In the earlier years, parents brought up their children driven by intelligence quotient or IQ, which is basically an estimate of the intelligence of the human being. IQ was a popular tool to measure eligibility for educational placements and evaluation of job seekers. After our transition into the VUCA world, past the Covid 19 shake up phase, we have entered an era where empathy and emotion have taken front seat. People leadership has evolved from giving instructions to working shoulder to shoulder. People don’t leave jobs but leave their toxic bosses. The feeling of belonging to an organisation and alignment to the vision and mission, has become a quality performance trigger, more today than ever before. EQ has become a quality which has added a second wheel to the vehicle of organisational success, along with IQ.
“Today’s in-demand skills are increasingly technical in nature. However, there’s a corresponding need for the uniquely human ability to work with and through others to accomplish important goals.” Says a paper from Harvard DCE Professional and Executive Development. EI/EQ have become critical in today’s world not only in your professional life but in your personal and societal sphere too. Collins dictionary defines EQ – “A person’s EQ is a measure of their interpersonal and communication skills”.
Understanding SQ
“Spiritual intelligence or SQ refers to the intelligence that addresses and helps in solving problems of meaning and value and places our actions and our lives in a wider, richer meaningful context” this is a definition of Zohar and Marshal who initiated this concept. In this article I have leveraged original definitions because IQ, EQ or SQ are just not assumptions or postulates but are based on human nature and its scientific states. In relevance to this column I pen, every Monday this scientific state is actually the mindset we are in and transforming our mindset to be what we want to evolve to becomes our mindset goal. This is intrinsically driven by our ambitions to become our best version to reach our goals faster and more effectively.
In the current times of chaos and uncertainty, the SQ mindset really helps us move forward productivity with immense inner calm and positivity. In SQ there is a confluence of two basic dimensions. First and most powerful is the vertical dimension when realise that above us there is a spiritual all powerful force which is divine and sacred and the inner urge to be guided by the Almighty. The second dimension is putting the SQ mindset into our behaviour. How we are benevolent and practice the art of giving and service to fellow human beings.
How to your effectively enhance your SQ?
Your mindset reflects in your behaviour. How you act and react. Here are the positive symptoms of a positive SQ mindset. Since SQ stems from spirituality you really need to believe first in spirituality. Just being religious is not spirituality. Most religions in the world teach you the ideal way of life. Dedicated worship and meditation help you focus on leading this ideal way of life. Therefore the balance here is to live your personal and professional life with yet another positive gleam. Developing a high intensity SQ mindset is not to leave the worldly life and become a monk but to live your life in this world and do better with a SQ mindset.
Become spontaneously adaptive and flexible, so that change, which is the only constant today, does not become a barrier. Increase your sense of relaxed awareness. Develop your capacity to face suffering and pain as well as transcend both. Open yourself to inspiration to what you see around you and the real life lessons you learn. More importantly develop an inner mechanism of doing good wherever you can and refraining from doing harm.
The ideal mix to cope and succeed in the times we live in is a blended mindset of EQ and SQ. IQ today is taken for granted as we live in a world now where even perfection is not good enough!
“An ounce of spiritual intelligence is greater than a tone of intellectual brilliance”. Anonymous
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