Becoming a True Leader-Tapping the Wisdom Within

Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head. – Euripides

If only we had the wisdom to take the right action, half of the problems we have, would not have been created in the first place and the rest we would be able to resolve successfully. How can we develop wisdom. According to Confucius, we can develop wisdom by reflection (which is the noblest and hence the best), by imitation (which is easiest) and by experience (which is most difficult and makes us bitter).

As a leader we have to constantly take tough decisions, decisions in new areas and decisions at the drop of a hat in emergencies at times. Often after taking a decision, we have a self doubt (called cognitive dissonance in management), whether we have taken the right decision or not. How do we take wise decisions which minimize the self doubt, which are quick yet right and appropriate to the situation? How do we reflect (as Confucius says) to take the noblest decisions which we do not regret and feel proud of?

A true leader must begin with self-mastery, go within and make an effort to improve him all the time. As Blaine Lee says, “The leader who exercises power with honor will work from the inside out, starting with himself.” Here comes the importance of using spiritual tools for reflection, introspection and tapping inner wisdom. The spiritual tools which we can use to tap the inner wisdom include meditation, chanting, positive affirmations, and deep introspection and so on. The website spiritual tools.net defines spiritual tools as, “A non-material, situation specific action to change attitude or awareness proven over time and across cultures to promote quality of life.”

Our thoughts bring the people, things, situations and circumstances to our lives and to attract the right people and situations it is important to exercise thought control. James Allen says, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you” Meditation helps us in thought control and controlling negative thoughts and inviting positive thoughts will also result in more wisdom and less devil vs deep blue decisions in our lives.

To tap the inner wisdom also means one must have perfect inner peace. To have perfect inner peace means you have to let go of guilt, grudges, emotional baggage and all other negative emotions. The focus should be on improving oneself which will result in more and more wisdom through higher levels of consciousness. Leo Tolstoy once said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

As somebody has rightly said that at the beginning of wisdom one starts questioning everything and at the peak of wisdom one starts accepting everything. There is no scientific evidence to prove the law of karma but it can provide perfect peace to a person, essential for tapping our wisdom. But law of karma may help us feel that whatever wrong happened in the past had a justification and whatever will happen in the future will be justified too though it may be difficult to agree with concepts of rebirth and karma. Rainer Rilke says, “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart. & try to love the questions themselves.” The answers will surely come in a matter of time.

A wise leader will work on developing the wisdom of his subordinates to get the best results out of them. As Benjamin Disraeli says, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”

(This is the sixth article in the series, "Leading with Spirituality" in Spiritual Lounge E-Magazine)

Copyright : Dr Amit Nagpal

Courtesy Spiritual Lounge

http://spirituallounge.whitedrums.com/emag.html

________________________


Dr Amit Nagpal is an Author, Trainer and Inspirational Speaker. He may be reached at amitknagpal@gmail.com