23 February 2007
Successful Intentions Newsletter
Hi ,
Imagine you're going to be interviewed for a 2-3 minute spot on the evening news concerning your personal and professional morals. You will be asked to give a succinct statement in front of a live television audience.
Are you ready?
What do you mean; you wouldn't know what to say?
What…?
No, I'm not paying you to do this!
It's a test.
A test of your wisdom
Well, are you going to do it or not?
What…?
Look, I don't think my simian ancestry has anything to do with it!
Well, I…
Do you really think that's a wise response?
Yes, I do know…
Do you really want the answers?
The answers to what would make a wise response in the interview?
OK
But first I'm going to ask you some questions.
Now look…
There's no need to be so impatient.
Alright, alright!
Morals Compass
The questions you first need to answer for yourself in order to demonstrate wisdom are:
- Who is the person in your life who provided you with the best moral, ethical, or values guidance?
- In your personal experience, who best represents someone who both has and abides by a moral- or values-based position in life?
- Who is the most immoral person you personally know or have known? How did you discover their lack of morality? What did you learn from him or her?
- What three books, plays, movies, or other sources of learning have most instructed you in moral reasoning or moral conflict? How and why did they influence you?
- In you training as a leader, what enables you to best identify and manage ethical values and moral issues?
- Identify three of the most important issues or moral principals that you believe a leader should keep in mind?
What does morality have to do with wisdom? Well, you try being wise AND immoral! The truth is, wisdom is a journey. And not everyone is willing to get on board. In fact, very few do. Wisdom is more an emergent property of the individual, their context, and their view of "life, the universe and everything". Above all, you've got to want it! And that means being open to all kinds of experiences, engaging in reflection, self-examination, and self-awareness.
| "Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place!" Abigail Van Buren, 1978, US advice columnist |
Intentional Wisdom
Developing wisdom demands intentionality. It's a tough job overcoming self-importance and judgment. All too easy to believe I'm right and everyone else should just shut up and take notice! Even more difficult is the fact that what might be viewed as a wise choice at one point in time might turn out to be folly years later (and vice versa!).
You can be smart and you can practice reflection, particularly self-reflection to overcome ego and projection (seeing the world only through your view) to some degree. But if your ultimate goal is more power, wealth, fame, and influence rather than the quest for truth then you're unlikely to attain wisdom. Self-centredness tends to inhibit the development of sympathy and compassion for others and the pursuit of a common good.
There are three dimensions to wisdom according to Professor Monika Ardelt, from the University of Florida:
- Cognitive: An understanding of life and a desire to know the truth, knowledge and acceptance of the positive and negative aspects of human nature, of the inherent limits of knowledge, and of life's unpredictability and uncertainties.
- Reflective: A perception of phenomena and events from multiple perspectives, requiring self-examination, self-awareness and self-insight.
- Affective: Sympathetic and compassionate love for others.
So, , if you intend to set out on a journey to Wisdom or even if you're a fair way along the path, you're going to need a map. And if your primary mission is within commercial or government enterprises then you're going to need a map that will take you to Wise Leadership. The steps along the way are:
- Self-Awareness,
- Family Awareness,
- Organizational Awareness,
- Group Awareness,
- Situational Awareness, and
- Wisdom Systems.
This is the core curriculum for a course on Intentional Wisdom© in Leadership coming soon to a venue near you!
Keep your intentions clear,
Peter Webb
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