Got Drama?

I imagine most of us would say we have more than we need in our lives and can’t imagine how it might diminish or even disappear. Interestingly, drama decrease is one of the results of cultivating spiritual intelligence according to Cindy Wigglesworth, the creator of the SQ21 Spiritual Intelligence Assessment. Of course, other results are more profound but a little less drama in the world would help a great deal!  Spiritual intelligence is being called the new frontier of personal growth and organizational leadership. Click here for information on a virtual seminar I’m doing which includes the assessment and a coaching debrief session!

In her groundbreaking research on spiritual intelligence, Cindy Wigglesworth has asked thousands of people to list characteristics of spiritual leaders they admire. As you might imagine, the list include qualities like authentic, centered, compassionate, forgiving, generous, humble, inspiring, non-violent and committed to serving others. (Cindy’s book, SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence is coming out on October 9th, 2012.) The development of these qualities is what Cindy’s work strives to do.

Most people today have heard of Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences. Gardner broke the hold cognition held on the term intelligence by positing that there are a variety of intelligences that each individual possesses in varying degrees. Today researchers have mapped the wide variety of aspects that comprise a human being and one of them, perhaps the most important, is spiritual intelligence.

Enter Cindy Wigglesworth whose journey began, as many do, with a desire to become a better person, embodying the characteristics of spiritual figures she most admired . . . the faith and vision of Nelson Mandela; the love of Jesus; the peace and non-violence of Gandhi. Drawing on the wisdom of teachers and practices, she (and I suspect others) began to notice changes in herself. In her own words, she was becoming a better mother, wife, friend, teammate and leader. (From a draft of her book SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence).

With this inner growth came a desire to organize the competencies she was learning and design an assessment to measure their development. Many people ignore the nudge of Spirit to do something they feel deeply passionate about but not Cindy. She quit her job at Exxon and spent five years researching and developing and the SQ21 Assessment.

Cindy defines spiritual intelligence as “the ability to behave with wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace regardless of the situation.” The assessment does not espouse the beliefs of one tradition but rather pulls together the competencies necessary to be one’s best self, using  “faith neutral” language to describe them. It assesses “where” one is and gives “next steps” suggestions but leaves the “how” to each individual. Together the 21 competencies comprise the heart of a spiritually intelligent person.

I am very excited about the SQ21 Assessment as delineates the competencies of spiritual intelligence in a model that encourages growth. Since being certified to deliver the SQ21 Assessment I’ve teamed up with Sue Brightman, an experienced coach and consultant also certified in the SQ21, to develop a workshop, Discover Your Unique Spiritual Intelligence.  that offers the assessment, a two hour virtual workshop that lays the foundation of Spiritual Intelligence and a 75 minute coaching debrief session so participants can take a deep dive into the 20 page Personalized Assessment Report with one of us. Please  join us if you’re interested. My SQ Page above outlines other options for taking the SQ21 assessment.