Nada Alamro

Introduction
After looking through many literatures about knowledge management, it seems that many authors agree to the fact that it is a great ordeal to explain knowledge management. In the chapter A Practical Framework for Understanding KM written by Dr. Jay Edwin Gillette, states that knowledge management is complex due to the fact knowledge is complex (Gillette, 2002, p. 18). Even with the complexity of managing knowledge, it is important for organizations to adopt proper knowledge management to succeed.

Carl Frappaolo mentions in his book Knowledge Management that “it is perhaps the lack of a singular definition that has delayed the more wide-scale deployment of knowledge management” (Frappaolo, 2006, p. 8).

Understanding Knowledge Management

There is no clear-cut knowledge management definition out there. Many have attempted to define knowledge management, some from a business prospective and others from a philosophical point of view. However, Dr. Gillette explanation of what knowledge management is portrayed in his knowledge management scale which consists of: wisdom, understanding, information, data, fact, and phenomena (Gillette, 2002, p. 5).
None the less, Frappaolo defines knowledge management succinctly as being “the leveraging of collective wisdom to increase responsiveness and innovation” (Frappaolo, 2006, p. 8).

Leaders Adopting Wisdom

In the day an age, organizations need innovation and proper collection and exchange of knowledge especially within in order to prosper. Leaders who adopt knowledge management practices are the ones who succeed at the end. Leaders are characterized with having wisdom. Dr. Gillette uses wisdom on top of his knowledge management scale. He explains that “Wisdom tells us what to look for in data, facts and phenomena. It helps us create information” (Gillette, 2002, p. 7). He defines wisdom as “the ability to discern, to make judgments.” (Gillette, 2002, p. 10).

Leaders in general must make decisions; they must choose and decide between two things in which they apply judgment. “Executives and leaders are really in the decision business. Leadership requires judgment most of all…Every leader eventually asks for wisdom…wisdom makes a judgment between the differences” (Gillette, 2002, p. 10-11).

Making judgment between the differences is the key word. If leaders lead by example according to Tom Peters the author of Thriving on Chaos, followers of leaders are being taught something, in this case followers are being taught to apply wisdom, to choose the better choice. Looking at it from a moral development point of view, leaders choosing the better choice, acting and choosing moral behavior, send the wisdom message to followers who will then adopt and choose the same moral act as the leader.

To explain where wisdom lays exactly in moral development, Kohlberg explains that there are six stages to moral development and the more advanced stages are stages 5 and 6 where a person “becomes more aware that while it is well to live up to the rules of society, there are a variety of possible value systems. There is greater sensitivity to There is greater sensitivity to deciding what the rules should be in the first place” (Prince II, 1988, p. 487) a person starts to follow universal ethical principles, “which guide moral judgments and which even may conflict with existing societal values” (Prince II, 1988, p. 487). Two words relating to wisdom are mentioned deciding as well as judgments, thus we can say that wisdom is in the more advanced stages of moral development.

Knowledge Management as a Competitive Advantage:

Wisdom is based on information gathered, information that is understood. In today’s business world, it is wise to gather information that is useful and meaningful about the business and other businesses to be at a competitive advantage. Gathering and storing such information requires some application of knowledge management. The details of this gathering and storing is definitely a wide topic to get into. Nonetheless, as a wise leader one must see this competitive advantage to be ahead in the league, to apply new innovative ideas, to communicate effectively and efficiently within the organization. As Bill Gates puts it “knowledge management is nothing more than managing information flow, getting the right information to the people who need it so that they can act on it quickly” (Gillette, 2002, p. 12). This quick application is what the leader is thriving to accomplish in terms of both communication and innovation. The sooner the business gets this information, the sooner it is in a competitive advantage. The sooner it can launch new innovative ideas and products to the market.

Conclusion

As Dr. Gillette explained, understanding knowledge management is a complex matter. To further clarify this, Dr. Gillette’s knowledge management scale shows that knowledge management consistent of a few major components which includes wisdom. Applying wisdom knowledge is essential for any leader. Being able to decide, to choose from information is what a leader with wisdom does. Wisdom applied puts an individual leader and the business in a competitive advantage. Not only is wisdom applied by the leader, but also by the workers, the followers of the leader, who lookup to and adapt the examples of the leader. Thus, having wisdom is essential to knowledge management, which evidently reflects excellent leadership.

