The Age of Wisdom

“Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment.” — Tao Te Ching

The more I study Covey, the more I find he was ahead of his time.

I’ve been sifting through my collection of Stephen Covey material, looking for nuggets that have inspired me in some way over the years.

In the book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Stephen Covey gives his take on the road ahead.

Wisdom is The Road Ahead

Covey was a never-ending wealth of wisdom, and very well researched. He did an amazing job of coalescing patterns and trends into deeply meaningful insight and action.

One of the nuggets that I came across is Stephen Covey on “What’s next?”

Via The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness:

“I suggest it will be wisdom. Unless you have have principles at the center of a person’s heart and soul and in the relationships and culture of an organization, you cannot build high trust. And without high trust you cannot have empowerment.

When rules take the place of human judgment, you can’t nurture a climate of innovation and creativity; instead you will nurture a kiss-up culture. Without high trust and aligned structures and systems based on an abundance paradigm, you cannot get TQM or quality.

Of necessity, the Age of Wisdom, in my opinion, will follow the Age of Information, where the essence of leadership will be to be a servant leader.”

The Age of Insight

It’s music to my ears. I’m a fan of wisdom. One of the goals of Sources of Insight is to put wisdom at your fingertips, by sharing the wisdom of the ages and modern sages. I think of it as “wisdom in action.”

A while back, a reader of Sources of Insight suggested that after the Age of Information, the Age of Insight has arrived. I replied:

“It really is the age of insight. It’s amazing how many things we can answer in today’s world … with depth, science, and intuition on our sides … and the collective conscious. Now of course, the keys are …. asking the right questions, getting meaningful results, and leading our best lives.”