6 human intelligences that drive purpose in business leadership

Yet ancient wisdom (Tao Te Ching) dictates that

Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom’ and ’mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.

Understand where you are before moving forward

Many of today’s most successful leaders understand that, while moving forward with purpose is essential for sustainable success, it is equally important to stand still, reflect and be mindful of our current functional and behavioural realities in order to reach our desired results.

As Jeff Boss has stated:

You cannot be a leader if you cannot lead yourself.

Our multiple intelligences

1. Thinking – how much reflection time do I set aside and how does this impact on the quality of my thinking and resultant actions?

2. Feeling – what is the relevance of accessing and naming my emotions in the context of leadership development?

3. Doing – how is my ‘doing’ conscious and integral rather than reactive and habitually driven?

4. Relating – how is my engagement with others representative of my current and espoused values?

5. Being – what is my purpose and how does this inform my life and work?

6. Knowing – how do I align all of these intelligences to show up as an authentic leader?
   

The journey of moving forward with purpose rests on self-awareness, as we can only manage what we know. Developing both functional and behavioural competencies is possible only if our starting point is grounded in current awareness and reality, which starts with us just taking a moment to reflect who we are and where we’re going.