By Amir Glogau / Guidely
More than ever, today’s continuously-changing political, business, and social environments require leadership that can bring a holistic approach, to quickly facilitate alignment within an organization and manifest desirable outcomes. SOULeadership™ is a comprehensive strategy that results in effective transformation in the workplace by encouraging individuals and organizations to embody the best possible version of themselves by aligning productivity and creativity to fuel individual and organizational growth.
It may sound simple, but when our intentions, choices, and actions align, both at the individual and group level, as well as at an organizational and societal level, it leads to flow, harmony, less resistance and ultimately fulfillment and prosperity. This is also true for daily life, interacting with family, in the workplace or school, and in relationships.
The first level of SOULeadership is intention
Intention: Creating intentions starts on two levels, emotional and physical. What is your intention behind doing something? It could be a small decision like what to have for dinner, or what to watch on TV. Or, it could be a more sizable area of life, like career change, meditation or fitness practices, reading choices, etc.
Do you have awareness of your intention? Once we practice paying attention to our intentions, and start to make them more consciously, we then need to make sure we express them clearly to ourselves and to those who need to hear them.
What is your intention? The answer could be a myriad of different things:
- I want to buy a house or a car
- I want to live on the beach
- I want to be married
- I want a great job
And the list goes on. However, what we truly seek are the perceived emotions which come from obtaining that desired outcome. Even those individuals on a path of self-growth, want to feel a certain way. So, what drives us to seek these feelings? It’s one of two things. Something we don’t like and are resisting, or something we strive to feel more intensely. For example, harmony, connection, or ease.
I strive to feel a sense of belonging, creativity, and empowerment by being in service and working hard to leave an impactful legacy. Once I made the conscious choice to set these emotional intentions, it changed everything for me, on a very deep level. This isn’t something that happened instantly, but over a period of time.
The second level is about choices
Choice: This level relates to the choices we make every day. The choice to operate out of love or fear, the choice to focus on the challenge or the goal. In every situation, you are given the option to choose the lens for which you see the world and apply a positive influence. Is it for me, or is it against me?
The fundamental question is: Why do I do what I do? This brings us to a lot of different interpretations. Our personal storytelling, and what we believe to be true in our own mind, makes us feel one way or another.
I would like to share a wonderful story with you written by Alan Watts called The Chinese Farmer:
Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said,
“Maybe.”
The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said,
“Maybe.”
The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded,
“Maybe.”
The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said,
“Maybe.”
The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad, because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.
— Alan Watts
Often, we label an experience “bad” if we dislike it, or “good” if we do. But the bad cannot exist without the good, and vice versa. This is a fundamental and universal law: with morning comes night, with light comes shadows, with good comes bad. We cannot exist without polarity, otherwise polarity wouldn’t exist in the first place.
We will never know the consequences an event in life may bring in the future.
As Alan Watts said:
“You never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.”
The interpretation we assign to any given situation and what happens to us, whether it’s financial stress, divorce, the pandemic; is all about choices. What are we choosing to believe? That is the second layer of Soul Leadership.
The third level is about action and what kinds of action we chose to take in any given situation
Action: This third level is composed of two elements: Method and discipline.
For example, if you’re looking to lose weight, the question is, what is the intention behind it? Do you want to feel better or are you judging yourself because you don’t feel like you’re good enough? When it comes to actions, the consideration is about what kind of method you want to apply.
- Is it about eating healthy?
- Wanting to feel like your body is a sacred temple?
- Do you want to feel vitality through exercising?
- Do you want to have the ability to do all the things the world has to offer with ease?
It’s important to find the right method that’s going to work for you. This applies to everything from weight loss, to business decisions. Whichever method you choose, has to be applied with discipline to receive the full effect. Otherwise, you aren’t giving yourself a fair chance to manifest your ultimate desired outcome. When all three of these elements are applied and aligned, we operate from a higher self and everything else falls into place with ease and grace.
Choosing the right method, and then applying it consistently, is critical in anything we do in life. Every organization who found themselves in a distressed situation, was misaligned on these three critical elements. Misalignment fuels separation and is counterproductive to collaboration efforts.
SOULeadership aligns intention, choice and action. Once your entire team, family, and personal relationships are aligned, and pulling in the same direction, working together toward the common goal, collaboration will prosper and momentum will start to build.
Amir Glogau is an international turnaround expert known for transforming distressed companies through his proprietary method. As founder and managing partner of Citrine Capital Partners and CEO of PRO EM, Glogau has more than 30 years of experience in facilitating innovation growth management and increasing value for small to medium size companies. A strategic visionary and passionate leader, he has successfully revitalized over a dozen companies with his signature SOULeadership.eve
