TerryRohrer
Elite Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2005
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Montana
Seldom does a short sentence or two say so much. The rest of the story, by Cindy Chance, former CEO of the Appraisal Institute, is:
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Here’s the difference: leaders serve something larger than themselves. People in charge? Many of them just like having power over others. People gravitate toward environments that meet their needs first, and this turns out badly for everyone else.
Given our everyday experience of bad leadership, it’s jarring to read business literature that treats a big title as an honorific. Business schools have sold themselves—and us—on a story that leadership is role-based or can be taught through competencies: understanding financials, operations, hiring practices. But competencies miss the essential ingredient: a desire to serve, and a desire to grow in wisdom in order to serve better.
Unwise people in charge damage organizations, regardless of their competencies. People who are both low in competence and unwise should be disqualified from leadership altogether. Too often “confidence” functions as a proxy for wisdom; organizations suffer in proportion to their unwillingess to address this con (literally a confidence game). The reality is this: it takes both competence and moral excellence—wisdom—to lead, and the greatest of these is wisdom. Leadership is far more about the person you are than the skills you have. Your skills may get you a promotion, but your wisdom is what makes you a leader.
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Here’s the difference: leaders serve something larger than themselves. People in charge? Many of them just like having power over others. People gravitate toward environments that meet their needs first, and this turns out badly for everyone else.
Given our everyday experience of bad leadership, it’s jarring to read business literature that treats a big title as an honorific. Business schools have sold themselves—and us—on a story that leadership is role-based or can be taught through competencies: understanding financials, operations, hiring practices. But competencies miss the essential ingredient: a desire to serve, and a desire to grow in wisdom in order to serve better.
Unwise people in charge damage organizations, regardless of their competencies. People who are both low in competence and unwise should be disqualified from leadership altogether. Too often “confidence” functions as a proxy for wisdom; organizations suffer in proportion to their unwillingess to address this con (literally a confidence game). The reality is this: it takes both competence and moral excellence—wisdom—to lead, and the greatest of these is wisdom. Leadership is far more about the person you are than the skills you have. Your skills may get you a promotion, but your wisdom is what makes you a leader.
Wisdom Cannot Be Taught Like a Curriculum
Every ethics professor has tried to teach some wisdom. I gave it my best shot for years. Here’s what I learned: The qualities of character typical of good leaders can be spotted in novices, but they cannot be “installed” through training. Teaching offers useful information. Mentoring helps create a practice of reflection. But wisdom ultimately requires internal work. Lots of difficult internal work. Wisdom is a DIY project. Help helps, but it is your work to become wise. The biggest help is someone who believes in you and witnesses, elicits, and encourages your growth. I have such gratitude to have had that in difficult moments, and to have that still."More at:
Leaders are rare. People in charge are everywhere.
Here’s the difference: leaders serve something larger than themselves. People in charge? Many of them just like having power over others.
