“Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”– T. S. Eliot

A number of contemporary thought leaders believe that some part of the 21st century would belong to the “wisdom” society as against the “knowledge” society that we are currently part of. I tend to agree and would welcome such a shift; in fact hope that it happens sooner rather than later.

While this shift is relevant for the entire society and its leaders in all spheres of life, in this post, let me focus on the need for such a shift in organizational leadership.

The business work place is under tremendous strain today. The pressure to succeed on a quarterly basis is high, with higher competition, fewer resources, and a more unpredictable environment. Leaders face huge challenges – with building a compelling and shared vision for the organization, motivating the team members towards that vision, and finally sustaining quality results in an ever changing and highly competitive market place. In one of the researches by Harris Interactive of over 20,000 employees, it was concluded that only 37% of the employees said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why and only 1 in 5 employees was enthusiastic about their organization’s goals. Regarding employee motivation, a recent research in the UK found that 42% of all workers surveyed felt “used up” by the end of the day; and the salaries they aspired for suddenly don’t seem enough to them. Yet another disturbing research published in the Time magazine suggested that approximately 75-90% of all visits to the primary care doctors are for stress related problems, with job stress being by far the leading cause.

One of the key reasons for this entire scenario, to my mind, is the lack of clear purpose or a broader social context for which the organization exists. I reckon for the leaders to become architects of mission for their organizations, they need to first build high levels of self-awareness and clarity of their own life’s purpose; that’s where we need to see the shift towards wisdom.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Wisdom in a multiple ways, including as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting”, as “insight”, as “the sum of learning through the ages”, and as “wise teachings of the ancient sages”. In the current business context, we can see it as creating deeper insights around questions like, who we are, what lasting practices or institutions do we truly want to build and why, what are the results of our daily actions, and how do we stay aware of, and in tune with, the basic laws of nature (not just of economic market forces). Such learning allows us to move from quantitative information to qualitative judgment and from short-term growth to sustainable quality results. The idea of sustainability here naturally captures the concept of business’ interdependence with other parts of society and the need to factor in community and environment aspects in all business planning. As John Whitmore, founder of the Institute of Human Excellence, expands on this – such shift for wisdom also captures moving from traditional structures of hierarchy to a more relevant concept of self-responsibility. It also envisages the shift from imposed values to inner values, where we are all guided more by our internal compass of what’s right or wrong than by the expectations of conformity.

Wisdom for leaders has indeed been the cornerstone of many a leadership models, old and new. To share some examples, consider the move in evolution of leadership quotients – from IQ (what I know and how I think) and then EQ (what I feel and how I relate to others) to the fairly recently building notion of SQ (spiritual quotient; who I am and how do I exist). The move to measuring leadership ability based on SQ is a reflection of the growing value being attached to “self-awareness and wisdom” in business management. Similarly, consider Jim Collins’ famous theory of 5 levels of leadership hierarchy (highly capable individual, contributing team member, competent manager, effective leader, and finally level 5 executive) – according to Collins, the key factor that differentiates a truly great leader (level 5) from an effective leader (level 4) is the paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will in a great leader. I believe this combination is a direct result of high self-awareness (leading to personal humility) and clarity of purpose (creating the powerful motivation for right action) – in a way, together capturing the idea of greater wisdom. Finally, there’s the powerful theory of leadership evolution based on contemporary psychology. This one talks about a leader’s evolution from being Egocentric (me; self-centered leadership), to being Ethnocentric (us; leadership focused towards benefiting a group of people, a division, or an organization) to being World-centric (all of us; focused on a broader world) to being Cosmo-centric (all there is; driven by all there is on this planet and in this universe). I find this theory quite relevant in the context for the leadership growth towards wisdom. Many a times leaders tend to operate from the ethnocentric level and as is evident there’s a much needed shift towards a broader and wiser perspective.

Finally, I would end by saying that business leadership has contributed enormously towards economic progress over the last century. However, as that leadership shifts towards greater wisdom, businesses and their leaders have an amazing opportunity to make a much more significant and meaningful impact towards creating a better, happier and more sustainable world.