Newsletter

GODSun Perspective on
Spirituality, Leadership and Business

January 2023                                                                                                                                                              Vol: 0123

Exploring the Interconnectedness of Spirituality, Leadership and Business

The purpose of this newsletter is to help people see the interconnectedness between the spiritual, leadership and business and to recognize the need to be able to move fluidly between the three at any given time. This ability will generate power and excellence in whatever you do.
Most of the writings will be based on my experiences and observations as well as, in some cases scientific thought on the matter. I also try to unpack the concept of spirituality and the impact that it can have on our lives.
Writing and putting my thoughts and experiences with these three entities in a newsletter format for people to read is a new venture for me. I will be doing a monthly release and I hope that the thoughts and information posted here will encourage, enlighten, perhaps cause you to ask questions, but most importantly that you will grow and be blessed by it.
The picture to the right was taken by me at Seaworld and I put it here because I thought it is a good representation of how more than one thing can be housed in the same vessel.

Spirituality
Human beings are a three part entity: body, soul and spirit. In our North American culture we have focussed more on the body than on the soul or spirit. This may be the case globally but I am not in a position to make that judgement. As a result of our increased and intentional focus on the body I believe that we have more mental health challenges than say we had 50 years ago. The UK did a body image report which can be found at the link below if you want to read more on this topic. Anorexia and self mutilation have become a common occurrence today especially among our youth. Partly due to the focus on the least important aspect of the human being: the body. The physical body will grow old and eventually die. But our soul (will, mind and emotions) and spirit are eternal.
In reality we are spiritual beings housed in a physical body. Unfortunately, many have lost connection with their spiritual part and some may consider it non existent because it is not visible. As a human being we function as a spirit being that directs the soul which impacts the body. It is only with our spirit that we can connect with God, if you believe in God, because God is spirit. There have been countless stories of people who have died and left their physical body.

What left their body? Their spirit and soul. I include soul because in these recounted stories, the entity is thinking and questioning. You cannot do that without a functioning mind. Think of the body as a coat that we put on. If we take the coat off and drop it on the floor, the coat no longer has the ability to move. This is a similar analogy of the spirit of man that is housed in a body. When the spirit departs the body is useless. In other words you are not your body. You are your spirit and soul. When we focus on our outward appearance exclusively we have missed the most important facets of who we are.
We are not our face, no matter how beautiful or handsome it may be. How many of you have met a good looking person and wanted to get to know them and then were sorry that you did? Yeah, you were sorry that you destroyed your misconception of who they were based on their face/body. They looked good on the outside but they were self centered and conceited and someone you didn’t want to be around. You’ve also met people who were not that good looking but were wonderful to be around. They were kind and generous and made you feel good about yourself just by being in their presence. Their outward appearance wasn’t them. The saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is so true because the cover is not the book. What’s important is the content and the content of a human being is their soul and spirit. I shall delve into this in greater detail next month in my next newsletter.

Leadership
What is leadership? Often when we think of leadership we think of those who hold a position of authority. And that may be true but you can hold a position of authority and not be a leader if you are afraid to make decisions or tackle difficult situations. I have read numerous articles that indicate that the percentage of managers or leaders that avoid having difficult conversations ranges from (50 – 94)%. The 94% was a shock to me because part of leadership is recognizing or acknowledging what is going on in your sphere of influence and handling any challenges or activities that may cause problems. That could include having that difficult conversation with an employee who is not doing their job or who is creating dissension in the team. It only takes one negative person or nay sayer to seriously impact the progress of the team, since you can count on it that what they may be saying publically in your presence is more toxic and damaging when you are not around. And, unfortunately, those comments are more than likely being directed to the other staff and perhaps even your customers. You can also hold a position of authority and be a follower or a puppet. This will be the case if you consistently allow the strongest person on the team to set the direction and the activities of the organization. I believe that at some point in our lives we will all be called upon to lead. This leadership could be required in your home, place of work, at a volunteer position or in a moment of crises. In each case you need to be prepared because it could mean the difference between wealth or poverty, life or death, joy or sorrow, freedom or slavery.
Great leaders have character and integrity in common. They know the difference between right and wrong and they consistently choose the right way, not the expedient way, even if it is going to cost them something. They have strong convictions and they do not conform in spite of the pressure put on them to do so. Some examples of great leaders are Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther, Margaret Thatcher, etc. These leaders created a better world for everyone with peace, love and justice being their modus operandus. We have also had leaders who caused great harm such as Adolf Hitler, Nero, Mao Zedung, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, etc. There have been so many bad leaders in the 20th century that it is difficult to comprehend what is going on. If you want more information on good and bad leaders in the 20th century check out Jan-Benedict Steenkamp. He has many more listed in both camps than I came up with.
The difference between these two groups of leaders is that one group worked for the people. For justice, freedom and prosperity. The other worked for power and self agrandissement. Both groups had a vision, had passion for what they believed in and were willing to do whatever it took to move their vision/dream forward. One group was willing to pay whatever the cost to achieve their goal and the other group would do whatever they could to make others pay for the achievement of their dream. One group valued mankind and the other group saw mankind as expendable and a means to an end. Their actions implied that they thought man was so much carbon matter to be used, abused and then thrown away. Their thirst for power and position caused them to lose sight of right and wrong and the provision of justice for all. But, in every case each person, daily, had the freedom and the opportunity to choose which path she or he was going to take. The decisions that they were making were based on the thoughts that they had let fill their heads. Thoughts of well-being, compassion and peace or thoughts of revenge, hate and division. Both groups were concerned about well-being but both were not interested in the well-being of all. One was for peace and the other was for war because it is during war and chaos that one can take control of the masses since the masses want security. If there is chaos and division you can tell which type of leadership you are living under.

