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Although leadership and organizational scholars have suggested that the virtue of wisdom may promote outstanding leadership behavior, this proposition has rarely been empirically tested. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between transformational leadership, narcissism, and five dimensions of wisdom as conceptualized by the well-established Berlin wisdom paradigm. General mental ability and emotional intelligence were considered relevant control variables.

Interview, test, and questionnaire data were obtained from 77 employees of a high school and from two or three colleagues of each employee. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses.

After controlling for general mental ability and emotional intelligence, narcissism and the wisdom dimension relativism of values and life priorities were negatively related to transformational leadership, and the wisdom dimension recognition and management of uncertainty was positively related to transformational leadership. The other three wisdom dimensions, rich factual knowledge about life, rich procedural knowledge about life, and lifespan contextualism, were not significantly related to transformational leadership.

Limitations to be addressed in future studies include the cross-sectional design and the relatively small and specialized sample.

Tentative implications for leadership training and development are outlined.

This multi-method and multi-source study represents the first empirical investigation that examines links between well-established wisdom and leadership constructs in the work context.

Leadership wisdom has been inadequately addressed until now because it has not been well‐defined or easily measured. This article explores the nature of leadership wisdom and its incorporation into the Leading Across Boundaries programme run by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and endorsed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.It will be argued that leadership wisdom is an essential component of success in a fast‐paced, changing and complex environment and three questions will be answered.1. Why should you be interested in a case study about pharmacists?2. What is leadership wisdom?3. How did we develop leadership wisdom?

The article seeks to open the debate on the nature and role of wisdom in organisations.

This paper conducts a review of the diverse writing on wisdom in the literatures of philosophy and psychology, and gathers in a number of passing references to wisdom in the knowledge management and management literatures. Its aim is to gather together existing views on the nature and relevance of wisdom in the context of management and organisations. This review is structured using the following four questions: why might wisdom be important in organisations? What is wisdom, and what is its relationship to knowledge? What is the link between wisdom and leadership? What is organisational wisdom and how can it be cultivated?

Building on previous literature, definitions are proposed for wisdom, organisational wisdom, wisdom management and triple loop learning. Wisdom is defined as the capacity to put into action the most appropriate behaviour, taking into account what is known (knowledge) and what does the most good (ethical and social considerations). Wisdom is identified as a central element of leadership. The concept of organisational wisdom translates wisdom from the individual to the organisational level, and poses the need to consider the processes associated with wisdom management. The conclusion uses this review as a platform to pose a number of further questions about wisdom in organisations.

An enhanced understanding of wisdom and related concepts such as organisational wisdom, managerial wisdom and wisdom management has the potential to provide a valuable contextualisation for knowledge management theory and practice, and other aspects of organisational behaviour that can support business performance and success.

Despite being identified as a capstone concept in the relationship between data, information and knowledge, neither the concept of wisdom within organisations nor the processes associated with the cultivation of wisdom have received much attention in the knowledge management, organisational learning or management literatures. This paper provokes further debate about wisdom by drawing on the diverse literatures that explore wisdom and reflecting on the relevance of wisdom in the context of management and organisations.

Aims to bring together some of the major perspectives and theories of leadership with some of the key practical components of eastern and western philosophy. Suggests that the current leadership theories are good foundations from which to move to a more practical and immediate experience of leadership. The major view put forward is that these concepts of leadership point to the need for “leadership wisdom”. First, covers theories of leadership to provide a summary of current thinking on what is good leadership. Discusses the recent concept of “emotional intelligence” as an appropriate way to extend the way we look at the personality and skills of a leader. Introduces leadership wisdom as a way of describing effective leadership applied to the immediate situation. This wisdom can be found in themes that have existed in western and eastern philosophy for centuries. Explores these themes using stories that have come from philosophical teachings and then relates them to the central points of leadership. Uses a summary figure to portray the integration of previous leadership concepts around leadership wisdom in practice. Makes a number of suggestions that are implemented in leadership development which contribute to the development of leadership wisdom.

