Wisdom and the Highly Effective Leader

 

The truly wise leader begins by understanding their foundational principles, values, morals, "the line in the sand they are not willing to cross" that define their inner self; their identity or ego. This is one's spiritual dimension and it starts with you. To lead well, you have get this dimension right before you can successfully lead others. How you express your personality (through your physical self, your thoughts and emotions) and achieve more effective leadership outcomes, depends on your understanding and wisdom of your 4 dimensions of self awareness.

So, what is wisdom? Richard Rohr and Cynthia Bourgeault, founder and teacher at the Center of Action and Contemplation, put it this way: "Wisdom is clearly more than mere intelligence, knowledge of facts, or information. Wisdom is more synthesis than analysis, more paradoxical than linear, more a dance than a march. In order to grow in wisdom, we need to move beyond cerebral, rational knowing. Wisdom is not knowing more, but knowing with more of you, knowing deeper.”

They have put together a list of “ways of knowing” that together can move leader's toward greater wisdom and leadership effectiveness. Here are three:

Senses (physical presence/dimension): Bodily or sensory knowing comes through the senses, by touching, moving, smelling, seeing, hearing, breathing, tasting—and especially at a deep or unconscious level. Becoming aware of our senses in a centered way allows us to awaken, to listen, to connect. It allows us to know reality more deeply, on our body’s terms instead of our brain’s terms. Something very different is communicated and known through physical presence, in contrast with what is communicated through mere words.

Intellect (intellectual presence/dimension): The lens that we most associate with knowing is intellectual knowing. It’s the result of formal education and it has to do with science, reason, logic, and what we call intelligence. Most of us are trained to think that it is the only way of knowing or the superior way of knowing. Yet that isn’t necessarily true. Seeing intellectual intelligence as the best or only way of knowing is actually a great limitation.

Emotion (emotional presence/dimension): Great emotions are especially powerful teachers. Love, ecstasy, hatred, jealousy, fear, despair, anguish: each have their lessons. Even anger and rage are great teachers, if we listen to them. They have so much power to reveal our deepest self to ourselves and to others, yet we tend to consider them negatively. I would guess that people die and live much more for emotional knowing than they ever will for intellectual, rational knowing. To taste these emotions is to live in

Tomorrow I will continue to share Richard's and Cynthia's described additional ways of knowing that can deepen your ability to know and love the world more fully.

Let me know your thought by emailing me at brad@aperiocoaching.net