Why the future of business and entrepreneurial leadership is spiritual, not transactional

You have attained every metric you chased, and yet still you sit at the top of a life that feels empty. Why is that?

For businesses to remain sustainable, there needs to be a radical shift in how hard work and dedication are defined.

Businesses, most often, run on models that value pushing harder, scaling faster and treating people as opportunities to optimise. That model may have produced fortunes, headlines and short-term wins, but, it also produced an epidemic: burned bodies, frayed relationships, leaders who have lost meaning and teams who are running on autopilot. Did you know that about three in four employees report feeling workplace burnout at least sometimes, and roughly one in four experience it very often or always? Yep, you read that right!

The World Health Organization now recognises burn-out as an occupational phenomenon, not a personal failing, and defines it as exhaustion, mental distance from work and reduced professional efficacy. That is not a leadership problem you fix with another KPI, is it? It is a human crisis that demands a different system of operating.

Loneliness is rising alongside these trends. People who perform at the top of the game are telling us they feel isolated, even while sitting in luxury. Loneliness and lack of connection are not just personal problems, they erode creativity, focus and resilience at large scale.

Living Legacy framework helps leaders shape their actions and decisions so they leave a meaningful impact, both in business and beyond.

So what do we do? Do we keep convincing ourselves that success equals sacrifice? Or do we stop and ask a braver question: what kind of leadership actually sustains people and produces better results? My answer is this. The future of leadership is spiritual, not transactional. By spiritual I do not mean religious. I mean leadership rooted in presence, meaning, love and ethical courage. It is a leadership that understands inner life affects outer results. My Living Legacy framework helps leaders shape their actions and decisions so they leave a meaningful impact, both in business and beyond.

This isn’t wishful thinking, research shows that purpose and spirituality in business have tangible, and measurable impact. A clear lived purpose consistently improves innovation, engagement, and long-term value. Purpose isn’t the opposite of profit, it's how profit is created.  

Purpose isn’t the opposite of profit, it is how profit is created.

Research shows that spiritual leadership, cultivating vision, altruistic love, and faith in others, increases proactive behaviour, organisational citizenship, and discretionary effort. When people work in environments that honour meaning and connection, they actually perform better.

There is academic evidence that spiritual leadership, the kind that cultivates vision, altruistic love and faith in others, increases proactive behaviours, organisational citizenship and discretionary effort. Simply, when people work in environments that honour meaning and connection, they show up differently and perform better.

Yet we carry myths that block this shift. Who told us we cannot love in business? Who taught leaders that compassion will make you weak? Leading with presence and vulnerability asks more of you than loud management theatrics. It asks you to slow down, to feel what you have been avoiding and to choose differently in each meeting, each decision and each contract. And, yes, the truth is uncomfortable. 

Here are five practical moves leaders can make this week to begin the shift:

1. Start meetings with a one-minute check-in, not an announcement. Presence is a discipline, not a-nice-to-have.

2. Create a Purpose Contract. Make the team’s contribution to people explicit and measurable.

3. Ritualise recognition. Small, consistent rituals cut through cynicism and build belonging.

4. Protect deep work and deep rest. Model boundaries that safeguard replenishment.

5. Use embodied resets. Sound, breath and short guided pauses reduce reactivity and increase clarity.

Leading with love is not naive. It is effective leadership that nourishes the inner life and the bottom line. Love in this context means active concern for human thriving, radical candour mixed with compassion, and holding power with responsibility. When leaders cultivate psychological safety, employees bring energy, creativity and loyalty. When leaders connect work to deeper purpose, innovation and retention follow. In short, leading with care and purpose strengthens both people and business outcomes.

This is what I bring to my practice at Sound Consciousness and why I run the Executive Reset retreats. Sound resets the nervous system. Guided rituals and embodied practices move leaders out of reactivity and into agency. In my work I teach leaders to notice the gap between what they have built and the inner sense of meaning they long for. The Executive Reset is an experiential one day opportunity to stop running and to remember how leadership with presence and love actually looks and feels. It’s grounded, practical, and asks for true courage in action.

Finally, there is a courage tax to pay. You’ll lost the safety of always being busy and it will cost you the avoidance of difficult feelings. But the alternative is worse. It’s for certain that leadership that chooses vulnerability, presence and purpose is the harder path. It is also the path that produces sustained performance, real connection and a life that is actually worth the effort.

If you are a leader who is tired of the treadmill and ready to step into something more aligned, this is your invitation. Not to leave the business world behind, but to bring a truer self to it. To lead with love and to measure success by both the balance sheet and the heart.

If you want a high-impact experience that reboots decision making, restores clarity and connects you back to purpose DM me about the next Executive Reset, where we bring these practices to life through mini-deaths reflections, Living Legacy exercises, and Die Before You Die contemplations. Next retreat is fast approaching, Thursday 23rd October, at the Royce Hotel in Melbourne. I will provide sound practices and a practical framework to bring the shift back into your work.

References:

1. Gallup. State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report. Available at: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

   • Statistic: “About three in four employees report feeling workplace burnout at least sometimes, and roughly one in four very often or always.”

2. World Health Organization. Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. 2019. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon

   • Definition: occupational burnout includes exhaustion, mental distance, and reduced professional efficacy.

3. Cigna. U.S. Loneliness Index. Cigna Group Newsroom, 2020. Available at: https://www.cigna.com/about-us/newsroom/studies-and-reports/loneliness-index

   • Insight: Rising loneliness impacts health, productivity, and wellbeing.

4. Deloitte. The Purpose Premium: How purpose-led companies outperform. Deloitte Insights, 2022. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/strategy/mission-driven-organizations.html

   • Finding: Purpose-driven organisations outperform peers in innovation, engagement, and long-term value.

5. Fry, L. W. (2003). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 693–727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.09.001

Finding: Spiritual leadership, including altruistic love and vision, is linked to proactive workplace behaviours and discretionary effort.

---

This article is authored by Nicole Sultana, who holds a Post Graduate Degree in Spiritual Care, a Post Graduate Certificate in Business (Marketing), and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Sports & Exercise. In addition, she is a Certified Therapeutic Sound Practitioner and a Death Doula. Nicole is the founder of Sound Consciousness, a company that offers wellbeing strategies and therapeutic sound practices to help individuals achieve peak performance in their professional lives, sporting endeavours, relationships, and personal aspirations.

If you found this article meaningful, leave a comment and share it with someone else who may benefit. Sharing our experiences helps us all learn, grow, and heal together. We welcome lively discussions, as they contribute to our multifaceted humanity. Let's remember to approach discussions with respect and kindness at heart.