Spiritual Capital: Wealth We Can Live By

by Danah Zohar, Ian Marshall

Our capitalist culture and the business practices that operate within it are in crisis. Capitalism as we know it today—an amoral culture of short-term self-interest, profit maximization, emphasis on shareholder value, isolationist thinking, and profligate disregard of long-term consequences—is an unsustainable system, a monster set to consume itself.

Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall argue that a critical mass of individuals acting from higher motivations can make a difference. They offer a radically new philosophy for corporate governance that alters the meaning and purpose of business and wealth creation. They describe a values-based business culture that focuses on the accumulation of “spiritual capital” rather than material capital. Rather than strictly benefiting shareholders, spiritual capital benefits all stakeholders—including the whole human race, present and future, and the planet itself. Spiritual capital nourishes and sustains the human spirit.

Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall introduce the concept of spiritual intelligence (SQ), and describe how it can be used to shift individuals and our culture from a state of acting from lower motivations (fear, greed, anger, and self-assertion) to one of acting from higher motivations (exploration, cooperation, power-within, mastery, and higher service). They show how this shift actually happens in a given organizational culture. They look in depth at the issues that dominate corporate culture and examine the role of the leadership elite who must be the ones to bring about and embody this cultural shift. Finally, Zohar and Marshall argue that spiritual capital is a valid and workable form of capitalism and detail what we, as individuals, can do to make it happen.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Business

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Bayu_fx · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Abraham Maslow's pyramid was overturned on this book... The first and the most important need to pursue is indeed the need for self-actualization...and then the basic needs will come along with. Then spiritual is not a fanaticism to a spesific religion, its about accepting general values, purpose in life.

[Nurete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I like her ideas but the examples she brings of altruistic or "spiritual" companies are massively over-rated:
Merck - yes, it did give away Mectizan, but it discovered the cure for river blindness by accident (so, no real investment in R&D) and then didn't know what to do with it. Read Hawthorne's The Merck Druggernaut for the full story there.
Coca - Cola? Seriously? How can you call Coca Cola a spiritual company when they steal water from poor communities.
British Petroleum? That's greenwashing. Here's the story in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
or another one if you're so inclined to follow this story:
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...

These big corporations can never be "spiritual" because they are beholden to their shareholders and must report quarterly profits. If we want a new and more enlightened capitalism, we need to change the entire system, not just leave altruism in the hands of a few multinationals and hope they'll do the right thing.

Even if they want to do the right thing, they can't because the system is designed to destroy our environment, our economy and - ultimately - our spirits.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very stimulating and inspiring.

[Stephan Zeijlemaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I re read this book. It has a good intention, but a large part seems superfluous. It's a argument for social entrepreneurship with a big detour in my opinion. Take the wider world into consideration when you do business. To me that's obvious. Do you need to be a spiritual knight for that? I don't think I am. But I think I conduct business that way. Zohar argues that only very few people can perform at a high enough spiritual level to be a knight. I believe most people are able to do the right thing. I does require a paradigm change though.

[Karen Briscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to expand one's understanding beyond IQ and EQ to include SQ. It gives a voice to how to think about the kind of wealth earned by serving fundamental human needs first over short-term bottom-line expediency. Valuable insights into what re-connects people. Karen Briscoe, author "5 Minute Success"

[Afnizar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking, although I appreciate the framing of spiritual intelligence for corporate setting using familiar business terminology and such. I can see how this book can be useful to some nevertheless.

[Danijel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Str. 13 - Duhovna inteligenca je moralna inteligenca, ki nam omogoča razlikovati med dobrim in zlim. .... To je, če hočete, inteligenca naše duše, če menite, da je funkcija duše v človeških bitjih prenos stvari iz globljih in bogatejših razsežnosti človeške domišljije ter duha v naše vsakdanje življenje, družino, organizacije in ustanove.

Str. 56 - Strah nastaja iz strahu pred napakami, izločitvijo iz družbe in izgubo službe. Vse to in spremljajoči odnosi, oblike vedenja in čustvene gonilne silnice so težko breme, ki ga nismo spremeniti.

[Najib · Rating 4 out of 5]

every one have to know that the problem of capitalism is lack of spirituality. Danah Zohar mentions that this problem can make other problems such as lack of happiness, greedy and others. Capitalism without spirituality can be disater for humanity.

[Wendi Susetioadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

dasar pemikiran spiritualitas. menjelaskan mengenai kecerdasan otak ketiga, dimana manusia mulai mencari sebuah value pada apa yang ia kerjakan. pebahasan secara logis dan sedikit sekali menyinggung masalah agama tetapi sangatg mengarahkan pada pengakuan nilai universal yang diakui oleh siapapun.

[gina al ilmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

beneran buku keren banget.
jadi turn my comprehension upside down and back again.
brings u to a new vision about the world..

[Redfawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heard the author on New Dimensions Radio and had to get the book.

[Vivera Siregar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juga diterbitkan oleh Mizan, setelah sukses dengan SQ, termasuk kelompok buku-buku motivasi. Penutup buku ini adalah tulisan ibu Teresa yang sangat memikat.

[Gaylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the scale of motivations a profoundly helpful tool. I use it with leaders and teams.