True wisdom in leadership

This time last year, I had just returned from walking a portion of the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan. Over 1200km in total, the route features 88 temples where the Buddhist priest Kūkai is believed to have trained or spent time during the 9th century. 

Buddhist monks have taken the pilgrimage for hundreds of years, in search of enlightenment and each stage of the route is likened to a feature along the path to enlightenment: awakening, discipline, attaining enlightenment, and entering nirvana. 

The entire route can take six weeks at a pace, so we’re taking it on in sections. This time, we visited Temples 44 through to 65. 

Of course, throughout the journey, there is much self reflection, conquering of seemingly impossible challenges, and plenty of time to think. Each temple encourages pilgrims to consider certain aspects of human life and their spiritual experiences. 

Temple 46 – Joruriji – features the feet of the Buddha carved into a rock, where it’s said that if you stand barefoot your own aches and pains in your feet will disappear. The temple encourages visitors to consider and celebrate the spiritual experiences of music, wisdom, beauty, treasure, and virtues. 

It was here that I began to consider the role wisdom plays in the life of a leader. 

Wisdom creates leaders 

Often, leaders work their way towards leadership by demonstrating their knowledge. Those who have been around for a little while aren’t put in leadership positions because of their tenure alone, but because of the wisdom they have picked up along the way.

Teams want knowledgeable and confident leaders they can turn to when there are problems to be solved or challenges that require insight. 

Wisdom is made to be shared 

It’s not enough to be gaining wisdom. Leaders must give it back in whatever form that may be. 

After all, we are all constantly learning from the people we meet, but we’re also imparting it. The wisdom that we share with others can be a stepping stone on someone else’s journey to taking up leadership for themselves. 

Sharing what you know can be formal or informal, but it’s important to consider how you can impart wisdom to others in the course of our leadership, as well as creating opportunities for others to share what they know. This might be: 

• Through 1:1 conversations 
• Presenting on your area of expertise 
• Sharing stories of failures as well as successes 
• Participating in mentoring programs 
• Running training and workshop sessions 

For those wanting to learn from others, taking up the opportunity to learn when wisdom is on offer is your surest way to becoming someone that not only gains wisdom but has it in abundance to share with others. 

The best leaders never stop learning 

In my role as a Coach, it’s often assumed that I’m the ‘expert’ coming into teams – that I’m not there to learn. The reality is that I bring an outsider’s perspective, but the more I talk with my clients, the more I learn. It doesn’t mean that I know everything, just that I can share what I do know, and learn from the rest. 

There are ‘wise’ people and many wise leaders, but ‘wise’ is not a destination. It’s not an achievement that can be filed and forgotten about. Instead, being wise is a state of constant learning. There is no end to gathering your wisdom. 

Sometimes, teams can fall into the trap of thinking their leaders are wise and, therefore, won’t make mistakes. While they may avoid the mistakes of someone in their early career, those who are ‘wise’ welcome failure, because they know it is the breeding ground for real learning. 

The more we fail, the more we learn, and the more we learn, the more we can share with those around us. They may not make our mistakes but they’ll make their own, continuing a cycle of learning and wisdom that makes us all better in our roles – no matter what they are. 

Want to build a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing within your team? People Make the Difference can help. To find out more, visit www.pmtd.com.au or call us on 0412 333 415.