Wisdom: the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment.
There was a season in my life where there were many changes happening within an organization where I was a major leader. This caused loads of friction, anxiety, and stress among several team members. As a leader in this situation, decisions needed to be made quickly and conversations needed to be had that were uncomfortable or awkward. I knew that I wanted to keep the relationships intact even when the conversations and decisions were challenging. I also knew I had to be true and honest with myself and to those involved. Every day there were hard conversations had and decisions made. Each of these situations required wisdom to accomplish the desired results. This was a huge leadership opportunity amid the chaos. These decisions and conversations would impact my career, the organization, and relationships for years to come.
Wisdom begins with the reverence and pursuit of God followed by the “application” of knowledge and experience. In the reverence and pursuit of God, it is an intentional decision to seek God in every challenging and major decision. As leaders we should realize that the Holy Spirit desires to lead and partner with us to bring God’s glory to earth through the decisions we make. The more we pursuit the will of God, the clearer our minds and hearts are when we must deal with life’s issues especially as leaders.
The books of Proverbs and James shower us with the benefits of wisdom and confirms that wisdom is generously given to anyone who asks for it. One of the ways that I apply wisdom from God is that whenever confronted with a major or challenging decision, I ask myself two questions. The first one is “does it glorify God?”. In whatever I decide to do, will it bring glory to God. Will He get the credit for the truth and transparency of the choice that I made? The next question is “does it benefit my spouse?”. Does my spouse know about the decisions that I make especially if it is going to affect her in any way? Will she be embarrassed or stressed due to the decision, or will it be a blessing for her? If the answers to these two questions are yes, then I feel more confident in moving forward.
Now back to the organizational situation I mentioned earlier. It was extremely important that I didn’t react to the issues at hand. Reacting would be knee-jerk reactions when making decisions based on the external circumstances that were happening. The conversations could have taken a left turn if I exchanged attitude for attitude. In wisdom, the response was to take a step back and remember what the ultimate goal was in each of the situations that I was dealing with or the conversations I was having. The first thing I needed was to seek God’s wisdom for the right decisions and or words. After taking those critical pauses for guidance, then I could truly respond in wisdom with truth and empathy and was able to achieve the intended purpose.
In conclusion, one of the most effective resources we have as a leader is wisdom. If you are faced with challenging or tough decisions or conversations, take the pauses to truly seek Godly wisdom as I guarantee your outcomes will be much more effective for all parties involved. Make sure to sharpen this tool regularly. For instruction and application, read the book of Proverbs and James 1:5 frequently!
Exercise Your Power this week-
1. Read Proverbs Chapter 3 and Job Chapter 28 as it relates to wisdom.
2. Determine where you need to grow in wisdom in your business and start to pray intentionally for it.
3. Speak with a person that you feel exhibits wisdom in an area of interest where you need to grow.
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