It’s ok to talk about the ’s’ word ’spirit’ in business
Published by Toby Coop March 28th, 2006 in Spirit in BusinessAlan Wallace, a noted scholar, wrote a book about “The Taboo of Subjectivity:Towards a New Science of Conscience”. New York:, OUP, 2000: It seems, we are breaking the final taboo at last…lets hear your comments.
“Introducing Spirit in Business Amsterdam, October 1999: “Compassion or Competition ?”, a forum on “Human Values in Business and Economics” attended by 400 invited guests from business, politics and civil society, including H.H. Prince Willem-Alexander. The speakers, H.H. The Dalai Lama, former Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, PwC global managing partner Jermyn Brooks, economist Hazel Henderson, societal leader Geoff Mulgan and distinguished discussants inspired a community around the integration ofour deeper selves, values and aspirations with our entrepreneurial endeavours and leadership.”
In April 2002, SiB convened in New York, with 550 executives present. SiB formally launched. For the first time, Fortune 500 leaders and business publicly accepted that it was OK to talk about the “s” word, “spirit” in business. In June 2003, the third major SiB event, alongside a Women’s Forum, held in San Francisco with 350 participants. The following SiB event, the 2004 Forum “Great Leaders Good Leaders “, was held in Zürich, Switzerland, on Sept. 30-October 2, 2004, deliberately a more private, smaller gathering.
Raison d’etre with the current vacuum in political and business leadership degrading respect, value and confidence, SiB is building a community of leaders and entrepreneurs who operate daily from their internal compasses, inspiration and inner values, who understand that integrity, creativity and ethics are internally formed rather than legally, organizationally or politically imposed. Leaders who are authentic and caring, as well as being driven by passion, bravery and imagination to build new and better enterprises.
Globalization and the complexity of economic systems require us to adopt new ways of learning, knowing and operating which recognize interconnectedness, oneness and diversity. These are the central features of the modern scientific worldview and, in fact, of life itself. Values-based conduct and stewardship emerge as the natural qualifications for leadership / entrepreneurship and as the source of strategic insight into, and inspiration for, corporate citizenship, sustainable practices and business performance.
The experience of interconnectedness and consciousness - which is closely associated with “spirit” - also opens the door to unlocking our creativity, purpose and vision. True leadership - responsible, authentic, conscious, innovative, inspired - is a product of both our mind, heart and spirit.
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