There is one more important factor which needs careful attention for effective talent management. It is the higher ranges of consciousness beyond our surface mentality. This factor is ignored in most of the discussions on talent-management. What is not recognized is that all exceptional or extraordinary performance or talent in whatever field of human activity comes not from the surface mentality but from the deeper and higher layers of consciousness beyond it.

According to integral psychology, there are three layers in our human consciousness: surface, subliminal and spiritual. The surface being is the consciousness formed around our physical being. This part of our consciousness is severely limited and conditioned in all its faculties. Nothing great or extraordinary can come out of our surface being. Behind the surface mind, there is a deeper subliminal consciousness which is not bound by the body and therefore wider and vaster than the surface being; it is in some form of inner contact with the universal mind or vital energy and therefore has a much greater capacity for knowledge, feeling, action, energy and intuition. As we plunge deeper and further beyond the subliminal we can come into some form inner contact with the deepest and inner most spiritual core of our being or the spiritual realms of our consciousness which is the source of our highest potential or talents.

As we have indicated earlier, all form of extraordinary performance or achievement in thought or action, in science, philosophy or literature, in business, society or politics, ethics, religion or spirituality receive their impulse, inspiration or intuition from these deeper and higher levels of consciousness. Most of the manifest talents in the corporate world are more or less partial expression of this deeper higher range of consciousness.

For example it is said about Napoleon that he used to take a short nap in his chair and come out with great energy; it is perhaps not a nap but a form of meditation by which he was able to come into contact with his subliminal source of vital energy. Napoleon was perhaps more conscious of the source of his high energy than many other high-achievers or performers.

This brings us to the question is it possible to consciously and systematically come into contact with this higher ranges of consciousness? If we are able to do it both individually and collectively, we are tapping into a tremendous strategic source of human talent and potential. There are methods and practices in Indian yoga which can help us to come into conscious contact with this higher range of consciousness. The first step is to constantly step back inwardly from the thoughts, feeling and impulse of the surface being. As we progress deeper and further into this practice of stepping back, it becomes a witness-consciousness, which means the ability to watch and observe the movements of the surface being as a detached and uninvolved witness. The third practice is inner peace and silence. The surface mind has to be stilled for the higher ranges of consciousness beyond it to come forward. The fourth practice is inner concentration or meditation. We must reserve some time everyday for silencing our surface mind and turning our consciousness with a focused concentration on our inner and higher ranges of consciousness.

For harnessing the higher ranges of talent in people these yogic practices have to become part of the training programme for employees.

Nivas

The author is a student and practitioner in the path of integral yoga.