Acquiring Leadership Wisdom
Although not unreachable, leadership wisdom cannot be gained overnight. It takes commitment to regularly check your own behaviors and reflect on your experience, as well as humility to learn from others regarding how they have resolved the problems that might be bothering you now.
There are two techniques that will help you acquire leadership wisdom: inquiry and reflection. Inquiry turns your energy outward through your dialogue with others. It provides you with the exposure to other people’s valuable learning from the significant events they have experienced. The context of these events, the ways that people have handled business and relationships with others, and the value assumptions underlying their decisions will help you understand multiple perspectives and find the best solutions to problems that you encounter in leadership positions. Reflection, on the other hand, directs your effort inward, creating an internal space for you to understand and learn from your own experience.
_____ I see the merits and limitations of my profession and industry.
_____ I can draw on both rationality and intuition in making decisions.
_____ I am comfortable with ambiguity.
_____ I am open to multiple perspectives.
_____ I weigh the consequences of alternatives.
_____ I clearly see the right course of action among multiple conflicting priorities.
_____ I have a good understanding of my own personal strength, limitations, and emotional status.
_____ I have a good understanding of the personal strength, limitations, and emotional status of others.
_____ I recognize my own emotions and manage them effectively.
_____ I recognize the emotions of others and manage them effectively.
_____ I am good at building strong and supportive relationships with different types of people.
_____ I am people oriented, and my values are based on collective well-being, not on my own gains.
_____ I model the way and align my actions with my words.
_____ I focus on tasks and results.
_____ I am willing to experiment to make changes happen even when facing uncertainties and challenges that are complex and stressful.