Do You Flow Like Water?

Years ago I was struck by Bruce Lee’s philosophy regarding the martial arts, which was to flow like water. He described limitations of any single style of martial art and trained himself and his students to be extremely adaptable and to utilize whatever works.

This philosophy or principle can work well for us in the field of leadership as well. While there exists a few core principles and practices to strengthen one’s leadership, there is no one style or approach that works in every situation. Consequently the leader of today would benefit by adopting the intention and mantra to “flow like water,” thus providing them with the leadership agility to be successful in any given situation.

“Visions change, but as the vision evolves, the leader needs to be sure that the ‘sacred center’ – what everyone holds as paramount remains intact.”  – Daniel Goleman

From an organizational perspective that sacred core is the purpose and values of the organization, those things that guide both the “why” and the “how” people behave in the organization. From a leadership perspective that sacred center or core is your overall Leadership Quotient™ – the measure of your Integrated Intelligence™ in four critical areas:

Physical Leadership Quotient -PLQ – the amount of physical energy you bring to your role.

Mental Leadership Quotient – ILQ – the flexibility of thought that demonstrates integration and balance between the left and right sides of the brain – whole brain thinking.

Emotional Leadership Quotient – ELQ – the ability to read and connect with others at the heart level.

Spiritual Leadership Quotient – SLQ – connection to your core and to the infinite intelligence that guides us all.

Overall the more regular and integrated our practices are in these four areas, the more connected to our sacred core and the more vital we are, which significantly enhances our ability to “flow like water,” and lead in any situation or circumstance.