The Wise Leader: A Practical Guide for Thinking Differently About Leadership

some of the narratives flowing through his mind. Those might include beliefs such as: Everyone should speak plainly Great leaders decide the way forward and inspire others to follow I believe in hierarchy and the duty of subordinates to follow their leaders Quality is everything Work comes first

Over a century ago, Frederick Winslow Taylor framed five principles of scientific management3. Those principles told organizations to shift responsibility for the organization of work from the worker to the manager.

Influencing how others think

Choosing to see possibility, and committing to growing with and through others, moves us away from narrow, individualistic interpretations of our world to a more collective and collaborative perspective.

We don’t think this depiction of leadership is complete. Intelligence and empathy are not enough.

This narrative misses out on one essential attribute of the wise leader and that is the understanding that we are connected. Wise

Review your list of specific examples from your answer to the first question.

we consider the implications of the co-created self. This idea, that who we are is co-created in relation with others. What

According to the wisdom literature, purposeful wise leaders have more ‘grit’31. Grit is about perseverance. The wise leader is committed to her objectives for the long haul. The wise leader works for an organization only if she can see a way to achieve her purpose within the parameters of that organization. She

Group coaching offers a wonderful opportunity for people to learn together, to become more selves-aware together, and to become wiser together. As we said, most willing participants find group coaching to be insightful and supportive, an essential component of an effective learning strategy.