Wellbeing leadership is key to addressing our wisdom gap

“IF THERE IS ANYTHING THE WORLD NEEDS, IT IS WISDOM.”

In organizations and daily life, my experience is that we can get so focused on driving toward what we believe to be progress that we fail to ask: At what cost? ?Along the way, we sacrifice our wellbeing and our relationships, we exhaust our capacities, and we lose ourselves—only to be rewarded with the feeling that the results we so ardently strived for will never be enough.

This is why I wholeheartedly agree with psychologist Robert Sternberg when he says: “If there is anything the world needs, it is wisdom.” Given the complexities of our contemporary world, I find myself wondering:

What would it mean to bring greater wisdom in how we live and lead?

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SOME SAY WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WISDOM GAP

The term wisdom gap is perhaps a kind way of sharing a harsh reality: We face an increasing complexity of issues in our societies, organizations, and lives—with a decreasing capacity to respond.

At every level, our systems aren’t meeting larger challenges with generative responses, resilience, and wellbeing. And we’re collectively feeling the downstream effects of this lack:

• A new global high of 33% of adults report daily negative experiences. That’s one-third third of all adults suffering every day—mentally, emotionally, physically. Further detail from the Gallup’s latest research is sobering: Four in 10 adults worldwide feel a lot of worry (42%) or stress (41%), three in 10 experience a lot of physical pain (31%), and 20% report not having a single person they can count on for help.
• ?An enormous divide exists between people who experience high wellbeing and those who don’t. Gallup’s CEO Jon Clifton says about our growing wellbeing inequalities worldwide , “Life could hardly be better for one fifth of the world, and for another fifth it could hardly be worse.”
• There is a lack of wellbeing in workplaces, along with a rise in its significance. According to a recent report by Deloitte , 68% of employees and 81% of the C-Suite say improving their wellbeing is more important than advancing their career, yet both groups (83% of employees and 74% of executives) say they face obstacles to doing so.

This is disheartening. Yet, as a reader of this Be Well Lead Well? newsletter, you’ll likely agree: Our wisdom gap could be an impetus for evolving. Deep down, we know that our demands aren’t going to stop. And we have a gnawing intuition that trying to keep up with them is already diminishing how we live, work, and relate with ourselves and others—a clear recipe for personal and systemic burnout.?

Leaders are just now starting to embrace the pivotal role wellbeing can play in helping people navigate life and work more wisely. When we prioritize individual and collective wellbeing, we are naturally developing people to solve problems with purpose-driven, creative, both/and thinking , plus use their personal, interpersonal, and existential challenges to grow new degrees of discernment and resourcefulness. Well before we are pushed beyond our limits (full stop: some of us and our systems already are), it is an act of wisdom to prioritize and amplify wellbeing.?

Here are additional resources I think you’ll find interesting …

• Listen to Karen May, Vice President of People Development at Google, share her perspective on our greatest barriers to bringing forth our wisdom at work .
• Read about how technology accelerates the wisdom gap and innovative ways we can use tech wisely to advance human thriving .
• Explore the multi-faceted nature of wisdom through the ages, along with the latest scientific research about the relationship between wisdom and wellbeing.

Let us widen our perspective to include the wellbeing of the whole world and its future generations in our vision of economics and business.” —The Dalai Lama??

LEADING WISELY BUILDS ON OUR INNATE CAPACITY TO THRIVE

From Aristotle’s perspective, a fruitful and thriving life (often called eudaimonia) is marked by making wisdom practical. This involves developing psychological maturity as a leader and turning that maturity into the mindsets and behaviors that extend beyond the welfare of your organization to the communities it touches and the larger natural and social world.

That’s why wisdom is part of our science-based assessment and framework of thriving, Be Well Lead Well Pulse?. As one of the six essential shifts for effective wellbeing leadership, the WISDOM dimension is about tapping into a worthwhile purpose, higher vision, and innate genius for guiding yourself and others toward inspired impact. It is measured using three psychometric scales:

• Vision & Purpose—the extent to which you have a meaningful purpose and holistic personal vision to direct your life and leadership.
• Wholeness—the extent to which you experience a sense of personal integration and internal sufficiency, even during conflicting or competing facets of life and work.
• Emotional Capacity—the extent to which you bring equanimity and lightness to your responsibilities.

We are responsible for the wellbeing of people, including ourselves, and the future of humanity and planet Earth—a responsibility we can carry together, not alone. On the path of wellbeing leadership , WISDOM is not only indispensable; it is an area of immense potential and growth.

WISDOM PRACTICES YOU CAN USE NOW

Think of WISDOM as a navigational lens for creating meaningful impact and meeting situations in life and work with resourcefulness, growth, and the long game in mind. How do you put it into action? Start with a few of these practices :

> Let go of the limiting beliefs getting in your way.

Easier said than done! Limiting beliefs are stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and others that hold us back from pursuing that which enables us to lead wisely and thrive. Surface the limiting beliefs driving you. For assistance, fill in the blank for the statement that feels true for you—or add your own limiting belief to this list:

• I am not worthy of ____________.
• I am not ___________ enough to lead.
• If I take risks in how I ___________, I’m sure to fail.
• It’s too late for me to make a positive change in the way I _____________.
• If I’m not in control of __________ (everything!), it’ll all fall apart.
• (Add your limiting belief here.)

What beliefs are you no longer willing to accept about yourself or others? Get inspired to let that delusion go by listening to the beautiful poem Lost by renowned poet David Whyte. It is a potent reminder: As leaders and whole people, we are dying to feel joyful, fulfilled, and truly alive, yet we often limit ourselves.

> Allow this belief to uplift your leadership.

When you coach, mentor, parent, or do any endeavor with others, act from this powerful belief: Human beings aren’t problems to be fixed. Everyone (no exceptions) holds vast potential for growth, effectiveness, ingenuity, and wellbeing. How does this assumption transform how you live and lead? It can be humbling and freeing to realize that every person has a depth of experiences, potential, and wisdom you know nothing about.

> Shift to openness.

Imagine: Your meeting with a colleague is spiraling downward. Your stomach, jaw, and thinking have contracted—you’re bracing, mind and body, to defend your views. You’re caught in a dynamic which is true for us all: As our reactivity rises, our wellbeing and wisdom erode. Move your body , do a non-sleep deep rest practice, go wide with your gaze , or take a conscious breath before responding. The simple shift toward greater openness and wonder will go far in helping foster a psychologically safe work environment for everyone, including you.

> Ask something greater of your organization.

Wisdom is about how we act every day to create a brighter tomorrow. Read the excellent book, Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs , or listen to author Ari Wallach discuss the book’s ideas. Then, explore these questions in your organization:

• What results are we inspired to create? What higher purpose will these results serve?
• What limits to growth, such as ethics and values, will we put into place to achieve our results responsibly? How we will use these limits to growth to guide our technological, social, and workplace innovations and decisions?
• In what ways will we use our organization’s activities to help resolve the thorniest problems in people’s lives?
• What are we building today to benefit generations of tomorrow? What are the long-term, next generation implications of how we’re operating today?
• How will we enhance our capacity to thrive through our work together—and bring greater flow into the work itself?
• How will we make thriving a new standard of our organization’s success?

The Be Well Lead Well Pulse? assessment system includes a collection of close to 100 macro- and micro-practices, like those offered above, to enrich your capacity to thrive and amplify thriving within your team and organization. Contact us to work with a Be Well Lead Well Pulse? Certified practitioner in your world region, and learn more about our programs for getting certified to use Be Well Lead Well Pulse? wherever you lead.

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