Leading from the Heart (Sufi Principles at Work)

Leading from the Heart: Sufi Principles at Work merges management with spirituality. The author has given Sufi sagacity, a theme of spirituality, a new dimension by blending it with leadership in all realms of life. The book is an attempt to sensitize the hearts and fill the souls of managers and leaders with Sufi sagacity. It aspires to rebuild confidence in ancient values, virtues and wisdom, which are distancing from us with the passage of time. It assists readers in taking a sharp U-turn from ‘what we think is good’ to ‘what is really good.

Within these pages, the reader will find an exhaustive study of many Sufis and their thoughts in prose and poetry. Besides Sufis, the book also focuses on Chinese philosophy, especially Wu Wei, Tai Chi, Yin/Yang and iChing, and on Lao Tzu’s book Tao Te Ching. These complex philosophies have been presented in an accessible manner.

Moid Siddiqui is the Managing Director of Intellects Biz, which is highly regarded for its innovative training workshops on management themes. Triple post-graduate in Sociology, Political Science, and Social Work and Business Management, he is popularly known as the ‘Management Monk.

Mr Siddiqui has served corporate India in senior and board-level positions with premier public and private sector organizations. He has also served a management institute— Centre for Organization Development (COD)—as Senior Professor. He is the author of 15 books on management themes, including Corporate Soul, Who Will Bell the Cat? and The Acrobatics of Change (all published by SAGE), and numerous articles in professional journals of high repute. His spiritual work has found place in the famous Chicken Soup series.

I have once again submitted to the direction of Management Monk Moid Siddiqui in penning this foreword for his latest masterpiece Leading from the Heart—Sufi Principles at Work. As Moid’s co-author of The Acrobatics of Change (2008), I was launched as an author entirely due to his motivation, guidance and inspiration. For unfathomable reasons, Moid sahib continues to embarrass me by heaping praises on me which I do not deserve. However, for me his wish is always a command and I consider it a great privilege and honour to write the foreword of this book.

I have gone through the draft of Leading from the Heart. 1 find my heart and soul in supreme harmony with the central theme of this book, which can be encapsulated in the following extract:

Fill your heart with so much love and passion that there remains no place for hatred. For this you are required to undertake a great journey—a journey from your head to heart. The common DNA of all great leaders is they travelled from head to heart, they lead from within.

I strongly recommend the approach of this book, which focuses on learning from Sufism. The emphasis on secularism, journey from head to heart, marinating leadership in humility and leading from inside out are compelling, lyrical and over-powering. Moid sahib has consistently focused on the human aspects of management in today’s crassly materialistic environment where the pre- dominant value is to be ‘value-less’. The relevance of Moid will grow exponentially as we witness further degradation of human actions. Like a true pioneer, Moid continues to relentlessly walk a narrow, dark and treacherous path, constantly singing hymns till his tongue bleeds for upholding the values of humanism, secularism, spiritualism and Sufism.

We all grapple with contradictions and paradoxes in our daily existence on planet earth. Sadly, we are witnessing constant deterioration in the moral fibre of human society. The true Sufi is one who never gives up, no matter what the odds. Moid is a genuine Sufi who has written books with titles like Corporate Soul, Soul Inc. and 50 Soul Stories. His writings relentlessly reinforce moral values and these are powerfully brought out in Leading from the Heart.

It is my fond hope that this book will reach the widest possible range of readers. This is ‘A Must Read Book’ for all persons who are engaged in genuine efforts of self-improvement and in battling nearly insurmountable challenges in day-to-day life. Books continue to be one of the most powerful tools for gaining knowledge and wisdom. It is my sincere hope that Leading from the Heart will inspire all those who read it and contribute to their inner awakening. The awakened readers will then make consistent and serious efforts to change their value systems. The changed value systems will be reflected in their changed actions. Only then the cycle will be complete.

I conclude this foreword with the fervent appeal to readers of this book to always spot the glow worms in the pitch darkness of hopelessness. We should lead ‘from the Heart’. We should be part of the solution and not the problem. We should attempt to see the divine light in this enveloping darkness. If this happens, Moid would have succeeded in his noble mission of imparting Sufi values in today’s kalyug.

May all readers take their first tentative and unsure steps as they embark on the journey of Leading from the Heart based on the values on Sufism. I strongly recommend this book to all readers who are prepared to accept and unleash their inherent nobility. We should all regenerate our innate sense of goodness and justice and crush negative and materialistic values. Let us all attempt to lead from the Heart.

The ancient Indian sages called the era in which we live today as Kali Yuga (age of the demon or the age of vices). As per Indian scriptures, this is the last of four stages the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga. What the ancient sages could see, our eyes can- not see. But nothing prevents us pondering upon: Are we not living in the era where something strange 1s happening—profane 1s taken as pure and sacred 1s mistaken as sordid?

There are two ways to think and shape our approach—Surrender or Strive! I have opted for the latter. Our job is to build the Ark before the Deluge strikes. God helps those who help themselves. God bends the heavens and paves the path with success for those who demonstrate courage. Who built the Ark? Noah—the leader of the community. A single leader could save the entire community. Leaders are important. The corrupted leaders can corrupt the world and corporate world; the honest leaders can protect the world and corporate world with their sagacity. Sufi Sagacity is the need of the day. Our sages, saints and Sufis never defy. What they said hundreds of years back, today we are witnessing the degeneration in societies. The pace of value-corruption is fast, which is accelerating with every cockcrow. What didn’t happen in eons has happened in the recent past few decades! I wonder if this is happening by chance! Well, to me, just like a crazy monkey by mindlessly pressing the keys of the keyboard cannot create a poem of Shakespeare, the events shaping our worlds are but a well-articulated master plan.

Since the degeneration is taking place at the level of leadership, the corrective measures should also be taken at the same level. Hence this attempt to rekindle the soul of leadership, through this book Leading from the Heart: Sufi Principles at Work.

I recognize it is not easy to sell the truth with sweet words. Lao Tzu—the Old Master—said over 2,500 years back: ‘Truthful words are not beautiful and beautiful words are not truthful.’ The readers will sometime find some of the text punctuated with harsh words and loud viewpoints, which, in fact, contains medicinal value.

The architect of the problems cannot become the Messiah. Nevertheless, today it is happening. Sitting on the riches of the ill-gotten coffers, many corrupt leaders sermonise their people to leave corruption. Those who are unchaste preach people to be chaste. Further, some political leaders try to seek solution through legislation. They understand not that the problems of such high magnitude cannot be solved through legislative resolutions. This will not grind until we go to the root of the problem. For this rea- son we need Sufi Sagacity in leadership. Going to the roots is an art that we can learn from Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius). If the leaders want to understand their people, there is no other root to reach them except through the heart. If the leaders want their people to be virtuous, first they have to fill their hearts with love and wisdom.

**Contents and Sample Pages**