It has been said that a good test of continuous personal development is to ask how often you do something for the first time.  Well as firsts go I have to tell you that last night whilst in Stockholm at the end of a leadership conference the organisers arranged for a group dinner with a twist which for me at least was a definite first. This week I have been in Sweden staying at the S staholm Conference Centre in Stockholm.  The centre was formerly a former retirement home for actors and opera singers providing a fascinating stage for a wannabe thespian like yours truly to train. Set in the Stockholm countryside where the only thing that you can hear at night is the palpable silence this art nouveau facility is an ideal conference venue.

At the end of the first day s training we had standing instructions to present ourselves outside the conference facility at 7:00pm sharp.  The 30 of us hapless conscripts duly complied. When the conference host arrived a great cheer went up but I for one was not prepared what was in store.  The dear lady came complete with thirty one-size-fits-all Viking outfits complete with Viking helmets Oh dear - this was obviously going to be a long night. Not for the t-total or for the fashion conscious.  I dutifully donned my Viking costume, my discomfiture only slightly eased by virtue of the fact that we were all wearing them. However, my sinking feeling was misplaced much to my surprise it was a very enjoyable evening. [I understand that they had an amazing night/early morning too. I made my apologies around 10:00pm and headed off to bed but those more hardy than I endured until about 3:00 am with loud shouts of Skol Skol Skol Skol piercing the silence as they reverberated in the night air. 

Indeed, Viking seafaring songs rang out late into the night; pausing only briefly for an impromptu Eurovision Song Contest. Which extraordinarily the UK did not win! I thought my colleague Jeremy & my [yes I did say my] rendition of There s a hole in my bucket dear Liza was first class: alright maybe not of the Harry Belfonte class but not bad.  Still the judges saw it differently and gave the award to the Finish contestant.

I was in Sweden to lecture on the subject of Emotional Intelligence [EI or EQ] and as I have worked with these executives I couldn t help thinking that the church would be a safer place if only our leaders could develop their EQ.  Sadly we are in the most part clueless to coin a psychologists phrase used to describe leaders who try to strike a resonant tone but are out of touch with the unpleasant fact that their subordinates are stuck in a negative emotional register.

Developing as emotionally intelligent people ought to be the hallmark of the maturing Christian.  The life of Christ in us is all about self-recognition, self-regulation. empathy and relationship management.  Moreover, we have as our tap root something altogether more exciting than EQ and that is Spiritual Intelligence [SQ].   Spiritual intelligence is living from the core, the essence of who we are the essential ego the Christ in us and, if recognised would revolutionise our lives and the lives of those around us.

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