Introduction

I have the pleasure of working with many leaders in Silicon Valley. And among the things that are discussed in my office, the quality of leadership shows up a lot. Stories emerge when leaders are kind and inspirational. And, of course, stories emerge in toxic ways when leaders are unkind, unconscious, or even bullies.

I have taken great interest in how leaders step into their roles. Not only does it impact the people in their company, but their actions may have ripple effects that go far beyond the walls of the enterprise they serve and into the homes of employees and local communities.  Over the last several decades, I think most of us have come to understand the impact that leaders emotional intelligence can have on our collective performance and individual wellbeing.

And that is why I am so glad to host my friend and colleague, Dr. Yosi, Amram (https://intelligensi.com/). Yosi has been a leader in various capacities throughout his career. He has been the CEO of two publicly traded companies, he has taught at Stanford graduate school of business, and in addition to being a licensed psychologist and an executive coach, he has a Harvard MBA and an MS in engineering from MIT. Indeed, Yosi is the right person to talk to us about spiritual intelligence and how it can impact leadership regardless of one’s religious leanings. Yosi’s and other research has shown that the qualities of spiritual intelligence have a tremendous business payoff in terms of organizational productivity, team morale, employee commitment, as well as financial performance. Most impressive, it can be implemented by anyone even if they are atheists. In fact, spiritual leadership qualities and intelligences are not at all dependent on one’s religious leanings and you will hear how and why that is the case.

Also promising is that research shows Spiritual Intelligence contributes to many other domains of functioning beyond leadership that I believe matter to us all, including satisfaction with life, quality of life, better self-care, general health, happiness, work productivity, job satisfaction, and resilience to name just a few.

So, if those measures are important to you—and I’m guessing they are—then listen in as Yosi and I discuss the compelling case for spiritually intelligent leadership.