I was recently working with one of my San Francisco Bay Area executive coaching clients – the president of a professional services firm. We talked about wisdom’s role in true leadership.
My executive coaching client and I discussed how both knowledge and experience have influenced his ability to make wise decisions. I am coaching my client to tap into his wisdom in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity.
Finding Wisdom
Fortunately, every time we think about wisdom and make an effort to pause and contemplate a potential role for true leadership in whatever we are about to say or do, we move a step closer to achieving it. But unfortunately, many leaders don't take time to consider the larger issues when short term profits are at stake.
Wisdom in the workplace typically implies two distinct areas of wise behavior:
1. The wisdom of corporate decision-making.
a. Knowing what information to use in decision-making.
b. Creating a culture of knowledge in order to acquire that information in a timely fashion.
c. Assessing it in both short- and long-term frameworks.
2. Reaping the financial rewards that come with shrewd financial choices.
In many cases, business wisdom involves plain hard work, coupled with intelligence in several domains: knowledge, social intelligence, emotional regulation, compassion and concern for the common good.
Wisdom is more an ideal aspiration than a state of mind or a pattern of behavior that we customarily employ. The mere act of thinking about wisdom nudges us closer to it. When you encounter a problem or dilemma, if you ask yourself, "What would be the wisest thing to do here?" you increase your chances of making a judicious choice.
It's rarely that simple. How do we make complex, complicated decisions and choices in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity? What makes some of these decisions so clearly sound that we intuitively recognize them as a moment of human wisdom?
Ultimately, without an understanding of the elements that comprise wisdom, it eludes us.
Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development to grow emotionally intelligent leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to search for their executive wisdom? Wise leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to make good decisions.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I make shrewd financial choices based on executive wisdom?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching as part of their peak performance leadership development program.