21 January 2008
Successful Intentions Newsletter
Hi ,
What makes you wise?
Age doesn't necessarily count. There are plenty of grey-haired executives who get it so wrong (with apologies to "Rocket" Rodney Adler and Ray "I'm really sorry" Williams)! And there are plenty of smart young Gen Y's who have really got it together (Look at Tania Major, Indigenous Youth Advocate, and last year's Young Australian of the Year).
Being clever helps. But smart people can still do dumb things with their lives and the lives of others (sorry George W!).
What really matters is how well you grasp the fundamentals of life. "Life is pain, Princess", said the Dread Pirate Roberts in that wonderful 1987 fractured-fairytale, The Princess Bride. "Anyone who tells you otherwise is just trying to sell you something!"
What makes you wise is how well you demonstrate these five criteria in responding to life's problems:
- General Knowledge: Both academic and practical "smarts". What do you really know about life?
- Strategic Knowledge: Can you suggest many different ways of analysing or judging life problems? How much operational knowledge do you have about life?
- Contexts: can you take the "long view" in relation to yours or someone else's life? How well can you interpret the developmental and social contexts of life?
- Values: It's too easy to impose your own values on what seems the "right" thing to do. But can you see life from the perspective of other people's values and preferences, and can you make allowances for that?
- Uncertainty: can you accept that life is inherently "messy"? There are no perfect solutions. How well do you tolerate ambiguity in your own life and the lives of those around you?
It also helps to have a large serving of both empathy and sympathy and to take action on these important emotions. What's the difference?
Empathy is when you feel exactly what you imagine the other person must be feeling.
Sympathy is when you recognize what the other person must be feeling without experiencing the same thing yourself.
This is different to personal distress where seeing someone else's emotional state triggers an unequal and disturbing feeling!
There are lots of ways to make decisions about really important things that happen in life. Wisdom is the overarching framework that you use to organize all of your decision strategies. Many times you act intuitively to make a wise decision. But when you're lost and there seems no easy way out, you need to be able to use the domain of wisdom like a compass.
Learn how to read your own Wisdom CompassŪ, , and how to help others do the same, by attending the next CFW (Coaching for Wisdom) 2-day workshop at the Melbourne Business School, Sydney Campus, February 14-15. Register for the early bird rate of $900 for this fully-catered, practice-based workshop (expires January 31). Plus, get a copy of "IDEAS Vol.2 Original Perspectives on Life and Business from Leading Thinkers".
Keep your intentions clear,
Peter Webb
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