The famous UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, has been quoted as saying, “Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who will argue with you.”
What kind of impulse control does it take as a leader to not only surround yourself with smart people but to listen to them even when they don’t agree with you?
I think in life it would be so much easier to surround myself with smart people who think just like I do. Life would roll along and I would seemingly have a lot fewer problems. Except then as life rolls along, I would not get a very clear picture of reality.
If I am honest, in many organizations I have the chance to study and observe the following:
Hire really smart people
Spend a lot of money training them on skills and the culture of the organization
Then they tell them HOW they want things done, instead of WHAT it is they are to do
When the person does not do exactly like the person in power mandates, we claim they are just a poor fit
The employee comes to us with a different idea or a different perspective that flies in the face of what we think, and then that really smart person we hired initially, all of a sudden has become clueless.
Then we ask this person to leave or we put them in a job where we don’t have to hear them nearly as often.
True wisdom is about managing your emotions so that you are able to listen more intently to understand where this smart person you hired is really coming from.
In no way am I advocating that you have to listen to these smart people and then automatically align yourself with their perspective so that everyone feels good.
No!
However, listening to other perspectives is a core component necessary to make wise decisions.
Wisdom In Leadership
I would argue, and have in many other writings, that wisdom is a central and yet often ignored element in leadership. Effective leadership behavior fundamentally depends upon a leader’s ability to solve complex social problems.
It is not hard to argue that the complexity that exists because of this global pandemic is causing massive social problems. You can find a list of those social issues in any newspaper or internet article since March 15, 2020. so I am not going to spend time listing them here. Some of them are quite serious and deal with actual issues of life and death. Others are much more trivial, such as my local Publix being consistently out of toilet paper when I go shopping.
I am not much of a philosopher and do not have any formal training in the discipline. That stated I think history is going to really look back on this current crisis, along with our ability to solve some really complex social problems and ask, “Where was Wisdom?”
I know I am not the first to write it, but, toilet paper…please. If we can not figure out with our advanced supply chain knowledge how to get basic things like toilet paper, where are we really as a society?
As you contemplate this for yourself, do not fret nor feel too much shame. The question has really been asked since the beginning of time. All people whether ancient or civilized have wrestled with this idea of wisdom.
The ancient Sumerians, whose writings served as the foundation of both Greek and Roman cultures asked this kind of question.
Early Egyptian writings which were the precursors to the Hebrew writings that make up the Old Testament in the Bible lamented about wisdom.
In the Old Testament, the most famous wisdom book might be the Book of Proverbs which laments; “Some people laugh about wise words. A person like that does not love someone saying, ‘You are doing wrong things’. (S)he will not go to wise people (Proverbs 15:12, Easy English Version).
Of course, the ancient Greeks were known as lovers of wisdom:
Socrates “…if he was the wisest person, it was because he did not think he knew that which he did not know."
Plato. According to Plato scholars, he saw the true mark of wisdom as “the very character of the person as it was revealed by the person’s deliberate choices and dispositions"
Aristotle saw the mark of wisdom as prudence; The very character of the person as revealed through individual choice and disposition.
Saint Augustine was the first to blend the practical prudence of the ancients with the belief of and obedience to an all-powerful, all-knowing God. Augustine argued we must vigorously desire wisdom to obtain it. He was passionate about the hope in the possibility of obtaining wisdom and that our desire for it must be found in faith in God.
More modern-day researchers have defined wisdom as “a special kind of real-life process that is accomplished after a person cognitively makes an unusual integration, embodies his or her ideas through action, and hence brings forth positive effects to both self and others.”
Wisdom Calls
As a leader during these difficult days, can you hear wisdom calling you? She is! (Most texts give wisdom a female persona).
Can you hear her? What is she saying to you as a leader in your organization? Are you taking the time to listen?
I love the imagery in the ancient book of Proverbs where Wisdom takes on human character and is seen in the street calling out, “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:20-22).
The call to wisdom implies the capability to be able to implement right judgments in life. This wisdom calling has actually been studied for as long difficult decisions have existed.
It is my hope for you as you make difficult decisions during these days that you will indeed be wise. That you will listen to too advisors. That you will delay your impulses. That you will stop and think. That you will be compassionate and to not think of yourself as better than others.
I will be talking more about this idea of wisdom in my Facebook live event on Thursday of this week at noon eastern time. I hope you can join me. If not, there will be a recording available for you to watch when you have time.
In addition, I put together this tool to help you think about some core fundamental elements of wisdom. Feel free to download it. There is no cost. I hope it helps you in your organization and in your life to make wise decisions.