Developing Emotional & Spiritual Intelligence in the Workplace

Developing Emotional & Spiritual Intelligence in the Workplace Bridging Corporate and Spiritual Worlds Robin Alfred, The Findhorn Foundation Tim Casserley, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Our story...

PricewaterhouseCoopers • ‘Professional services firm’ • audit/accounting, business advisory • tax & legal • corporate finance • management consulting • HR consulting • business process outsourcing • FY2000 net revenue $19.6 billion • 150,000 people • 150 countries

PwC CEE/CIS Region • 20 countries - former Comecon + Turkey & Greece • 5000 people • Investment ‘region’ • Central regional team - London • Learning & Development seen as key, strategic priority • central, regional team - London • country based L&D professionals • total team size = 30

The Findhorn Foundation • Founded 1962 • Spiritual & educational community, located northern Scotland • Runs residential workshops - 4,500 people/year • Welcomes additional 10,000 guests/year • Annual income £1.3 million • £4 million assets • 160 staff and dependants + community of 500 friends and supporters • Heart of a developing Eco-village • UN recognised NGO, working on "values” and "sustainability"

Findhorn Foundation Consultancy Service • Developed in 1998 • Exists to share - • "our experience in embodying the values needed to • build sustainable community, working co-operatively, • and exploring new approaches to leadership" • with the world of business, public and voluntary • sector organisations, and other communities

PwC: Business Challenge • Emerging market environment • Youthfulness of local firms • 20 different languages/ cultures • Need to be seen as a local firm but think/network globally • Be loved by the client

Strategy • Become the ‘breakaway’ firm • client focus • quality of client relationship the key differentiator • Grow local skills • Act as a boundary-less organisation • Work with whole of the client’s ‘system’ & the Board/CEO • Be seen by the client as a ‘business partner’

Implications for our People • Self-less team working • Acting as a community of shared interest • Intense curiosity in client’s true, underlying needs • Self-responsibility and choice • Emotional/ spiritual awareness

”If we are to make progress in managing learning in organisations we desperately need contributions from fields which already have a holistic understanding of people and human systems. We need to understand much more the interconnectedness of emotional, physical and intellectual effort; we need help in seeing management holistically. Nobody can manage successfully if they use only part of themselves………managing is a whole person activity, demanding emotional [and spiritual] maturity at least as much as cerebral competence………..relationships are at the heart of managing and at the heart of relationship is the key proposition of self-awareness” (David Casey, ‘Managing Learning in Organisations’)

Focus of FFCS work • Developing the ability to respond from the heart • Developing the right brain • Developing emotional intelligence • Developing spiritual intelligence • Through this we build more effective teams and develop a sense of community in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) • "My ability to recognise the situation I am in; to read what you are feeling; be sensitive to that; and to adapt and behave accordingly” • (After Daniel Goleman) • Emotional Intelligence is also - • The ability to observe, and not be lost in, my • emotions

Or as Aristotle put it • “Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - this is not easy” • (The Nicomachean Ethics)

Spiritual intelligence (SQ) • The intelligence that chooses not to adapt • The intelligence that leads to meaning, vision, values, purpose • Transformative and creative intelligence • (Danah Zohar)

How do we do the work? • Disorientation - through games, dance, unusual exercises & unfamiliar responses • Focussing on building effective teams and groups through: • Clearing blocks to authenticity (what don't I dare to feel or say?) • Addressing underlying issues (what is primary? What is secondary?) • Increasing self-awareness (What am I feeling right now? How am I coming across?) • Skills training (e.g. conflict facilitation, decision-making, leadership, change management) • Liberating creativity and inspiration (How much of myself can I bring to work? 10%? 40%? 80%? 100%?

“The point is that we eventually come to the realisation that it is injurious to the soul to remove portions of our life from exploration, as if, at work, certain parts of experience suddenly lie out of bounds. We simply spend too much time and have too much psychic and emotional energy invested in the workplace for us to declare it a spiritual desert bereft of life-giving water.” David Whyte ‘The Heart Aroused - Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America’

PwC’s Experience

What PwC has achieved so far…... • A region-wide, multi-national community of ‘change resources’ • greater sense of engagement & presence • more personal power & authenticity • greater focus on the (internal) client • greater sense of identity and self-worth • Modelling the change process before taking it to the ‘client’ • Trickle-down into to the wider organisation

Why does FFCS do this work? • More emotionally and spiritually intelligent people will be - • Able to create more meaningful work, and working environments, for themselves and others • More able to respond to the needs of the moment and, therefore, be more effective • More aware of their responsibility to themselves, their colleagues and the planet • Able to live more meaningful and fulfilling lives

Future Plans for our Partnership • Development of core group of change agents • End of year workshop/conference to involve ‘clients’ • Supervision & mentoring • Further involvement in wider organisation

Quadruple Bottom Line • The business of the future will need to be: • Economically viable • Environmentally sound • Socially responsible • Spiritually intelligent

PricewaterhouseCoopers & Findhorn Foundation Consultancy Service Together we can feel the difference…….

Developing Emotional & Spiritual Intelligence in the Workplace