I use the term “Sufi” to describe a person who focuses on the essence, is grounded in principles, believes in the power of giving and seeks spiritual abundance. “Corporate” describes a person who pursues business excellence, is focused on increasing revenue and profit margins, and seeks material abundance. Together, they describe a person who is business-centric, driven and productive, but also heart-centered, principle-based and balanced. The Corporate Sufi takes a holistic view towards life’s meaning, seeking both material and spiritual abundance to become truly rich.
Why do we need Corporate Sufi?
• Massive corporate success without true personal happiness is a failure.
• Many of the most profound and lasting legacies in our history have been contributed by great leaders who valued life balance, and journeyed beyond monetary goals.
• We are a global village where anything that happens socially, economically and environmentally around the world, affects us all. We cannot ignore our collective responsibility.
The Corporate Sufi injects old world sanity into a 21st century corporate culture of instant gratification, technology-based communications and hyper-competitive thinking. It is up to business leaders to pause and exercise their corporate might to not only lift the economy, but to lift individuals and enable positive change around them.
The Aditya Birla Group in India has made reaching out to less fortunate community’s part of their DNA. This has not stopped them growing from $ 2 billion in sales in 1996 to $ 30 billion annually, and projecting $ 65 billion in 2015. Azim Premji, the Chairman of Wipro in India gave 2 billion US dollars to his foundation but lives a simple economic life.
You do not need to be wealthy to live like a Corporate Sufi. Richness is defined not by how much you have, but how much you give.
Lehman Brothers, Enron, Arthur Andersen and World Com were examples of corporate work without the Sufi component, and they paid a heavy price. In the wake of their actions, they caused immense harm to their employees, their partners, their customers and the general public. We have seen similar examples in India ranging from the 2G telecom licenses to the alleged theft of monies by Commonwealth Games officials in Delhi, to scams based on artificially subsidizing food and fuel for the poor in Uttar Pradesh.
As Corporate Sufis, business leaders can have a far-reaching positive impact to the world around them that moves humanity forward.
The Corporate Sufi believes that we are blessed with power. Some use power wisely and some don’t; and many never use their power at all.
Imagine that your Creator offered you the power to have anything you wanted and to do whatever you wanted. What would you ask for? What would you do? Stop thinking about it, because the truth is you already have all the power you need to fulfill your wishes.
If you only want to achieve business success, then all your actions will gravitate towards that single goal. If you also want to achieve balance and to journey beyond, your actions will reflect those goals. It is up to you what path you choose.
The journey towards achieving true success and richness–or business, balance and beyond–is broken down into five practical commitments you must make to yourself. I have embodied these commitments in the word P.O.W.E.R. to make it easy to remember. The five P.O.W.E.R. commitments are:
• Commitment to Power of Giving: the more you give, the more you have.
• Commitment to Opening Your Innate Gift: open your birth-day gift and shine your light.
• Commitment to Winning Attitude: When you aim high, you reach high.
• Commitment to Enlightened Persistence: know when to persist and when to exit.
• Commitment to Rejuvenation: to be balanced and to be open to the signs the universe gives you.
In my next article we will explore these five commitments the Corporate Sufi Way.