I first discovered the idea of spiritual intelligence 20 years ago, after a serendipitous meeting with a shaman, who later became a mentor of mine. 

She led me on a path of transformation and taught me the truth of my own purpose. 

Inspired by my spiritual mentor, I ended up trading in my former life working in property development, to train as a shaman. 

I now work as The Modern Day Shaman, providing spiritual guidance to clients across the world, blending modern psychology with therapeutic dialogue, shamanic journeying, and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), to help clients find a deeper meaning and purpose in their lives. 

Throughout my 20 years of practice as a spiritual guide, I have worked with many entrepreneurs and business leaders, helping them to operate much more effectively by guiding them to tap into their spiritual intelligence. 

Throughout my work, I have noticed that now more than ever, business leaders need both emotional and spiritual intelligence in order to succeed. 

These vital interpersonal skills allow them to feel connected to a deeper sense of purpose and meaning in their life, which in turn, results in more effective leadership.

So What Is Spiritual Intelligence?

Spiritual intelligence goes beyond emotional intelligence and includes things like empathy, intuition and energy. 

It’s the intelligence with which we address and solve problems of meaning and value. 

This type of intelligence is often described as a measure of a person’s self-awareness and inner balance. 

Having a high level of spiritual awareness is vital if you want to become a resilient business leader who’s self-aware. 

This in turn allows you to express empathy and compassion towards your team members, to develop deeper relationships. 

Here are three important skills that all business leaders need so they can bring more spiritual intelligence into their day-to-day work life, for better leadership.

Intuition

Intuition is your guide to your own knowing, it comes from what some people call your ‘higher self’ or your ‘higher mind’. It simply conveys your personal truth and purpose. 

To tune into your intuition you need to get to know yourself. It really is that simple. 

Getting to know yourself involves uncovering all your inner limiting beliefs that form your emotional intelligence so that you become the master of your emotions rather than the other way around.  

Getting to know yourself means recognizing and accepting yourself fully, warts and all so that your inner critic is unable to drown out your intuition.

Tuning into your intuition will empower you to live a life that feels far more aligned, one that is based on your own personal truth and one that moves you towards your purpose and potential with every decision you make. 

Some practical ways you can tune into your intuition are: taking time to purposefully ‘listen in’ to your intuition when you’re making a decision, learning to trust your gut feeling, and paying attention to how you feel about a decision (e.g being aware of things like goosebumps, a shiver down your spine, a racing heart). 

Empathy

Empathy is another must-have skill for a business leader, which is especially important in the current climate. 

Empathy means having the ability to sense and read other people’s emotions and feelings. 

Empathy also encompasses putting yourself in ‘other people’s shoes’ trying to see things from their perspective.

When you are empathetic, you sense other people’s unspoken thoughts, feelings, and energies. It is important to note that empathy does not mean taking on another’s emotions. 

When used correctly this talent allows a compassionate understanding viewpoint of another’s perspective and can be a game-changer in how teams interact.

Empathy is an innate human trait, but as a business leader, you can learn to be more empathetic. Taking a few extra seconds to try and see a situation from someone else’s perspective can make all the difference. If they have said or done something you don’t agree with, take a moment to ask yourself why they might have said or done that. 

Energy

Cultivating the ability to read the energy of others or the energy of the room will enable you to be a much more effective leader.  

A strong leader will lift the energy of the room intentionally and will be able to discern the way a meeting will go.  

Leadership means going further than the human bluster of the room, and reading the energy beneath. 

Knowing when to pause, witnessing the dynamics of teams, and deciphering the unconscious language. 

Some things you can do to read the energy of the room are to look for visual indicators as well as feeling into the underlying energy. 

For example, people frowning, having crossed arms, being very quiet will often accompany a nervous energy. 

This is your sign to be calm and empathetic. Similarly, dazed eyes may accompany an energy of confusion, so take the time to fully explain what you are talking about. 

A positive energy may be accompanied by smiles, good posture, people leaning forward in their chairs. Take this as an opportunity to reinforce the positive energy by smiling, or giving praise. 

This talent comes, as with everything, with practice and it comes from understanding your own energy, your own inner landscape, and emotional and spiritual intelligence. 

The more inner work you undertake, the deeper your knowledge of yourself will grow and it is this knowledge, when married with experience, that will bring you success as a leader.

Sarah’s book Modern Day Shaman: How To Find A Deeper Connection With Life is available from January to buy on Amazon or via Sarah’s website: www.sarahnegus.com