Ary Ginanjar: G-Spot Business

We are not talking about sex. We are talking about management and business. While sex educators had introduced G-Spot few decades ago, only recently that we could discuss G-Spot, this time God-Spot, openly in this country. Board of directors should discuss G-Spot as it has budget impact. The state agencies, including tax agency, also has to take this issue seriously as a new source of tax income.

Ary Ginanjar Agustian, the owner and president of Emotional Spiritual Quotient (ESQ) Leadership Center, is the man who make it popular and it is a good business. Some even believe Ginanjar found the G-Spot Theory.

Eight years ago, scientist in California, USA announced a research result that they have discovered a God Module (G-Spot) in the brain, which could be responsible for man’s evolutionary instinct to believe in religion. A study of epileptics who are known to have profoundly spiritual experiences has located a circuit of nerves in the front of the brain, which appears to become electrically active when they think about God.

That was the report published by Los Angeles Times in 1997.

Dr. Ebrahim Kazim in his article Activate your God-Spot few months ago said that Allah might have put a God-spot in the brain because it is His sovereign choice to be in relationship to humankind in order that we could develop it further if we want to understand more about Him.

In Indonesia, G-Spot Training is a lucrative business. Just like some trainers in Western Countries quoting phrases from Bible, ESQ's God-Spot Training mix modern management with Koran's teaching. According to staffs at ESQ Center, cost for such training is Rp2.75 million per head. ESQ is also introducting group pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for its alumni in a program called ESQ 99 Flight.

Ask the staffs, managers, and directors of state-owned enterprises, what kind of training that they should attend?

The answer is Emotional Spiritual Quotient (ESQ). As quoted by Kompas newspaper, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Sugiharto asked all SOE staffs to take the ESQ training conducted by ESQ Leadership Center.

Even though no formal letter, Indonesian, especially executives at SOE sees Sugiharto’s statement as an order. They have to abide!

The result is clear. PT Telkom Tbk, the largest company in Jakarta Stock Exchange, had sent 500 of its executives to attend the training for 4 days.

Was it good?

“The result of ESQ training is extraordinary,” Kristiono, CEO of Telkom commented in the paper. Kristiono had been kicked out last month from his post.

Do you know how much Telkom should pay? Rp1 billion minimum.

Pertamina, the largest SOE in the country, already sent thousands of staffs to attend the training. Peruri, the company that print money and bank notes, have sent 2,500 staffs.

Pertamina, PLN, Telkom, Pupuk Kaltim, Pupuk Sriwijaya, Krakatau Steel, Taspen, Rajawali Nusindo, Peruri, PTPN, and Garuda Indonesia are some of clients listed in ESQ’s website. Even Director General for Tax and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are other non-SOE clients. But rarely we see private-owned companies in the list except Medco Energy.

Imagine that ESQ has trained 47,000 people. Take Rp2 million per head, ESQ has made almost Rp100 billion.

With such achievement, business magazine SWA named Ginanjar as one of The Most Powerful People and Ideas in Business 2004.

Born March 24, 1965, Ginanjar enrolled at engineering school of Udayana University in Bali and then Tafe College in Adelaide, Australia. Cleric KH Habib Adnan (chairman of Bali MUI branch) was his main mentor.

In a relative short period, ESQ Leadership has branch in 10 provinces accross the nation. Most of the trainers are young guns in their 20s or 30s. Skepticism arise though, especially staffs at SOEs, especially effectivity of ESQ in daily working condition. "Sometimes, people like us just has no choice. But as long as the company pay the training, I don't care," said one of SOE staffs.

Others simply attend the training to follow the order. "If the minister ask us to have ESQ training, we will do it. Regarding corruption in SOEs, well...it has nothing to do with that," said one executive at a state-owned company.

Some are questioning the leadership experience of ESQ trainers. "They are so young and no experience in dealing with business world and real working environment," said other executive.

But nobody doubt Ginanjar's leadership that bring God-Spot into a big business, just like Aa Gym (famous Moslem cleric & preacher) with his Qolbu Management. Tax officers should start to look into their balance sheet then....

And since G-Spot is a business, government and SOEs should implement business approach as well in its decision whether to use ESQ, Qolbu Management or the likes. State officers should open a transparent bid to make sure competition is there.

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