Читать книгу Leadership in Veterinary Medicine - Clive Elwood - Страница 57

Wisdom is that elusive ability to say, or not say, and do, or not do, the right thing at the right time. Wisdom is not based on knowledge, but it is based on understanding and is, to a degree, a synthesis and is often based on experience, reflectivity, and humility. The ability to see things objectively, as they are, and not be swayed by prejudice or emotion, helps leaders be, and become, wise. Applied wisdom in leadership means choosing a right path from the tangle of complexity and showing others where it might lead (Cacciope 1997).

Wisdom is fine, but in leadership, where decisions have to be made and things have to get done, it does not mean doing nothing; unless doing nothing is the right thing to do. Believing completely in your own brain power and powers of intuition, however, are the opposite of wisdom and lead to hubris, overconfidence and potential catastrophe. This is seen on a grand scale, but it could be applied to much smaller scale, such as the veterinary clinician who is so wedded to a particular way of doing things and a belief in their own brilliance that they do not see the risk to their patient of doggedly pursuing a futile treatment plan, when the wise decision would be to stop, take stock, seek other opinions and be humble.