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Not long ago I was accused of something.  All things considered, being accused isn’t all that unusual for me, as I’ve always had a way of collecting pointed fingers.  Those digits are not something I’ve collected intentionally; they just have a way of entering into an organized formation headed in my direction.

The current accusation came as something of a surprise, as the accuser accused me of being wise.  Wise?  Really?  Want to Windex those bifocals and have another look?

There is something about “wise” that comes to mind and It has corollaries all over.  For example, my father used to define an executive as someone who makes decisions, some of which are right.  Occasionally wise.

Perhaps “wise” can be described as having had lots of goofy ideas, then having lived long enough to discard most of them; having made lots of mistakes, some more than once, and finally having learned the lesson.  That is to say, it takes time and lots of trips down the wrong rabbit holes to gain a little wisdom.

It also takes more than a willingness to learn; it takes an insistence, a no-compromise demand to learn from experience and from others, those with a bit of wisdom to share.  It takes mindfulness (one of my favorite words and something to which I aspire).  And all of that is both hard work and a work in progress.

So, methinks being wise is something like a vision, something like one’s True North.  It is something we may not attain, yet we work toward it every day because it is that important, that much of a life imperative.

Which brings to mind a question for you: What are you doing to expand your leadership wisdom?

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