From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom

Cultivating Enlightened Self-Interest

We have found that the best way for smart leaders to make the transition from pure self-interest to the enlightened self-interest of wise leadership is to experience it. You can do this by reading about other wise leaders in this book or coming in contact with someone who exhibits it—and this might inspire you to take a similar path.

ServiceSpace (introduced in chapter 2), an initiative that leverages social networking tools (such as its website servicespace.org) to build compassionate and service-oriented communities worldwide, takes this principle seriously and has experimented with ways to generate compassion and enlightened self-interest in others for years. In 2003, CharityFocus (the organization’s original ...