Dina-Perla Portnaar
When I type “Chief Spiritual Officer” in the search bar of LinkedIn, I get 65 hits. Some findings do not even match. All Chief Spiritual Officers come from the US and just one comes from Switserland. I find the results shockingly low and disappointing, because every organization needs a Chief Spiritual Officer to get through all the transitions and to stay future-proof. As long as organizations – and especially the corporate world – laugh about spirituality, do not want to transcend blind greed and do not want to approach mission and vision from a standpoint of soulfulness, we run great risks as a society. As long as we shake off spirituality as whoo-whoo, as long as we only mistakenly link spirituality again and again to religion, ideology or theology, as a society we run great risks.
Maximize potential
The most obvious reason why every organization needs a Chief Spiritual Officer is to make the link between HR, psychology and spirituality, so that attention is paid to the development of the individual. The link can then also be established between the individual and the rest of the organization. In a certain sense, the separation between business and private life is sometimes functional, but of course that separation does not exist at all. We take everything to our work and we are who we are. For example, life phases, transitions and wishes cannot be separated from the work environment. In order to make optimum use of the potential in the areas of IQ, EQ and SQ in these changing times of the knowledge and wisdom economy, sacred economy, sharing and gift economy, in order to bring separate power blocks and focus areas together and to secure well-being and health in the short and long term, the Chief Spiritual Officer is a must.
Bringing together many contradictions
The Chief Spiritual Officer supports the combination of many contradictions, both of the individual inside and outside the organization, as well as of the ecosystem of the organization in the rest of society and the world. The business world of defining and achieving smart goals, of linear and material progress and quantifiable value creation for all stakeholders comes together with the world of esotericism, love, peace, benevolence, compassion, harmony and anchoring through the higher consciousness. The Chief Spiritual Officer brings together polarities such as short and long term, strategy and vision, feminine and masculine, heart and brain, right and left brain, mental and physical, dream and reality, idealism and realism, creation and realization, action and reflection, creation and receptiveness, overview and insight and separation and unity.
Guaranteeing humanity
With all innovations, new fields of work and expertise, new roles and changes within each discipline, the Chief Spiritual Officer is required to decrypt mechanisms that no longer serve a purpose, stand in the way of humanity or even a right to exist. The main task is to guarantee humanity within IT/tech, R&D – including artificial intelligence, sales, (behavioral) risk, governance and compliance – including pretty new processes such as customer due diligence and onboarding, accountancy, finance, diversity, health and of course marcom.
Who is the Chief Spiritual Officer
The Chief Spiritual Officer is someone with deep knowledge of psychological and spiritual works and masters, sometimes also philosophical works and masters, someone who is very strong and brave, who is able to interfere with all movements within the organization, who can have discussions to explore gray areas and keep the organization in a constant flow of meaning and progress. This also through paranormal intervention and channeling.
We are on the eve of business deepening. Let’s climb that mountain together.
About the author: Dina-Perla is an integrated communications, PR & change director and business development manage. She is also working at Risk ComplianceTV and published two books.
