When was the last time our world enjoyed peace? Modern historians might tell you that it was the long peace after World War II, or the hundred years before World War I.
The truth is we modern human beings have not truly known lasting peace since the beginning of time. For peace is not only the absence of conflicts, but also freedom from extreme poverty and deadly plagues.
Therefore, I firmly believe that it is human intelligence that saves humanity by making sure we are through these tough times. Yet, even today despite our advanced universal connections thanks to education and technology we are facing today triple threats; violent global conflicts due to the Russian war on Ukraine, the Coronavirus aftermath, and the rising cost of living due to the global supply chain breakdown.
So, one challenging question today is - will our intelligence that got us here today take us further to tomorrow and beyond?
Leadership intelligences
The role of leaders, all types of leaders, in leading us through tough, and less tough times, cannot be overestimated. There is no historical record of any community, whether simple or sophisticated, that survived by resorting to the intelligence of an individual or a group that identified solutions to overcome tough situations.
According to the authors of the book Leadership Intelligences: 5Qs of Thriving as a Leader, Dr Ali Qassim and Dr Andrew Kakabadse there are five key leadership intelligences or the 5Qs.
First, the one we often hear about is IQ, cognitive intelligence, where leaders have the knowledge to make sound decisions.
Second is EQ, emotional intelligence, where leaders can have the right level of empathy.
Third is PQ, political intelligence, where leaders understand the balance of power related to a certain situation. Two of the more significant and emerging types of intelligences are RQ, resilience quotient, where leaders show ability to survive and thrive through adversity, and MQ, moral intelligence, where leaders have a high sense of right and wrong.
NQ - Inspiration Intelligence
While it is easy to name leaders with exceptional intelligence in the above mentioned five areas. However I must confess that I struggle to name a present-day inspiring global leader.
This could be because of the fact that since the year 2020 conflicts, diseases and cost of living are still raging and a deeply divided global opinion about the causes and the way out of each of these threats.
Why has our advanced world not produced a global leading group or individual that inspires us to agree on basic universal values?
I believe one of our duties today is to nurture a new generation of inspiring human beings, who persuade us to leverage all the blessings around us, to leverage the abundance around us and build forward better.
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