployment and lack of confidence in leadership.”
To this list I would add: the failure of the public and private sectors to act on the creation of a benevolent source of investment funding for entrepreneurs in the making, start-up entrepreneurs and existing entrepreneurs, whether they are established, growing or branching out into new fields of endeavour.
My recent experiences in Barbados and Trinidad have shown that there is no shortage of entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas but they must be nurtured in an environment of benevolent investment capital and shepherding to augment the rate of business success and protect the financial investment. The current “Bank on ME” reality TV show, quite apart from its entertainment value, has further shown the number of entrepreneurs out there who are in need of help, the value of shepherding in the improvement of the businesses in a few short weeks, and the need for a source of funding with is other than traditional loan financing.
Let our leaders remember that we are spiritual beings having a human experience and that they need to establish and maintain contact with their spirituality if we are to see a turn around in our fortunes and advance to greater heights.
(Dr. Basil Springer GCM is Change-Engine Consultant, Caribbean Business Enterprise Trust Inc. – CBET – Columns are archived at www.cbetmodel.org).