In last week's post, I mentioned an opportunity that King Solomon was presented with as a leader. If you missed it, you can read that post here. In short, the story from the book of Ecclesiastes describes how God shows up in Solomon's dream and tells him to ask for any one thing and God will give it to him.
Fully acknowledging this is happening to Solomon in a dream, I find the story to be one of gripping drama, and the choice that King Solomon was faced with is fascinating. Here is a quick recap:
God shows up to a sleeping Solomon and says, “Ask for anything and I will give it to you.”
I think Solomon has to be thinking along the lines of:
“This is cool! I have to get this one right! This is big. Maybe I should create a list of options…”
I need a new chariot
My marriage isn't going so great
I have just seen the doctor and the news wasn't so good
My kids have lost all respect for me
My kingdom has a history of revolting against its leadership
I have enemies on every side of my land
My army is a lot smaller compared to all my enemies
My land is prone to drought, and there are a lot of people to feed
Let’s stop there for a moment and put ourselves in Solomon's place. Pretend that God, who by definition is all-knowing, all-powerful, is always everywhere, and can do whatever is desired, is saying to you, "Ask me for anything and I will give it to you."
While you ruminate on that question, I have some additional thoughts for you to ponder.
Why Wisdom?
As you consider King Solomon’s list of options, you can begin to understand the gravity of the question he faced. I am sure as you are thinking about your own request of God, you might be thinking, “This IS big.”
It is very big. Especially if you are a leader. And most of you who read this lead others.
Some of you lead organizations, others of you lead teams, others lead churches, and some of you have the responsibility of a family. No matter what your leadership level is, this can be a difficult question to answer, "If I could have one thing in my life, what would it be?"
I think somehow Solomon must have realized that how he answered this question would likely impact the rest of his life on earth and maybe even impact him beyond his earthly life. I don't mean to over dramatize the point,...but how can I not?
I can almost feel the tension Solomon may have had in his dream..."Think, think! before God changes his mind, what should I ask for?"
It is possible that Solomon wasn’t quite as confused as I am while contemplating that question. Perhaps Solomon was a more reflective leader and had read a lot of blog posts on leadership, so he had spent some time thinking about questions like this. Or maybe he even worked with an Executive Coach who asked him similar questions to prepare him for this very moment. Who knows?
What we do know is that no matter the level of drama associated with the decision, Solomon asks for wisdom.
On the surface, this is a curious choice.
Most of us have some concept of what wisdom is, but if we are honest, it is not something we think as much about these days. Prior to reading these recent blog posts, when was the last time you even thought about the concept of wisdom?
While there is not one agreed-upon definition for wisdom in any of the scholarly leadership literature I have read, I do think there are some thoughts that are quite insightful as we begin our thinking about this important leadership attribute:
Most perspectives on wisdom view it as an expert knowledge system that concerns the fundamental pragmatics of life. (Baltes)
Another perspective is that wisdom is a skillful application of the practical truth to ordinary facets of life that extend beyond information and knowledge. (Dr. Ken Boa)
Yet another view is that wisdom is perceived as exhibiting two categories of attributes: exceptional understanding and attributes of judgment and communication. (Holiday 7 Chandler)
Wisdom is a capacity to put into action the most appropriate behavior by considering what is known and what does the most good. (Rowley)
Recently an affective component to wisdom has been added that includes Emotional Management as a key to leaders being able to display wisdom.
Is there anything we can glean from these 5 perspectives that might inform us on how we see wisdom? It entails some level of expertise:
The skillful application of practical truth
Often what is needed is beyond our own level of information and knowledge
Leaders are faced everyday with not only what needs to be decided and communicated, but HOW this needs to be done
Some level of emotional management and tolerance of stress is indicated for good judgment and decision-making
As leaders, our judgments impact not only ourselves but many others in our organizations.
So, why wisdom?
Why then as a leader did Solomon choose wisdom over anything else?
Perhaps there are two reasons, one a bit self-centered and the other focused on more of a greater good:
My dissertation chair, Dr. Very Ludden, was famous for saying that leaders require wisdom in decision-making to avoid taking foolish actions. No one wants to look foolish. No leader I know wants to take their team down a path of wasteful folly.
A leader's actions are all about the sound judgment that without wisdom, are filled with distractions and temptations.
I think that somehow, Solomon had the ability to look at his list of options and see a connection. Solomon had many problems and issues he faced. Some personal, some organizational, some from external forces. I think Solomon knew that what he needed was an attribute that would help him across all facets of his life.
He knew that it was wisdom that would give him the ability to help reconcile his need to be seen as a leader by others with the external needs of creating followership by those in his kingdom and respect from those outside his kingdom.
How about you? Now that you have had some time to reflect on the question, what would you ask for if you could have just one thing?
Success? Power? Influence? Riches? Love? Respect?
Wisdom?
I hope you will ponder this question for yourself. And, as long as you are pondering, why not ask? You never know what might happen…