Leadership: Intelligence Vs. Wisdom

There are many undergraduates nowadays without jobs. People used to think that if they can get a degree in the university, their life would be successful. But, unfortunately this is not the case. Intelligence, which is got from formal education, is not adequate. Another quality called wisdom is more important in determining the success of a person, more specifically, the person's leadership skills. Wisdom is more important in determining the people's performance in leadership because of prerequisites of leadership itself, such as, emotional resiliency, people interaction skills, and practical skills.

The first prerequisite of leadership is emotional resiliency. A leader is often faced with many tough decisions that are closely related to emotions. The "Berlin Paradigm" identifies "how" of dealing with decisions and dilemmas as one quality of wisdom (Hall, 2007). Knowledge (analogized with intelligence), in the other hand, would not teach you how to deal with them. As an example, one organizer in NUSSU (NUS Student Union) organizations is having a hard time in deciding the right time for conducting his workshop. There are two choices of dates. The first one is the first week, while the second one is the second week of the midterm period. The first choice would be the period when most of the first year undergraduates are having their test, while the second is when most of the second year undergraduates are having their test. Logically, both of the options are bad. Intelligence would not help you in determining choice in this context, while wisdom would. This is a common situation in leadership, thus wisdom would be more beneficial in context of emotional strength.

The second prerequisite is people interaction skills. Leadership situations would be heavily involved with people. While intelligence will only help you through arbitrary situations, it will not help you in dealing with people in which often the situation is uncertain. What will be useful in dealing with people is the experience, the way of thinking and the knowledge of human interactions. These will fit nicely with another quality of wisdom provided by the "Berlin Paradigm", which is expert knowledge of the "facts" of human nature (Hall, 2007). For illustration, NUS students are now having a hard time because of the steep increase in residents' points requirement. Many undergraduates are kicked off and do not have any place to stay for the upcoming academic year. This is where Donald Koh, as a president of NUSSU shows the quality of leadership -humility- by conducting a campaign for the undergraduates that do not secure their place in campus and submitting them to Office of Student Affairs. This illustration clearly shows people interaction skills, where nowhere from knowledge it can be got. Wisdom, by providing human interactions skills, shows its importance in leadership.

The third prerequisite is practical skills. Intelligence would focus more on theory, while wisdom would focus more on application. Leadership situations consist of practical situations with scarcely theoretical situations. The "Berlin Paradigm" states excellence at both thought and action of uncertainty conditions as one of the qualities of wisdom (Hall, 2007). As an example, Clayton's father always had positive attitudes and thought during World War II. He was drinking tea with his mother during the raid attack and celebrated if they survived from the attack. Theoretically, drinking tea during raid attack is insane and no positive attitudes can be derived from this situation but the case is reversed with wisdom. Here, Clayton's father successfully leaded and comforted his mother. Knowledge will be teaching us see the glass as half full, not half empty; in reality, will it be that easy? Wisdom plays an important role in practical implementation.

To conclude, leadership would demand emotional resiliency, human relations skills, and practical skills of a person. Intelligence would not be able to meet these leadership's prerequisites. But wisdom's qualities in emotional strength, human interactions skills and practical skills would meet leadership's prerequisites perfectly. Thus, wisdom is more important than intelligence in determining one's performance in leadership.