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Chapter 14 - Wisdom and Leadership

from Part IV - Wisdom in the World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

By
David Rooney  and
Bernard McKenna
Edited by
Robert J. Sternberg  and
Judith Glück
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Judith Glück
Affiliation:
Universität Klagenfurt, Austria
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Summary

This chapter outlines contemporary research related to excellent and inadequate leadership. This research reveals some practical problems arising in leadership research and identifies important psychological issues that contribute to bad or toxic leadership. The concept of wisdom, including practical wisdom, is elaborated as an effective and ethical foundation of leadership theory and practice. Central to practical wisdom are wise reasoning and the ability to do things wisely, including doing leadership wisely. There is a discussion of issues related to developing wisdom generally, and then specifically in leaders and potential leaders. The chapter fills a gap in understanding how to develop wisdom in people so that they act wisely. The chapter will give you some ideas on how to develop your wisdom potential. Finally, we will discuss the implications of our views on leadership and wisdom before concluding with reflections on why we keep appointing/ voting for bad leaders.

Keywords

Practical wisdomleadershipethicsmoralsvaluesbehavioral experiments
Type
Chapter
Information
The Psychology of Wisdom
An Introduction
 , pp. 230 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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