“Being wise” seems to be a bit old fashion, however, as a
leader, pursuit of wisdom is the only path to reach high maturity, from good to great, or from important to significant, as wisdom is not as superficial as winning, or as
countable as gray hairs, there are three “W”s in wise leaders.
1. WHY
A wise leader doesn’t always know
everything, however, a wise leader always has curiosity to understand things
deeper or look at things from different angle. Leadership is more about digging
into WHY, while management is more about knowing how.
· A wise
leader is “ageless”: Age does make one mature, however, wisdom is neither
equal to gray hairs nor wrinkles, though age may give one experience, getting
older does not always make one wiser, a wise leader shouldn’t always be
portrayed as an elder at golden age; we can also see the wisdom seeds in
youngsters, like bamboo shoot or sunshine in the morning, they bring fresh
thinking or ask deep questions. Thus, a wise leader is “ageless”, more open to
unknown, more substantial than style, more agile to changes.
· A wise
leader lead from reflection: Wisdom combines knowledge, reflection and
experience, a senior leader may lead from experience; a younger leader may lead
from imitation; but an “ageless” wise leader will lead from reflection.
2. WEIGHT
Not only does wisdom have dimensions, but also it has
“gravity”, as cleverness is not wisdom, or style only can not convey wisdom,
one need gain some weight in the mind or encounter a few failures in the life
to refine leadership wisdom:
- Leadership Gravity: A wise leader
does need the “gravity” in the heart or put the “weight” in the mind:
Leadership Gravity means the humble attitude but higher aptitude, be
confident with humility, “down to earth” with flying thinking; forward
looking but act wisely. A wise leader shows that style is no substitute
for substance, that knowing certain facts is not more powerful than simple
wisdom.
- Weigh in Multitude of Decision factors: As a leader, perhaps the most important thing is to make decision, a wise leader will weigh in multitude of decision factors and balance opposite viewpoint in making right decision at the right time or dealing with uncertainty or change. A wise leader has ability to unify all necessary elements of intelligence in the service of a common good and noble purpose. Wisdom is also not equal to knowledge, but how you use knowledge, to transform to intelligence, then transcend into wisdom and influence.
3. WORD-LESS
Silence is Golden, Speech is
Silver. –American Proverb
A wise leader is usually not the
smartest person in the room, as old saying: A great wise person seems like a
fool, does not practice conventional wisdom. A wise leader has courage to breakthrough
barriers and constraint, but also has essential pieces of awareness, grows
a depth of empathy and goes beyond smartness.
· Think
Deeper, than just Speak Louder: A wise leader is a good communicator, upon knowing
when to voice out, when to keep silent, think deeper before speak louder; use
less words to express more; master of crowd-sourcing and enjoying collective
wisdom
· Know what
to Sell, What not to: A wiser leader can also be a good promoter, to sell
vision, failure and wisdom, with crucial skills such as the creative ability to
come up with fresh ideas, the analytic ability recognize the truly good one and
the practical ability to convince the value and gain support.
Well, there are many interesting "W" words, however wisdom neither just comes from Wild Wide West, nor equal to Wit, Wizard or Win, Book can teach you knowledge, but only through digesting and
reflecting, knowledge can be transformed into wisdom; A wise leader discovers and determines, learns and leads.
“Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them”. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them”. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
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