Leading Wisely

2Beyond book knowledge

Fortune truly helps those who are of good judgement.

—Euripides

Wisdom is the daughter of experience.

—Leonardo da Vinci

Allow me to begin with a tale:

Once upon a time, there was a wise woman, who while picking mushrooms in the woods, found a large gold nugget lying under the moss. She picked up the nugget and brought it home. Soon after, a traveller knocked at her door asking her if he could stay for the night. The woman was very happy to do so. But when preparing food for the traveller, her visitor saw the gold nugget lying on the table. Realizing its value, he asked her if he could have it. Without any hesitation, the woman handed the nugget over to him. Extremely happy with the gift, the traveller left the next day, planning to go to the city to sell the gold nugget.

A few days later the traveller knocked once more on the door of the wise woman. When she opened the door, he said to her: ‘When I was walking back to the city to sell the gold nugget, I couldn't stop thinking about your generosity. You must have known that the nugget is extremely valuable, that it's worth a lot of money. I hadn't told you, when I stayed at your place, that I need money badly. I now wonder whether you understood my predicament, given how kind you were to give me this gold nugget.’

‘But while I was walking to the city, I came to realize that what's more valuable than this nugget is what you have within you. What do you have within you that made you so spontaneously ...