Becoming a Wise Leader

In my previous blog, I drew a picture of an unwise leader. The lack of managerial wisdom puts these managers and the groups they lead at great disadvantage. Their lack of logical thinking also becomes an obstacle for the advancement and development of the followers. Understanding and being aware of these roadblocks and blind spots are the first steps toward developing wisdom.

Today, I want to talk about developing managerial wisdom. Professor John Biglow, an expert on organizational behavior teaching, brought up a few strategies on helping others to develop their managerial wisdom: ^[i]

Shifting focus toward longer-term strategies

As unwise leaders tend to only think about short-term gains when it comes to decision making. They are unable to see what’s in the future and think abstractly about the impacts of strategies.

To begin practicing managerial wisdom, one should evaluate the long-term effects of decisions instead of only focusing on short-term gratification. Ask yourself these questions before making decisions: Are they harmful to the organization or the individuals in the long run? What are their long-term impacts? Will these short-term rewards lead to stronger long-term punishments to the organization? Will these strategies/decisions/actions lead to short-term punishment but also lead to stronger long-term reward?

Learning from experience

We all understand that wisdom cannot be developed overnight. It is important to distill knowledge and experience from past events. However, people do not necessarily become wiser as time goes on. To truly learn from experience, one should both learn from particular situations and reflect on what happened, examples and counsels of others. Ask yourself these questions after actions: What did I learn? Why did I succeed/fail? What did I do right/wrong? What can be improved/changed?

Meanwhile, rather than waiting for learning opportunities to happen, a leader should create new opportunities for oneself. Remember that failure is not evidence of personal inadequacy; it just reveals room for improvement and opportunities to learn.

Expanding practical knowledge

Expanding practical knowledge means developing the ability to interpret situations, accumulating a repertoire of possible responses and implementing a chosen response skillfully. It requires a strong sense of self-awareness and situation awareness, which involve being aware of and forming a comprehensive understanding of different elements and the dynamics in the environment. (Stay tuned for my next blog on developing situation awareness.

Understanding your limit

Unwise leaders stay unwise because they never admit they are the ones who must change if problems are to be solved. Wisdom resides in one’s understanding of the limit of one’s knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs).

Only through understanding your limit can you continue to expand your KSAs. Also by understanding your limit in certain situations, you can avoid putting yourself in circumstances where your actions may hinder your success/progress and that of others. Hence, increase your control over different situations.

At the same time, you can increase your self-awareness with proper assessment and feedback tools/systems. These can be of great value when it comes to developing goals and priorities.

Last but not least, wisdom is a value. It is one’s attitude toward both the known and unknown — along with one’s understanding towards self and others. It extends from self-interest toward the larger situation, and toward the accomplishment of desired internal status (e.g., joy, peace, contentment, affection, integrity, friendship, etc.), instead of material or short-term gratifications.

I hope this article can help you start your first step towards achieving wisdom. Stay tuned for my next blog on situation awareness.

[i] Bigelow, J. (1995). Developing managerial wisdom. Journal of Management Inquiry, 1, 143-153.