Awakening vs Enlightenment and its impact on Leadership

When I run workshops for companies, I can not talk about the spiritual. Some would not understand.

And so there is a big gap between ´´spirituality and belief systems´´ and ´´leadership and business´´.

But both are undisputedly related.

However, in business today, they are usually separated.

A person’s life and focusing on your career are two different things for most people.

But aligning your Suit (career) and your Monk (life) is essential for reaching your full potential, avoiding burnout, chronic anxiety and overwork.

Bridging that gap is not an easy task.

As an HR, you talk about external and internal motivation. You want people who are engaged. You want people who collaborate. You want people who are happy and go the extra mile. Why? Because it results in better performance. In the end, you don´t want happiness for your people, you want better performance because that´s how you will get judged at the end of the year.

If there are other means to get better performance besides focusing on employee happiness I´m sure you´ll focus on that (the mind can challenge this statement, some leaders do genuinely care about their people)!

That´s why many years ago, higher wages were paid, more company benefits were provided as a way to engage and retain talent.

But that model doesn´t work anymore. It works to a certain extent, but you and I know it is outdated.

Paying high wages is still important, but if it is the only way to retain talent, there is a problem with your culture or how you run the company.

And so the new trend is beginning, it already started before COVID, but it was amplified after COVID, ´´Happiness and well-being´´ of people to engage, motivate and retain talent.

But how can you engage people if they don´t know who they are?

How can you engage or create inspiring leaders if they are not open to change?

It´s all about ´´the life journey´´.

The life journey is not the responsibility of the company. It is not the responsibility of the company to educate people on this, but it has a direct impact on the engagement, motivation and retention of your people.

Who would you hire? A person who has gone through many difficulties in life, overcame them, knows his values and is clear on his direction and career path in life.

Or the one who shows a nice ´´Suit´´ has a lot of working experience, but he has no self-awareness, is attached to his ego and making decisions only by himself and not giving ownership to the team?

The first person has LIFE EXPERIENCE, he understands the journey. He is intrinsically motivated. The second person only developed his Suit but did not had a chance to go deeper into who he really is, an authentic person with values and purpose. The second person´s performance may initially be higher, but the damage he may do to the team and the culture will be far greater than the temporary performance he can bring.

The world needs more authentic leaders. The world needs more leaders who understand the life journey. The world needs more leaders who have ´´lived´´ the journey.

And the funny thing is, we are still on it.

As one of my coachees told me recently, a VP of an automotive company leading a team of 1,500 people: ´´I want to be a better person, what makes me genuinely a better person?´´

Asking yourself that question in every area of your life will bring greater awareness of how we can continue to grow individually and together, in our relationships, our business, and in life overall.

The only thing we need right now is just a simple and little bit more self-awareness. That will solve most of our pressing problems.

Happy living. 

Raf Adams

The Suited Monk provides guidance on how to live a good life. This this 2-minute questionnaire will help you discover where you are on your life journey. Take your free check-up here now.

#philosophy #balance #innerwisdom

”I am a life mentor and philosopher and write thought pieces and provide perspective on life and leadership to help people to increase the quality of their decision making. By doing so, achieve mental, emotional and spiritual balance be more effective and make a positive difference for themselves, their teams, company and society. If you want to fastrack your results right now, click here to get the Suited Monk book or provide it as a gift for a friend or colleague. Yes I want it!