What is the purpose of your leadership training….. Wisdom or Knowledge?

Is your focus on leadership/ethics training on knowledge or wisdom? There is a difference. This difference can be described as knowledge is the “stuff” and wisdom is what you do with it! “Stuff” is everywhere, i.e. Social media, books, the internet, news, etc. but where is the process of what to do with it?

If we think about it, your best teachers were your best because they shared their wisdom based on knowledge and your worst teachers only shared the knowledge for whatever reason. One builds on the other, but what was the difference between these teachers? They all had degrees, all were knowledgeable, but the best teachers took it one step further. They took their knowledge and found ways to make it applicable to the students’ experience, proving that true education only happens when learning links up to people’s experience. Now the reality here is the question, Did you have any more “best” teachers or mediocre/worst teachers in your academic experience?

Knowledge is the basis, but wisdom is the application of it. The gaining of knowledge should not be an end unto itself, but the basis for the application. It takes a different type of “education” for the application. This is wisdom.

When one examines and evaluates their leadership/ethics training,  is one leaving too much to be desired by only passing on knowledge without wisdom? Having knowledge is no guarantee of having wisdom.

So is “settling” for knowledge in your training is the easier to provide or are you engaged in the “passing on” of wisdom, though not as easy, is the focus of your values based training? Which will be the most effective?