The pages that follow are dedicated to my research on Spiritual Intelligence. In October of 2008, I completed my dissertation for a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology at Alliant International University, San Fancisco, CA. My research in this area is ongoing because of the implications of spiritual intelligence for leadership. Many fine researchers are studying spiritual intelligence from a number of perspectives. What follows is my perspective, one amongst a handful of perspectives. It is my hope that in sharing my research with you, it will open up new and challenging areas of investigation and provide some responses, if not answers, to the many questions about spiritual intelligence. My dissertation is entitled: A Qualitative Study of Spiritual Intelligence in Organizational Leaders.

A Description of the Research
    A phenomenological study was conducted with organizational leaders based on their self descriptions in order to address these questions: How do organizational leaders experience spiritual intelligence? What is the content of their spiritual intelligence experiences? The study sought to ascertain whether spiritual intelligence functions in organizational leaders, how it functions, and to what extent it functions. 
     Six organizational leaders ranging between 30-69 in age and between 2-12 years in leadership experience, who each oversee a minimum of five subordinates were, interviewed using open-ended, face-to-face interviews that sought to ascertain the essences of their spiritual intelligence experiences. The data was analyzed using phenomenological methodology and reported. 
    The results demonstrated that each leader experiences spiritual intelligence differently, and that the content of each leaders experience—as it is reflected in the essential themes—also differs. The results also demonstrated that (a) spiritual intelligence functions in the day-to-day responsibilities of organizational leaders; (b) spiritual intelligence functions differently for each leader; and (c) spiritual intelligence plays a prominent role in the leadership practices of spiritually intelligent leaders. Spiritual intelligence is used by organizational leaders to lead their organizations effectively, to enhance organizational productivity, and to influence the organizational culture.
Findings
    The findings suggest that the way in which the organizational leaders in this study experience spiritual intelligence is directly related to (a) what they believe about what they perceive as an essential relationship, i.e., God, the church, the Bible, sacred and other writings; (b) how they interpret and apply the sacred writings and other writings (history and culture); (c) how they exercise spiritual disciplines and other practices connected with their spiritual development (faith, integrity, reading, and journaling); and (d) how their beliefs, interpretations, and exercise of spiritual disciplines and practices are manifested in their leadership interactions. 
    The content of organizational leaders’ experiences varies according to (a) how they perceive their relationship to God, whether directly or indirectly; (b) how they perceive themselves; and (c) how they perceive their responsibilities to their respective organizations. The data from the coresearchers’ interviews show that there is a clear link between the coresearcher’s exercise of spiritual intelligence and their identities. That is to say that spiritual intelligence appears to occupy a critical place in how coresearchers perceive themselves and desire to be perceived by others, particularly by their subordinates. 
    The coresearchers’ concerns for their self-perceptions and how their subordinates perceive them is shaped by (a) coresearchers’ direct and indirect relationships with God, and (b) coresearchers’ exercise of their spiritual disciplines and practices. Additionally, the coresearchers’ identities are impacted by their occupations, and their positions as leaders.    
    The findings also revealed that (a) spiritual intelligence functions in the day-to-day responsibilities of organizational leaders; (b) spiritual intelligence functions differently for each leader; and (c) spiritual intelligence plays a prominent role in the leadership practices of spiritually intelligent leaders.
Limitations of the Study
1. The absence of empirical data in general and phenomenological data specifically in the spiritual intelligence paradigm does not allow for any comparison or contrast, but rather opens a new vista within the discourse. As such, this study should be seen as formative to the extent that it has raised questions about the philosophical bases for extant conceptions of spiritual intelligence, and, by implication, directed the inquiry toward an assessment of the historical traditional use of the term “spiritual” as opposed to its more common term “spirituality” in the literature.
2. The pursuit of what informs organizational leaders’ conceptions of their spiritual intelligence is as important as the assumptions with which they operate in regard to spiritual intelligence. The former may contain those elements that confirm the leaders’ experiences and validate their assumptions, whereas the latter may serve to simply confirm that organizational leaders have been exposed at some level to information, but not necessarily to experience. This study aimed at what informs organizational leaders’ conceptions of their spiritual intelligence but initially focused on the assumptions with which they operate in regard to spiritual intelligence. That is to say, an entire study could be devoted to the pursuit or inquiry of those elements that have been critical to shaping a conception of spiritual intelligence and that have been confirmed by experience; nevertheless, this study represents a starting point from which a broader frame of inquiry can be encouraged.
3. Just as evolution made a futile attempt to construct an entire creature from a single tooth, it would be overly optimistic to think that from this single research study a cogent theory and conception of spiritual intelligence could be formulated. Realistically, this study is a small piece in a rather new and unfamiliar puzzle that has many pieces straining for even a remote association philosophically, methodologically, and structurally. Along with other literature in this genre, this study may provide hints and clues that over time will hopefully contribute to a whole. More phenomenological studies with larger numbers of organizational leaders from wider and more diverse demographics could add significantly to the body of knowledge and give impetus to a much-needed discourse that may inform us of more effective ways to lead and influence organizations.
4. Coresearchers’ interviews are a rich source of data that could be used  in constructing scales for the quantitative analysis of spiritual intelligence in organizational leaders. A much larger sample could add to the reliability and validity such a study. The major themes from the coresearcher s’ interview analyses could be used as variables in a quantitative study; however, a greater number of interviews would contribute to the reliability of the data.
    Finally, my worldview brings a fresh perspective to social science—one that has a distinctly theological bent and assumptions forged deeply from a theistic philosophical orientation. That worldview is also shaped by 22 years of pastoral ministry but in the vastness of what is understood to be the world, my worldview is a reflection of an incomplete processing of many things: a first word as opposed to a final word, a journey as opposed to having reached a destination.
    In the pages that follow, I will share some of what I deem to be the "critical insights" that have emerged out of my research.

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