Today’s leaders have never had more information at their fingertips. Dashboards glow with real-time data, consultants churn out PowerPoints by the dozen, and AI models promise to predict everything from customer churn to climate risk. Leaders are clever, connected, and analytically sharper than ever.
And yet, organisations continue to stumble. Brilliant, data-rich leaders make decisions that look perfect on paper but collapse in practice – launching products no one needs, adopting technologies without considering ethics, or chasing quarterly gains that undermine long-term survival.
Why does this happen? Because judgement is not the same as intelligence. Having more data does not automatically lead to better decisions. What is missing is wisdom; the reflective, ethically grounded capacity to pause, weigh perspectives, and harmonise immediate demands with long-term flourishing.
This is the basis of a recent white paper from the Centre for Wisdom in Leadership (CWIL) at SPJIMR, that wisdom is the missing ingredient in modern leadership.
Why established theories fall short
Consider the leadership models that dominate boardrooms and classrooms today.- Transformational leadership fires people up with vision and charisma. Inspiring, yes. Sustainable, maybe not. What happens when the leader exits?
- Servant leadership puts followers first, which sounds noble until a crisis hits and you need decisive action in a short time.
- Responsible leadership acknowledges multiple stakeholders, which is admirable but often buckles under shareholder pressure.
- Mindful leadership helps leaders stay present, but presence alone does not guarantee sound judgement in complex dilemmas.
- Compassionate leadership builds trust and psychological safety, yet compassion without discernment may result in indecision or misplaced priorities.
Each of these theories offers valuable insights. Yet none alone provides the full toolkit for balancing the contradictions of our world – speed and reflection, profit and purpose, shareholder and society.This is where wisdom enters.
What is wisdom in leadership?
Wisdom in leadership implies using data without being trapped by it and grounding decisions in values that reach beyond personal or corporate gain. At its heart, wisdom helps leaders pause before rushing into action and ask, “Am I pursuing the right outcome, and will it endure?”The 8D framework: Leadership with a wider lens
The white paper lays out the 8 Dimensions of Wise Leadership (8D). They function like the spokes of a wheel, ensuring leadership moves steadily rather than veering off course.- Ethical responsibility: The brake that keeps you from running over people on your way to market share.
- Rational and non-rational balance: A reminder that not everything important can be captured in a spreadsheet; intuition matters too.
- Adaptability: Because yesterday’s playbook will not survive tomorrow’s curveball.
- Multi-perspective awareness: The ability to listen before acting.
- Humility: The hardest quality to teach in an executive MBA.
- Practical wisdom: Turning high ideals into concrete decisions.
- Sustainability orientation: Asking whether the planet will survive your business model.
- Managing complexity: Holding contradictions without having a meltdown.
Together, these dimensions sketch a picture of leadership that can withstand uncertainty without losing its moral compass.From philosophy to practice
Of course, wisdom risks remaining abstract. How do you actually practise it on a Monday morning when your inbox is on fire?In their Harvard Business Review article ‘The Wise Leader’ (2011) and their book The Wise Company (Oxford University Press, 2019), Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi argue that wise leaders do not just think differently; they act differently.
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They do six things especially well: judge goodness, grasp the essence, create shared spaces for reflection and dialogue, communicate the essence through stories and metaphors, exercise political power to unite people, and foster wisdom in others.
Also Read: How experts make complex decisions
A playbook for CEOs
Blending the 8D framework with Nonaka and Takeuchi’s practices, CWIL proposes a CEO Playbook. It suggests six areas of focus – anchoring in purpose, practising ethical foresight, creating spaces for reflection, grasping complexity, balancing stakeholder perspectives, and mentoring others in wisdom.The playbook also recommends phasing. Leaders should resist the temptation to implement everything at once, or they risk drowning in their own good intentions.
- Phase 1 (Quick wins): Start with reflection circles, ethics checklists, and purpose audits.
- Phase 2 (Foundations): Build deeper structures such as stakeholder immersions, wisdom councils, and crisis simulations.
- Phase 3 (Transformation): Embed wisdom into governance, succession, and culture so it becomes organisational DNA.
The pitfalls of wisdom
Every good idea comes with its pitfalls. Wisdom is no exception.Quarterly earnings can crush long-term vision faster than you can say ‘analyst call’. Reflection rituals can become hollow if leaders do not embody them with authenticity. Middle managers may resist humility and dialogue, especially if they perceive them as slowing execution. And there is the temptation to let AI take over judgement – algorithms may calculate, but they do not care.
Wisdom requires courage, especially at the top.
What success looks like
So how do you know if wisdom is taking root?Decisions begin to show longer foresight and fewer panicked reversals. Reflection becomes a habit in boardrooms, not just a retreat activity. Purpose shows up not in posters but in KPIs. Stakeholder trust deepens because communities see consistency. AI is used responsibly, as a partner rather than a substitute. And perhaps most importantly, future leaders are chosen not only for their quarterly results but for the steadiness of their judgement.
So, are we ready for wise leadership?
At its heart, the CWIL white paper is a provocation. It challenges us to rethink what leadership is really about. If being effective means optimising the system, being wise means questioning whether the system itself is worth optimising.Perhaps the time has come to stop asking, “Who is the most innovative? Who is the fastest?” Instead, it is better to ask “Who is the most balanced in judgement?”
In a world where disruption is the only constant, wisdom is the most underrated and urgently needed leadership capacity of all.
Surya Tahora is Professor of Organisation and Leadership Studies and the Executive Director of the Centre for Wisdom in Leadership at S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research.
Views are personal.
This article has been reproduced with permission from
SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai. Views expressed by authors are personal.
