Understanding the Role of Spiritual Health in Career Growth and Development

“You are a Mouse,” he said, “and I am a sworn enemy of Mice. Every Mouse I catch; I am going to eat!”

A Bat had accidentally flown into the nest of a Weasel. The Weasel ran up to catch and eat the bat. The Bat begged for his life, but the Weasel would not listen.

“But I am not a Mouse!” cried the Bat. “Look at my wings. Can Mice fly? Why, I am only a Bird! Please let me go!” The Weasel had to admit that the Bat was not a Mouse, so he let him go.

A few days later, the Bat made the same mistake again, but this time flew blindly into the nest of another Weasel. This Weasel hated Birds, and he soon had the Bat under his claws, ready to eat him.

“You are a Bird,” he said, “and I am going to eat you!”

“What,” cried the Bat, “I, a Bird! Why, all Birds have feathers! I am nothing but a Mouse. ‘Down with all Cats,’ is my motto!”

And so, the Bat escaped with his life a second time.

The story of the Bat and the Weasels is a popular one. While this fable shows us how smart and quick-witted the Bat was, it also teaches us a crucial lesson. It teaches us about what’s needed in huge amounts to grow and develop in one’s career. The cunning mammal teaches us to adapt to our surroundings.

Firstly, if you didn’t already know, bats are not birds but mammals. Why so? The interesting fact is that, unlike birds, bats make milk for their young, much like mammals. A few more differentiators include bats having hair instead of feathers, they don’t lay eggs, and they have a jawbone and sharp teeth.

Why am I giving you a lesson on bats? It’s rather connected to the bat and weasel story here, where the bat has to convince the ignorant weasels about his true nature. But he has to adapt to a certain way of communicating, which helps him get out of a difficult situation, twice.

The Bat could have easily been eaten up by prejudiced Weasels, but with the ability to reason his way out, the Bat succeeded in saving his own life.

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

~Dolly Parton

It’s the same when it comes to growing and developing your career. There will be highs and lows in your career, and many of the lows may compel you to give up. But with the ability to adapt, you can adjust the sails. In doing so, you can build your legacy as a leader, thereby contributing to your career growth and development.

That said, this will depend highly on your Spiritual Health.

Using your Spiritual Health to adapt to your surroundings might just become one of the most important things you will ever do in your leadership journey.

“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.”

~Tuli Kupferberg

Time and again, I’ve advocated the relevance of the FIT Score. Here too, I stress the part where you, as a leader, can work on your Spiritual Health or Quotient (SiQ) in the following ways:

F – Frequency – refers to the number of times you adapt to any situation in your career.

I – Intensity – the scale by which you can intensely adapt to a situation.

T – Tenacity – by which you can hold on to the ability to adapt for as long as you can.

Many leaders have reached out to me and confessed about the times they’ve wanted to simply quit their leadership journey and change the course of their careers. After in-depth leadership coaching and career mentoring, they’ve found respite and resolution in breaking old habits and allowing their Spiritual Quotient to take charge.

I’ve seen many leaders benefit from enhancing their SiQ levels, and in the process, develop their careers to create a legacy of their own. Therefore, the art of adaptation develops a taste for resilience, hence propelling the leader to take flight on the wings of SiQ.

It’s like the best-selling author, Alexandra Elle once said,

Rebirth

There will be moments when

you will bloom fully and then

wilt, only to bloom again.

If we can learn anything from flowers

it is that resilience is born

even when we feel like we are dying