Wise Leadership By Nonaka And Takeuchi (2011)

In a world marked by uncertainty, new technology, changing demographics, and changing consumption trends, wise leaders are needed more than any time in the human history (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 2011). Nonaka and Takeuchi (2011) begin with the premise stating that, for instance, knowledge by itself did not prevent the collapse of the global financial system; conversely, uncertainty alone did not hinder the effectiveness of business leaders. Thus, leaders need the required capabilities to reinvent their organizations and face the challenges brought about by technology, demographics, and globalization. Current leaders lack adequate preparation to construct global organizations that can effectively transcend geographical boundaries (Nonaka and Takeuchi,

They are able and willing to share their knowledge and expertise within their organizations by using their honed mentoring and coaching skills as well as creating learning opportunities. This practice allows subordinates to acquire some of the leader’s wisdom.

Although two major theoretical conceptualizations of wise leadership have been suggested (five defining principles of wise leadership by Mckenna et al. (2009) and six core abilities of wise leaders by Nonaka and Takeuchi (2011)), very little is still known about what constitutes wise leadership from an empirical stance and measures have yet to be developed to assess this new leadership

As such, wise leadership is examined at the behavioral, the intrapersonal and cognitive levels. This observable pattern of behavior is in tune with the purpose of the current research which is concerned with leadership influences in the workplace. A core premise of our theoretical model is that leaders’ wise behavior positively influences subordinates practices as well as organizational processes, culture and outcomes. Mckenna et al.’s (2009) five defining principles of wise leadership as well as Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (2011) six core abilities of wise leaders began to build a case for the importance of constructing a new measure for wise leadership in their theoretical and conceptual contributions. To bridge a gap of current research and to build on the theoretical works of Mckenna et al.’s (2009), Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (2011), and other authors, we develop and validate a new measure of wise