Business
Ultimately business is service. A successful business is one that has seen a need and has created a solution to the need. Business requires that one looks outward to see what the needs may be in the community and then determine how they, the individual, in real practical terms can solve the problem for the largest number of people. I won’t be dealing with scams who are people looking outward to see how many people they can dupe and rip off. That is not good business nor one that you can be proud of. It is like being a drug dealer and constantly looking over your shoulder to see whether you are in danger of being found out. Business requires that you know what people want and why. Business is not a process of forcing something on people that they don’t want. You can manufacture as many brightly coloured activating widgets as you want but if people don’t want the product or service you won’t have any sales. And no sales means no business in the final analysis.
Business requires a vision, an outward perspective, the ability to make decisions and then act on those decisions as effectively and efficiently as possible. It is not just the putting up of a business shingle and/or putting your business name on your vehicle. It also requires planning, marketing and execution. So, if you want to start a business you need to have an idea and that idea needs to be developed. If you think that you need to get a loan because you don’t have sufficient cash on hand to get set up you are going to need to create a business plan that will clearly outline your vision/dream. In this plan you need to identify what your product or service may be, who your product is targetted towards and why. In other words you need to know the demographics of your potential customers. Once you know your demographics you are in a position to be able to estimate how much they are going to spend on your product or service. This number has to be realistic since it will dictate 1) how much money you may be able to borrow; 2) how much product you will need to purchase or manufacture; 3) it will indicate your ability to cover your operating costs, which also includes loan repayments and lastly; 4) it will indicate your ability to grow and to become more financially secure.
It is good practice to have a plan regardless of whether you need a loan or not. A plan means that you have a goal that you are walking towards. Habakkuk 2:2 in the bible, tells us to write the vision and make it clear so that those who run can easily read it. So, no matter how fast you move towards your goal, if it is written down you will know that you are still on the path and you’ll be able recognize the streams that can flow into your vision and get you to your goal quicker. You’ll also be able to identify the red herrings that will take you off of your path. With a plan you’ll know what to say ‘yes to and what to say ‘no’ to no matter how good the opportunity seems.
In order to start a business you need to determine your business structure, The type of business structure that you decide upon will impact how your income is taxed, which of course will impact your money. There are three types of business structures in Canada.
A sole proprietorship is the most simple type of business. You, the owner, is the only one who is responsible for all debts and obligations of the business. If you use your name as the name of your business you don’t have to register it with the province. If you want to use a name other than your own the government requires that you register it which requires that you do a search to make sure that no one else is using that name or anything close to that name. There is a fee for this process.
A partnership is where you and at least one other person own the business. A partnership agreement needs to be drawn up to protect each partner and to determine the terms of the business. In other words, who is responsible for what. This is necessary in case any disputes arise or the business needs to be wound up. Partners share in the profits and liabilities based on the terms of the business agreement.
With sole proprietorships and partnerships, any profit made is accounted for on your personal tax return. With partnerships that will be based on the partnership agreement.
I will deal with the last structure in my next newsletter.

Sunday Miller