This article explores the practical difficulties of leadership in a complex and fast‐moving environment. It argues that in the context of the public sector, where stakeholders and legitimate interests are many and varied, the challenge is even greater for leaders. Despite these difficulties, the key is to ensure that they get the right things done with and through other people, whether in the context of day‐to‐day transactional leadership or during periods of transformational change.This article demonstrates that the existence of an explicit, principle‐driven model of leadership is a particularly important vehicle for encouraging distributed leadership, effective partnership and team working.The basis on which leaders adapt their behaviour appropriately to the nature of the task and the people concerned is the measure that will be applied when considering an individual's leadership wisdom. The quality of those choices when faced with decisions will have an immense impact not just on the leader's reputation but also on his or her ability to achieve positive outcomes whilst maintaining an appropriate life balance.

Book VI of Aristotle′s Nicomachean Ethics is commented on, aimed at showing its relevance to some themes in contemporary moral philosophy. It is argued that the classical approach to morality (Aristotle) and the Enlightened approach (Kant) need not compose antinomy. Instead, the Aristotelian emphases on the development of virtuous character and the nature of practical wisdom coalesce with the Kantian emphasis on autonomy – what Falk calls “responsible self‐direction” – in the person of the moral leader. In particular, great moralists have recognised that moral wisdom is not mainly a matter of strict obedience to rules. While rules have their place, the subject matter of ethics cannot be determined by a quasi‐mathematical formalism. Over‐emphasis on the formalism of the categorical imperative obscures Kant′s more fundamental emphasis on autonomy. The autonomous person, able to exercise moral leadership, cultivates the Aristotelian virtue of phronēsis.

This article aims to define and explore the nature of wisdom, managerial wisdom, organisational wisdom and wisdom management.

The paper draws on some of the diverse writings on wisdom, and explores the relevance of wisdom in the context of knowledge management.

Wisdom has received little attention in the information management and systems, knowledge management and management literature. This is surprising since in this knowledge‐based economy the link between data, information and knowledge is seen as pivotal by practitioners, consultants and academics.

The article explores the nature of organisational wisdom and identifies a number of areas for further theory‐making and empirical investigation.

This chapter explores African indigenous wisdom and its orientation to the common good in the practices that characterise responsible leadership and entrepreneurship. Traditionally, a wise leader was grown from the community and steeped in its communitarian traditions which led the leader to apply practical wisdom in seeking the collective good. These considerations of such wise practices are central to responsible management. Based on a qualitative literature review that is complemented with a micro-study (semi-structured interviews) of African sages and on the analysis of wisdom found by chapter contributors to this volume, insights indigenous to Africa are presented and then discussed. The countries referenced across the two studies are Kenya and Uganda (Eastern Africa), Ghana and Nigeria (Western Africa), Egypt (Northern Africa) and South Africa (Southern Africa), thereby providing some geographical spread though far from being exhaustive.

In the current business environment of uncertainty, indeterminacy, complexity, insecurity, and ambiguity, practitioners must develop sensible judgment through their experience in decision-making and, guided by values and morals, they must take action based on actual circumstances. Leadership demonstrated in this way has been described as holistic leadership in this book, and the underlying thought and behavior of this leadership is practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is a concept advocated by Aristotle and its importance remains as relevant today as it was in ancient Greece. This final chapter will briefly review the sources of practical wisdom and holistic leadership discussed thus far.

This paper aims to stress the importance of practical wisdom (phronesis) for the knowledge management field. It is a relevant intellectual and ethical resource for responding to recent changes in the business environment and for responsibly and sustainably aligning organizations for the future. Organizations must find ways to reconcile social, environmental and economic goals and meet different and conflicting stakeholder needs. To this end, the authors challenge knowledge management researchers to feature practical wisdom as an enabler for responsible knowledge management built on solid ethical foundations.

The authors introduce the concept of phronesis, reaching from Aristotle’s The Nicomachean Ethics to Nonaka and Takeuchi’s The Wise Company. Based on a systematic review of the literature, the authors performed a bibliometric analysis. Moreover, the authors discuss the findings and offer avenues for future research.

The results provide an overview of the research on phronesis in the knowledge management field. It points out the leading articles and journals (e.g. Journal of Business Ethics and Journal of Knowledge Management). Likewise, it identifies thematic areas, i.e. knowledge management field, knowledge dynamics, organizational wisdom, leadership and followership, corporate social responsibility and red flags.

In this essay, the authors advise practical wisdom as a promising candidate for advancing the field of knowledge management towards responsible knowledge management. To pursue this, the authors propose to address instability and continuous change through practical wisdom and outline a research agenda to guide further research.