Being sceptical of the “facts”, orthodoxy, and “common sense” and showing a fluid intelligence (Sternberg, 2007) are well-known aspects of wisdom. Wise people focus at the right level or aspect by choosing what “facts” are salient in a given situation. In other words, they “filter and interpret the noise from within their own organizations and determine the salient points on which to act”.
When it comes to leadership wisdom plays a crucial role, as well. The characteristics of wise leaders are (Rooney, McKenna, 2006):
- Wise leaders make careful observations to establish facts and logical deductive explanations. Rather than being misunderstood as anti-rationalist they utilize insight, imagination, and foresight that occur outside a consciously rational process of intersubjective verification.
- On the other hand, wise leaders also allow for non-rational and subjective elements when making decisions. They acknowledge the sensory and visceral as important components of decision-making and judgment. They have a capacity to think creatively and to acknowledge the potential worth of one's own instincts in making judgments.
- Wise people can grasp the meaning of “several, often contradictory signals and stimuli”, they interpret them holistically, and adapt their cognitions (e.g., schema).
- Wise leaders have a metaphysical, even spiritual, quality that does not bind them absolutely to the rules of reason thereby enabling vision, insight and foresight.
- Wise leaders respect and draw upon tradition as a form of personal insight enabling them to understand the contingency of life and the constructedness of phenomena, particularly their historical and spatial contexts.
- Given their cognitive complexity, wise leaders have a capacity to seek out and understand the “facts” of a situation and to deal with them rationally, but also to understand and question the ontological basis of these facts. As Eflin said "The greater an enquirer's ability to move fluidly between producing alternatives and evaluating them and to operate at both levels simultaneously, the better she will be at finding valuable discoveries.”
- - Because wise leaders are humane, they produce virtuous and tolerant decisions.
A wise leader displays long-term vision and virtue; having a proven commitment to long-term welfare not just of immediate stakeholders, but of humanity in general.
- Finally, a wise leader is articulate; having a proven capacity to reach people through word, affect, and action.