References

Frappaolo, C. (Ed.) (2006). Knowledge Management. West Sussex, England:
Capstone Publishing Ltd.

Gillette, J. E. (2002). A practical framework for understanding KM. In R.F. Bellaver &
J.M. Lusa, (Eds.), (2002). Knowledge management strategy and technology. New York: Argent.

Prince II, H. T. (1988). Moral development in individuals. In J. T. Wren, (Ed.), (1995).
Leader's companion: Insights on leadership through the ages. New York: Free Press.

Posted by Nada Alamro at 06:15 PM | Permalink

Servant and leadership, two contradicting words that triggered my curiosity while coming across the essay Servant Leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf in the book The Leader’s Companion edited by J. Thomas Wren. As I researched, I have learned that, Robert Greenleaf was a well known writer who coined the concept servant-leadership in the year 1970 when he published his book The Servant as Leader (Greenleaf.org, 2002). Other authors as well as Greenleaf later produced other writings that were inspired by the concept servant-leadership (Greenleaf.org,2007, p.3-4).

Greenfield explains that a servant leader is a servant first which is different from being a leader first, he says, “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served” (Wren, 1995, p.22)

This concept however is not new but rather thousands of years old. For example, the ancient Indian writer Kautilya was a famous strategic thinker who wrote in his 4th century book Arthashastra describing the duties of a king (leader) "In the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases himself he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good” (Halsall, 1998).
For a clearer definition, the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership describes servant-leadership as follows: “Servant-Leadership is a practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Servant-leaders may or may not hold formal leadership positions. Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment” (Greenleaf.org, 2002).

There are ten characteristics of a servant-leader that were identified by Larry C. Spears, the Chief Executive Officer of The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership:
“1. Listening: …deep commitment to listening intently to others… Listening also encompasses getting in touch with one's own inner voice. Listening, coupled with periods of reflection, are essential to the growth and well-being of the servant-leader.
2. Empathy: The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits…
3. Healing: The healing of relationships is a powerful force for transformation and integration. One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and one's relationship to others…servant-leaders recognize that they have an opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact…
4. Awareness: General awareness, and especially self-awareness…helps one in understanding issues involving ethics, power and values. It lends itself to being able to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position.
5. Persuasion: Another characteristic of servant-leaders is a reliance on persuasion, rather than on one's positional authority, in making decisions within an organization...The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups…
6. Conceptualization: Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to dream great dreams. The ability to look at a problem or an organization from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities…
7. Foresight: … enables the servant-leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future…
8. Stewardship: Peter Block (author of Stewardship and The Empowered Manager) has defined stewardship as "holding something in trust for another."…
9. Commitment to the growth of people: ...The servant-leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything in his or her power to nurture the personal and professional growth of employees and colleagues…
10. Building community: The servant-leader…seek to identify some means for building community among those who work within a given institution” (Spears, 2002).

I see servant-leadership being used today in organizations that encourage and follow a democratic type of leadership rather than an authoritative one. Servant-leadership encourages work that serves the better good and brings positive change in society. Greenleaf says “the only way to change a society…is to produce people, enough people, who will change it” (Wren, 1995, p.22) thus we need to produce more servant-leaders in order to make change in our societies.

References:

Greenleaf.org (2002). What is servant-leadership?. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from , Robert
K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership Web site:
http://www.greenleaf.org/leadership/servant-leadership/What-is-Servant-Leadership.html

Greenleaf.org (2007, Winter). Greenleaf center timeline 1964-2005. The Servant Leader: Newsletter of
the Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 59, 3-4. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from Robert K.
Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership Web site: http://www.greenleaf.org/ServantLeader_Winter07.pdf

Halsall, P (1998, June). Indian History Sourcebook: The Arthashastra, c. 250 BCE .
Retrieved June 5, 2007 from Fordham University, Internet Indian History Sourcebook Web site: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/kautilya1.html

Spears, L. C. (2002). On character and servant-leadership: Ten characteristics of
effective, caring leaders . Retrieved June 5, 2007 from , Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership Web site: http://www.greenleaf.org/leadership/read-about-it/articles/On-Character-and-Servant-Leadership-Ten-Characteristics.htm

Wren, J. T. (1995). Leader's companion: Insights on leadership through the ages. New
York: The Free Press.

Posted by Nada Alamro at 12:44 PM | Permalink