Wisdom In Leadership
By Les Mottosky
Wisdom is often sought as a shrewd shortcut; a way to skip life’s lessons and reach the destination faster. What if wisdom isn’t a road we travel, but a map? Not a trajectory, but a vehicle?
If there’s a single phrase that captures the essence of wisdom, it might: knowing we don’t know. That sounds like the opposite of education (and maybe even the opposite of wisdom itself). Education is about acquiring knowledge; wisdom is the application of it, from wherever it arises.
Instead of clinging to answers, wisdom invites us to live with better questions.
We don’t discard the knowledge we’ve gained, but we don’t fully commit to it either. Wisdom always leaves the door open for new discovery.
There’s an ancient text that explores this idea in depth: the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Its origin story is almost as compelling as its content. Lao Tzu, a scholar in the Zhou dynasty, grew disillusioned by corruption and left society to live in harmony with nature. At the western border, a guard named Yin Hsi recognized his wisdom and asked him to record it before he left. Lao Tzu wrote the 5,000 word Tao Te Ching in just a few days, then disappeared into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
In verse 33, Lao Tzu writes: “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing self is true wisdom.”
Culturally, we often think of wisdom as something to be shared, a valuable gift passed along. But its truest and most effective form is personal. Sharing what we’ve learned can be generous, but expecting our self-knowledge to be meaningful to others is delusional.
Verse 71 adds another dimension: “To know yet think one does not know is best.” This is a call to stay open-minded, no matter how much experience we accumulate.
Perhaps wisdom seems so rare because its essence runs opposite of two things that grow with age: education and experience.
Stephen Mitchell, one of the most respected translators of the Tao Te Ching, notes that Lao Tzu roughly translates to “The Old Boy”, a name that hints at both experience and innocence.
The Tao Te Ching is a brief meditation on “the Way and Virtue.” It speaks timelessly to the dilemmas of leadership and life: how to act without forcing, how to find strength in softness, how to live in harmony.
The book transcends culture and religion with insights that will continue to be effective 2500 years from now.
TAGS: #Adaptation As Innovation #Radical Reframe #Cultural Creativity #Wisdom In Leadership #Alignment Matters
Les Mottosky
Adaptation Strategist // I help organizations turn creativity into their competitive advantage by aligning leadership, culture and strategy to unlock adaptive innovations.
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