Servant Leadership: Wisdom

“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” (Prov 11:14, NIV)

Wisdom is such a simple concept to grasp, but so hard to gain and even harder to express. I’m sure everyone has that friend, spouse, brother, who always has a bit of wisdom to impart, whether or not it is asked for. Sometimes, that nugget of wisdom comes at a very unwanted time, like, when the officer is writing the ticket. “If we had left early, like I wanted, you wouldn’t have been speeding.”

Okay, we can all agree that’s not really wisdom. That’s actually more akin to unwisdom, if there is such a word. More likely, the wise among us simply sat quietly as the officer wrote the ticket, but used it as a lesson the next time we discussed departure times.

“Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.” (Prov 11:12, NIV)

For it all to make sense, we need a third proverb.

“The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.” (Prov 11:20, NIV)

Even a proverb needs context. Sometimes a proverb makes sense all by itself, but in context, the true meaning really comes alive. If you take our three proverbs from today, you see that wisdom is found in an honest heart who knows when to keep his mouth shut, when to talk, and always speaks truth to the betterment of the listener. God would rather His servant leaders have and use wisdom, than keep learning lessons over and over again; else, there could come a time when His working all things “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” (Rom 8:28, NIV) turns to “disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as a son.” (Heb 12:6, NIV)

Proverbs chapter 11 is all about wisdom. Taken as a whole, the entire book of Proverbs provides simple nuggets of wisdom by which any servant leader should abide. Would it be too corny to say it would be a “wise choice” to follow the proverbs?

But for the servant leader, wisdom is not only gained and followed, it is freely given. And wisdom worth its weight is best offered at a discount, because freely given wisdom can never be bought for the price for which it was earned. At least, not wisdom imparted with a “blameless” heart. Servant leaders who know their place and their listener know also when to speak and what to say that will make the difference. If you’re on the fence, “I told you so” is never the right thing to say. Ever. But, “Before you do, let me offer you some unsolicited advice learned the hard way,” can make all the difference in the world.

Servant leaders also listen to others’ wisdom. Retired Secretary of Defense and legendary Marine Corps leader, Gen. Jim Mattis, wrote in his autobiography Call Sign Chaos[1] that good leaders should not only surround themselves with young disruptors, but they should also listen to, and be saved embarrassment by, those young disruptors. He said so in imparting a few choice stories of the life-or-death lessons he learned when he had the wisdom to listening to his young lieutenants. The weight of wisdom doesn’t have to be unbearable, nor does a wise word itself need to alter the direction of the cosmos. Wisdom doesn’t have to be a heavy weight borne by scarred leaders. It can be a right word at the right time, heard and heeded, in time of need. “Instead of telling the director what course of action you think will work, why don’t you lay out three and ask her input?” That type of nugget won’t change the course of a hurricane, but it might alter the professional direction of your colleague, if he listens.

I’ll leave you with a final word of “hillbilly wisdom.” When an old timer starts a story with, “Let me tell you what happened when me and old…” I can promise you that nugget of wisdom is worth its weight in gold, and if it isn’t, well, at least it will be entertaining.

[1] West, B. (2019). Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead. New York: Random House.