Claude Warner - Executive Coach

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 Time Forethought 

Time Forethought

 Leadership

  • It Starts at the Top!
    Posted by Claude Warner on Wednesday 11th November 2009 at 14:30:10
      - 1 comment on this post - most recent Tuesday 9th March 2010 at 14:40:11

 Communication

  • Listening is not Understanding
    Posted by Claude Warner on Wednesday 17th February 2010 at 21:10:49
      - 1 comment on this post - most recent Monday 1st March 2010 at 13:13:59

 Emotional Intelligence

  • 1 + 1 = 3
    Posted by Claude Warner on Wednesday 20th October 2010 at 14:49:28

 Successful Living

 Wisdom

Precepts of Wisdom

Posted by Claude on Monday 26th October 2009 at 14:31:33


When I think about wisdom I am reminded of the statement “Wisdom is the weight of many winters”.
 
This speaks of wisdom as an accumulation of experience. This is confirmed by these definitions of wisdom.
 
  • The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge. "In those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations" Maya Angelou.
  • Accumulated knowledge, erudition, or enlightenment.
But is it enough to just have a font of experience to be wise? How is wisdom exercised? Here are some definitions.
 
  • The ability to make a decision based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding.
  • The ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight.
  • The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
Wisdom is therefore an ability to blend knowledge and experience, adding insight and understanding, resulting in a decision or judgment.
 
If that is how wisdom is exercised, what then are the precepts of wisdom? Here is a list of precepts I extracted from selected wisdom sayings that can help us make wise choices.
 
The truly wise man is always characterized by a calm spirit, a mild and placid demeanor, and by a gentle, though firm, enunciation of his sentiments. A noisy, boisterous, and stormy declaimer we never select as a safe counsellor. Albert Barnes
 
WISDOM IS CONFIDENT, NOT ARROGANT
 
These days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future. Vernon Cooper
 
WISDOM LOOKS AHEAD
We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. …… he who never made a mistake never made a discovery. Samuel Smiles
WISDOM MAKES MISTAKES, BUT LEARNS FROM THEM
Memory is the mother of all wisdom. Samuel Johnson
WISDOM REQUIRES US TO ACCESS OUR STORIES
The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth. Pierre Abelard
IT IS OK TO NOT HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. IT IS WISE TO FIND THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. Ghandi
WISDOM CAN HAVE ITS OWN BLIND SPOTS
Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification. Martin Fischer
WISDOM GETS TO THE ESSENCE OF THINGS
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. Immanuel Kant
WISDOM LOOKS AT THE BIG PICTURE
A man is wise with the wisdom of his time only, and ignorant with its ignorance. Henry David Thoreau
WISDOM ACKNOWLEDGES PERSPECTIVES OTHER THAN YOUR OWN
A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. Groucho Marx
WISDOM DOES NOT NEED TO BE COMPLICATED. SIMPLICITY CAN BE GREAT WISDOM
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. George Bernard Shaw
ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LIVES EVOKES WISDOM
It is no longer enough to be smart -- all the technological tools in the world add meaning and value only if they enhance our core values, the deepest part of our heart. Wisdom implies a mature integration of appropriate knowledge, a seasoned ability to filter the inessential from the essential. Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman
WISDOM IS BEST INFORMED FROM A CORE PLACE. IT IS KNOWLEDGE FILTERED THROUGH THE HEART
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it. David Starr Jordan

WISDOM TAKES ACTION

The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil. Cicero

WISDOM IS DECISIVE

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius

WISDOM STRETCHES AND TAKES RISKS
 
It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate thing
s. Henry David Thoreau
 
WISDOM IS RESPONSIVE, NOT REACTIVE
  
This list is by no means conclusive or exhaustive, but it can certainly increase awareness of the fundamentals principles or precepts around exercising wisdom.
 
Wisdom is not one-dimensional, but multi-dimensional, which is why it requires a weighing up of all the variables in order to make a decision. It is rarely cut and dried, and often requires a choice between equally plausible options.
 
May these precepts help you in making wise choices.

Claude Warner is an Executive Coach specializing in Personal Leadership Development, which is the development of our personal leadership in order to be able to lead others more effectively in a business context. 

Understanding the influence of our personal example, Personal Leadership Development coaching seeks to develop our ability to understand and manage our own emotions and our ability to relate to, understand and respond to other people and the situations within which we encounter them (Emotional Intelligence), our ability to find meaning and purpose from which we are inspired and motivated (Spiritual Intelligence), as well as our ability to think rationally, logically, critically, strategically, and systemically. (Thinking Intelligence or IQ). 

Claude’s coaching style is dynamic and shifts between a structured and systemic approach, and a relational and intuitive approach, informed by whichever approach best serves the clients' style and agenda.

Claude coaches Executives and business leaders nationally via in-person and telephonic coaching. He can be contacted 083 227 5153 or info@claudewarner.com. Further information is available on www.claudewarner.com

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