Spiritual intelligence, the underpinning of leadership in Indwe risk services: a case study

[摘要] As from 2010, the application of the King III principles has led to a paradigm shift in businesses in that they had to move away from the traditional 'bottom line to a sustainable 'triple bottom line (TBL). This paradigm shift has been problematised by the concurrent global ecological crisis, an economy of scarcity, a rapidly changing world and a capitalistic system that is destroying itself. In short, it can be said that the paradigm shift involves moving away from greed to altruism.Businesses need to be all the more innovative and stronger emphasis needs to be placed on leadership in order to realize this sustainable TBL. With the introduction of multiple intelligences by Gardner in the 1980s and the fact that various research results show that cognitive intelligence is responsible for only 20 to 30 % of professional success, leaders and researchers are compelled to delve into the potential of other intelligences for maximal leadership development. One such intelligence is spiritual intelligence (SQ).Wigglesworth (2011:4) defines SQ as follows: 'The ability to behave with Wisdom and Compassion, while maintaining inner and outer peace (equanimity) regardless of the circumstances. Core concepts in this definition are compassion, peace and wisdom. Although some authors are sceptical about this type of intelligence, there is ample evidence that SQ is a reality.Indwe is one of the businesses that have maintained sustainable TBL since its establishment in 2006. In this case study, the investigation focused on sustainable TBL at Indwe, the leadership of its CEO - Giel Muller - and whether this leadership is founded on SQ.The main objective of this study was therefore to determine whether SQ played a role in the leadership of Indwe en route to a sustainable TBL. The secondary objectives involved a theoretical overview of the phenomenon of SQ, a definition for SQ and determining the hallmark of SQ. The type of leadership needed for a sustainable TBL was also investigated.All four goals were covered in the theoretical overview. In the case study it was determined that Indwe reported a TBL during the period under discussion and that the leadership of Muller can be described as transformational leadership built on SQ. This case study thus strengthens the findings of Christ-Lakin (2010) and of Gieseke (2014).

[发布机构] University of the Free State