Every time we mention spirituality and leadership in the same breath, there seems to be a hush in the room as if we just stumbled onto a tabooed subject in polite company.
 
I thought I explore this subject just a little bit.
 
When someone asked "where is your spirit", I don't think they meant "where is your religious belief?"  What they really meant was "What drives you?  Where is your passion?" 
 
Spirit to me is the source of energy that serves as a guide to our lives' journey.  Spirit includes more than our individual energy, but also energy in the greater universe that we live in.  To be spiritual is to be whole within ourselves but also to be "one" with the universe.  Chinese Taoist philosophy teaches that the universe is a giant magnetic energy field.  We human are part of this magnetic field that is alive and constant.    We are part of something bigger than ourselves.  We are connected to a higher purpose.  But it all starts here within us.  Are we all here?  Do we show up completely or we allow parts of ourselves to stay asleep?  When we do show up fully, we are on track with the universe.  And the spirit or the energy can flow through us freely.
 
However in the modern world especially in the US, we have learned and taken pride in compartmentalizing our selves.  We separate our "being" from "doing."  We separate our "heart" from our "head".  "There is no crying in baseball," said the baseball coach played by Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own".  We separate our "individual self" from the "system".   We often choose to rely on our "perception" and our "belief" to live our lives rather than our "core value" and our "humanity".   We have learned to live a segregated life within.  For this, we are highly rewarded by the dominant culture.  Actually, parts of our selves are not only asleep but also starving to death but we don't even know it.  This is the reason we can do things without consciousness.  We advance our business success but destroy the planet.  We worship consumerism and build retail economy but it does not matter how much material possession we accumulate, we still feel hungry and empty. We measure power based on money.  "Greed is good", said the character played by Michael Douglas in "Wall Street".   We use our money and mighty weapons to lead the world but we don't have many true friends around the globe.  And politicians continue to sell "war" as the only solution to problems of world conflict and send our young men and women into the battlefield with such ease.   
 
To be spiritual is to wake up our whole self and show up as a complete person.  To be spiritual is to shed some of those belief and perception that we swallowed whole and treated as the truth and come home to the core of our humanity.
 
Spirit is not something we find only on Sunday in churches, synagogues, temples or other places of worship.  Spirit is the energy that unites our core with our action.  It is the engine that carries us to achieve for the greater good.
 
A spiritual journey is not a religious movement but a humanistic movement that aims at self-integration.  Only then we can claim our rightful place in the universe and move along with the giant magnetic field for that is our destiny.
 
To be spiritual as a whole human being means while our heads touch the sky, our feet are firmly on the ground.   It does not mean we will bypass the earthly suffering and pain.  We must bring the pain and suffering along with our hopes, dreams and resolve on the journey.
 
The whole concept of "good and evil" no longer sufficiently supports us.  The self-integration requires us to examine the over-fed and under-fed parts of ourselves and find a better self-expression.
 
Every truly successful leader has a spiritual principle that is guiding them through tumultuous time.  A leader with the "spirit" is someone who shows up as a whole person.  The question is: can we also tap into our collective spirit as followers?  Just being good sheep will not be enough.  This requires all of us to exercise our leadership muscle and ask the critical question:  What am I willing to be accountable for?  Can I move beyond my egocentric existence?  What is the next level of growth and learning for me?  What can we co-create in this new world?
 
When we talk about leadership, it may or may not have anything to do with the position one occupies.  It has more to do with one's ability to influence and make a difference.  We all have this potential quality.  Our true leadership nature will come out after we have reclaimed our whole self.  If we don't, we are no better than sheep that basically surrender our power to some narcissistic leaders who will tell us what to do and how to be.  There are too many narcissistic leaders out there.  They may be very charismatic.  They may be brilliant.  But they made every success a reflection of their own greatness.   We follow out of our blind admiration or pure fear.  Narcissistic leaders seldom are open to feedback.  They can be poor listeners.  They believe in their own vision and intellect.  Often their ideas are indeed brilliant.  However, they are the most segregated human beings walking on earth.  In their lack of wholeness, they stifle others' creativity and prevent them from taking leadership roles, thus reinforcing the top/down power structure that no longer can support a thriving enterprise in a fast moving and multi-faceted global economy.
 
In this new and uncertain time, it requires us to chart a new and different path.  Having a brilliant leader with his or her charming personality, brilliant mind and positional power will not be enough.  What is the leadership in us?  Can we move beyond the old beliefs that we have hung onto as if they are the unshakable truth?  Finding spirit in a narcissistic world is to ignite the fire and unleash the passion and energy in our true selves in order to climb the next hill and meet the challenge along our journey toward our glorious destiny.  When we find the fire in our belly which is our core value, we will be able to do extraordinary things for the purpose that is larger than ourselves.