April Newsletter

The Journey from Leadership to Wisdomship

In 1947, in Texas City, a port in Texas, a large ship was loading fertilizer, something that was done daily at that dock. That day turned out to be something different. It is not known exactly what triggered it, but something went wrong and a huge explosion wiped out a large part of the city. Streets were littered with dead bodies and millions of fragments of shattered glass. Wounded survivors stumbled about in a daze, and confusion reigned everywhere.

A woman in a white uniform came out of a building, and started giving orders instructing unhurt but dazed survivors on how to help the wounded. She directed them to move the injured, apply tourniquets to stop hemorrhaging wounds, told them to take the table cloths from a nearby restaurant to make bandages, and moved among the victims offering words of consolation. Thanks to her dynamic intervention, many lives were saved.

Later in the day, a reporter interviewed the woman, and complimented her for organizing the rescue efforts. After viewing her skills, the reporter asked, "Where did you study nursing?" The woman replied, "I am not a nurse; I am a waitress. I work at a diner on that street. After the explosion, I saw people just standing around, numbed by the devastation. No one was doing anything to help the wounded. Someone had to take charge, so I did. It was just common sense. Anyone could have done what I did."

Leadership is a choice

Yes, anyone could have, but only she did. No one appointed that woman leader. She just knew that someone had to do something to get people moving and help the wounded.

We have all had the experience of knowing the right thing to do in a situation, but let somebody else take the lead in doing it. Worse still, that other person might have done the wrong things, which only made us regret even more that we didn't take charge.

All of us have leadership qualities and potential, if only we decide to act when needed. We may not even be the most knowledgeable or best prepared person in that situation, but by acting we become the one who does something about it - and that is what counts.

At different points in our lives, we will face times when it will be our job to provide guidance and leadership. All we have to do is accept the fact that we are probably as qualified as most, and be willing to act.

Wisdom makes us better leaders, and leadership makes us wiser. Experience leads to wisdom. According to Leonardo Da Vinci, "Experience never errs; it is only your judgment that errs in promising results as are not caused by your experiments. "

Life teaches us wisdom, if we listen to it. Greatness comes when we accept the challenges that life brings on a daily basis, and learn from our experiences.

We all have the potential to be leaders, if we are willing to accept the responsibility that goes with it. At some point in your life, perhaps numerous times, you have been a leader; you knew what had to be done, took charge, and did it.

Wisdomship

Like so many other things in life, leadership must also go up a learning curve. In the early stages, all leaders tend to make mistakes. Along the way, some, but not all, leaders learn from their experience and their mistakes. In time, a few leaders will reach a level of wisdom that is visionary, insightful, and very effective; that level is Wisdomship. At that level, such leaders are recognized, admired, and emulated; and, when they move on, they leave a legacy of wisdom that lives on beyond them, one that is filled with lessons and examples for future generations.

The following insights may encourage you to become a leader, and start you on the path that could eventually become Wisdomship:

Many people with few qualifications have become successful leaders. Joan of Arc was an illiterate French peasant teenager, but her passion fired others up, and even gave courage to a weakling king. It also inspired the thousands of soldiers who followed her to victory in the siege of Orleans.
You don't have to be perfect to be a leader. Polio victim Franklin Delano Roosevelt couldn't walk, but he ran - he ran for president and won, in fact, he won an unprecedented four times!
Leaders often fail on their way to success. Abraham Lincoln failed to get elected to different posts. But, between failures, he kept honing his political skills until he finally won the most important election, President. Persistence is one common quality that great leaders have demonstrated time and again.
No leader is without doubt or fear. Can you imagine the torment John F. Kennedy must have gone through during the Cuban Missile Crisis? The fear of starting a nuclear holocaust had to be overwhelming. Yet, he listened to his intuition and won. Intuition is something great leaders learn to develop and use wisely.
You don't have to be a leader at great things. There may be only one Mount Everest to conquer, but daily life is filled with smaller challenges and leadership opportunities that in many ways are no less challenging to those who must face them. The only thing you must overcome is your own fear.
As a leader, you don't have to feel responsible for everyone else. A true leader inspires others to overcome their challenges and fears, but it is still up to them to do it - not you.
You don't have to be a leader at everything. Being a leader does not mean being omniscient or omnipotent. Great leaders select people who are smarter than they are in certain areas, and then help them succeed.
There is no one kind of leadership, no one right way to be a leader. Every leader is different. Some lead by passion, some by charisma, some by example, some by logic, some by love, some by humility, and some by sainthood. You lead your way; you don't have to become someone else, just a better you.
Becoming a leader will inevitably make you grow. Because leaders are concerned with making things happen, with creating the future, they develop a sense of vision that others might never get a chance to grow.
Becoming a leader once makes it easier to be one again in the future. Confidence grows with leadership, as does the ability to analyze situations and come up with good solutions.