Becoming a Wise Leader
To become a wise leader, you don’t need to cultivate new skills or competencies. Rather, you must learn to act and lead wisely using the six capabilities you already have: perspective, action orientation, role clarity, decision logic, fortitude, and motivation. The six following chapters focus on exactly what that means and how to do that.
Chapter 2 is about shifting your perspective and connecting to your noble purpose—or your North Star, as we call it. Wise leaders foster a holistic perspective that integrates diverse, distinct, and even polarizing worldviews. They use this perspective to evaluate the short- and long-term implications of their decisions, and to cultivate an integral mind-set—that is, the ability to see the whole picture rather than its individual components—that enables them to perceive the connectedness of events.
Chapter 3 is about being aware of your action orientation and acting authentically and appropriately for the greater good. Wise leaders intuitively know how to identify the right actions to take, examine the deeper implications, and take the appropriate next step based on the context and aligned with their North Star.
In chapter 4, we discuss gaining role clarity, which entails the ability to lead from any position. Wise leaders develop clarity about being a servant leader—serving their leadership role with humility and dedication—and appreciate the role of others in their success. Their roles do not define—or confine—their authentic self. They are willing and able to assume any role they deem appropriate with humility, enthusiasm, and equanimity and are therefore great team players.
The ability to decide with discernment and clarify your unique decision logic is the subject of chapter 5. Wise leaders make decisions that are both ethical (based on the values that they believe in) and pragmatic. They use discernment and objectivity in decision making; they are conscious of but not influenced by their biases and impulses in making important decisions. They explore all aspects of a complex situation before acting with a combination of logic, instinct, intuition, and emotion.
Chapter 6 examines the concept of flexible fortitude: knowing when to hold and when to fold. For the most part, wise leaders are resolute and resilient, but they also know when to relent and even pull the plug if a deteriorating situation can’t be salvaged and threatens wider damage. They are open to learning new things and stretching their capabilities to do the best job possible, especially during crises.
Chapter 7 deals with discovery of the drivers of your motivation: wise leaders act out of their own volition instead of extrinsic motivation. They are driven by the desire to serve a noble purpose and contribute to the broader community knowing that by doing so, they can reap rewards for themselves as well as for their organization and even society at large. We call the wise leader’s intrinsic motivation “enlightened self-interest.”
Chapter 8 is about cocreating a field of wise leadership and tying the capabilities together with the concept of wisdom logic, the means by which you make the journey toward wise leadership your own. You cannot become wise just by reading a book or blindly following a structured process. We suggest ways for you to develop your own wisdom logic and bring practical wisdom to your team, organization, industry, community, and even nation on your journey to wise leadership.