Head, Heart, and Harmony: A Study of Quotient Synergy in Conscious Leadership

Abstract

Self awareness, good communication and spiritual awareness in leadership are very important in an age of speedy organisational change and increasing ethical standards. This study is an attempt to understand the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI), Communication Quotient (CQ) and Spiritual Quotient (SQ) with the development of more conscious leaders (CL). The study design was a cross sectional study. It is based on concepts of leadership psychology and human values to explore how these psychological concepts are merging into ethical and thoughtful leadership.

A total of 137 professionals were interviewed from Karnataka, India, to gather primary data. They were senior or mid-level managers who had 5+ years in management. The participants were selected using purposive sampling technique and a modified measurement instrument was administered to the participants to validate their responses. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to investigate the structure of the construct while the hypothesised relationships were investigated using Structural Equation Modelling.

The study underscores the important role of EI, CQ and SQ in Conscious Leadership. They are the ideal role models to regulate their emotions, to communicate consciously, and make value based decisions. The results of this study have implications for those leadership development programmes which should focus on the development of functional skills and inner strengths. This research is a step on the discussion of the effectiveness of the leaders, it introduces a model that can be applied across a range of organizational contexts and is based on data.