Chopra - Soul of leadership: applying spiritual intelligence to business and to life

I greatly enjoyed Deepaks newest book, The Soul of Leadership. From the chapter about synchronicity on, I couldnt put it down. Its got so many quality ideas that it must be read a second time. The book inspired me to become a better leader.

George Zimmer, Mens Wearhouse

Leadership begins at home and in the heart. Deepak Chopra offers not only a blueprint, a step-by-step guide to releasing the power of leadership within each of us, but a powerful call to action. By evolving toward an ever higher level of spiritual awareness, we have the capacity to change our lives and the world itself. An insightful, inspirational, and much-needed book.

William Cohen, former U.S. Secretary of Defense

Deepak Chopra opens the door for todays leaders to access the secrets of success we all need without giving up who we are.

Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com

Deepak is the best leadership teacher in the world on the role miracles play in global outcomes. His writings on connectedness and synchronicity are ten years ahead of the rest in this new science. He absolutely nails one consciousness in this book, which might be the single most advanced leadership breakthrough in history.

Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup

Creating Health

Return of the Rishi

Quantum Healing

Perfect Health

Unconditional Life

Journey into Healing

Creating Affluence

Perfect Weight

Restful Sleep

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

The Return of Merlin

Boundless Energy

Perfect Digestion

The Way of the Wizard

Overcoming Addictions

Raid on the Inarticulate

The Path to Love

The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents

The Love Poems of Rumi (edited by Deepak Chopra; translated by Deepak Chopra and Fereydoun Kia)

Healing the Heart

Everyday Immortality

The Lords of the Light

On the Shores of Eternity

How to Know God

The Soul in Love

The Chopra Center Herbal Handbook (with coauthor David Simon)

Grow Younger, Live Longer (with coauthor David Simon)

The Deeper Wound

The Chopra Center Cookbook

(coauthored by David Simon and Leanne Backer)

The Angel Is Near

The Daughters of Joy

Gold for Enlightenment

Soulmate

The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire

Peace Is the Way

The Book of Secrets

Fire in the Heart

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga

(with coauthor David Simon)

Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives

(with coauthors by David Simon and Vicki Abrams)

Life After Death

Buddha

The Essential How to Know God

The Essential Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire

The Essential Ageless Body, Timeless Mind

The Third Jesus

Jesus

Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul

The Ultimate Happiness Prescription

Copyright 2010 by Deepak Chopra

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

HARMONY BOOKS is a registered trademark and the Harmony Books colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chopra, Deepak.
The soul of leadership : unlocking your potential for greatness.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. LeadershipReligious aspects. I. Title.
BL626.38.C48 2010
206.1dc22
2010031734

eISBN: 978-0-307-45172-9

v3.1_r1

Becoming a leader is the most crucial choice one can makeit is the decision to step out of darkness into the light.

W e have never needed enlightened leadership as much as we do now. Surely this refrain has been heard throughout the ages, but in the second decade of the twenty-first century, humankind poses a terrible threat to its own existence as we blindly tear great holes in the life-sustaining fabric of our environment. We can no longer turn to government, however well meaning it may be, or to anyone beyond ourselves, to provide answers for the great problems of our time. And even in turning to ourselves we must go beyond the constant clamor of ego, beyond the tools of logic and reason, to the still, calm place within us: the realm of the soul.

Here we can begin by asking the basic questions that give our lives meaning. Who am I? Why am I here? How can I tune in the soft-spoken urgings of the soul to fulfill my lifes purpose and to make a difference? In answering these questions to the best of our ability, each of us must step into the role of leader, taking responsibility first for directing our own lives, and then for interacting with other peopleat work, at home, and everywhere in between. As we continue to draw on the soul for direction, we will eventually find that other people are turning to us for guidance, drawn to us by our ability to treat them with dignity and to skillfully respond to their needs from a higher place.

My aim in this book is to give everyone the skills and insights to be a leadernot just any leader but an inspired one. At the deepest level, a leader is the symbolic soul of the group. His role is to fulfill the needs of others and, when each need is met, to lead the group on to fulfill ever higher needs, lifting the groups potential at every step. The inspired leaders power base comes not from other people but from her very being, and the path she walks is guided by her own soul. Its hallmarks are creativity, intelligence, organizing power, and love.

Everyone who has a soul, which by my definition includes us all, has the potential to be an inspired leader. When you change on the inside so that you draw on the unlimited wisdom of the soul, you become a leader without needing to seek followers. As you put your vision for a better world into tangible form, they will find you. It is my fondest hope that after reading these pages, countless readers like you will discover their greatness and act upon it. Of these leaders, untold numbers may become public figures, and even more will perform a leadership role at work, at home, and in the community. Wherever you do it, there is no doubt in my mind that leading from the soul is what the time demands.

As youll see in the pages that lie ahead, the leadership Im talking about in this book is not leadership as weve traditionally defined it. According to that old definition, leadership belongs to the few. In a group the person selected to lead may stand out as the most popular, confident, or ruthless. By these measures, not everyone can lead. When the strong and ruthless rise on the world stage, we find ourselves led by kings and generals, autocrats and dictators, power-hungry premiers and presidents. History traffics in myth making, which is based on personal charisma and uses spin to evoke an aura of destiny. But these measures of leadership are flawed. None of the qualities mentioned here indicate that a leader will actually improve the lives of those who follow him. Chances are equally good that such leadership will bring misery, conflict, and oppression. The old definitions of leadership exalt power, and the use of power has always been directly linked to its abuse.