Leadership

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what qualities define a wise leader in the 21st century. Before I share my list, let’s define some terms. I believe wisdom is “metabolized experience that leads to distilled compassion.” It’s not just learning from your mistakes; it’s assuring your mistakes (which lead to your wisdom) serve a social good.

What do you value more? Competence or loyalty? Self-awareness or connections?

“Not embarrassed.” That is the definition of “unabashed.” That word may define this era more than any other. It makes me sad. Not because I want to cast shame on anyone, but because the world could use a little more self-reflection and humility.

Paint-by-numbers…lead by slogans. They both lack authenticity.

Is it possible that intuition is to the gut as wisdom is to the heart and mind? When we have a flash of insight—whether it's intuition or wisdom—where is it coming from?

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely."

One of my first Wisdom Well posts from two and a half years ago was called “WeWork, Uber, and Theranos.” The post touched a nerve and went crazy viral in the social media world.

In General Electric's 1990 annual report, CEO Jack Welch described a new organizational model, "Our dream…is a boundaryless company…where we knock down the walls that separate us from each other on the inside and from our key constituencies on the outside." Welch proposed a much less rigid, more fluid organizational chart that could nimbly make and execute decisions.

Many organizational leaders feel like the deck is stacked against them these days. It's hard to find great employees as the U.S. workforce has shrunk during Covid, and when you do, you have to pay them a good bit more than before