The Wise Leader’s Perspective

Wise leaders tend to pay attention to patterns that connect and ideas that expand their worldview and help them find a larger meaning in life. They focus on bringing out the best in others because they believe that a leader’s goal should be to develop followers into becoming better leaders than they themselves are. In doing so, they find shared purpose with their followers and strive to cocreate value with them for the larger society. When they work with others, they keep their eyes open for what connects and integrates each other and their larger purpose. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, coauthors of Built to Last, reported that organizations driven by purpose and values outperformed the market fifteen-to-one and outperformed comparison companies six-to-one.⁴ According to Collins, a noble purpose has “the power to ignite the passion and commitment.”⁵

We find that just like great organizations that are driven by a higher purpose, wise leaders are driven by a personal noble purpose, which serves as their North Star (a concept similar to what Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and now a Harvard Business School professor, calls True North). They use their North Star to guide all their decisions and actions at an individual level and in an organizational context. When interpersonal conflicts arise within their team, wise leaders resolve them by framing the conflict in a larger context, using their North Star for inspiration. They enjoy and excel at mentoring others in their process of shifting their perspective and discovering their own North Star.