Some managers become experienced and wise; some managers just become experienced.

Being experienced is not the same as being wise.

Author and radio host Krista Tippet who has spent years interviewing visionaries and wisdom thinkers. She asserts wisdom is not something that you possess. You can’t point at it. The wisest people, instead, have a presence that influences, calms, and changes others.

A wise leader impacts the lives around them.

Wisdom is attainable. Krista Tippet gives guidelines on how to be a wise leader. Here are a few.

Number One:

Willingness to disagree

Being overly polite doesn’t always get you closer to a solution. Neither does rudeness of course. Tippett advises to approach crucial conversations from:

1 – Respect and a willingness to disagree.

2 – Unity. Ask questions that find common ground for example, “What concerns do we share?’

Number Two:

Work and life are integrated

Let me illustrate with a personal story. After I graduated from law school I started working at a university. To make my commute a little bit more reasonable – not 4 hours each day – I decided to move. In the middle of my move I needed to go to the office for a couple of hours. Coming out of the elevator I met my new boss, a professor. He asked how I was doing. I answered, “Busy. I’m in the middle of my move.” He reprimanded me saying that moving is something you do at home. He continued saying that you should forget personal matters the moment you enter the university building.

Yep. That’s a great concept in theory.

But in life it doesn’t work that way. My mind was still occupied with some things I needed to arrange to have a smooth move.

According to Tippett it is important to realize that historically employees were expected to leave their personal lives including convictions at the front door of the office building. Nowadays that is changing. Leaders need to recognize that such a mind shift doesn’t work that way anymore.

Number Three

Be willing to show weakness

Learning new things might lead to mistakes. But you are allowed to make mistakes. Yes, also when you are the person who leads the team or organization. Being a leader doesn’t mean being perfect. Being a leader does mean being vulnerable. As Tippet says:

“Tenderness and power actually do go together. That’s the real learning curve ahead.”

-Fast company.com April 2017

Leadership and wisdom. Two beautiful concepts that go hand-in-hand. What guideline do you follow to be that wise leader? Please reply in the comments and let me know.