The Wise Leader
Author Uli Chi ISBN 9780802884046 Binding Trade Paper Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date May 07, 2024 Size 140 x 216 mm
Leading and mentoring begins with wisdom. Though we are overwhelmed with information, we often struggle to find true wisdom. Yet those leading or mentoring others, whether in business or in spiritual
Leading and mentoring begins with wisdom.
Though we are overwhelmed with information, we often struggle to find true wisdom. Yet those leading or mentoring others, whether in business or in spiritual life, must rely on wisdom’s guidance to lead with purpose and meaning. With decades of leadership experience in business, nonprofits, and Christian higher education, Uli Chi helps readers build this foundational virtue.
Looking to Scripture as well as art and literature, Chi illuminates the nature of wisdom as fundamentally relational and other-centered. In the context of leadership, biblical wisdom shows us the importance of wielding power with humility. Chi also provides a framework for the formation of character and vision in the lifelong journey of gaining wisdom. Full of substantive and practical reflections, The Wise Leader both forms young leaders and teaches experienced leaders how to pass on the torch meaningfully.
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Though we are overwhelmed with information, we often struggle to find true wisdom. Yet those leading or mentoring others, whether in business or in spiritual life, must rely on wisdom’s guidance to lead with purpose and meaning. With decades of leadership experience in business, nonprofits, and Christian higher education, Uli Chi helps readers build this foundational virtue.
Looking to Scripture as well as art and literature, Chi illuminates the nature of wisdom as fundamentally relational and other-centered. In the context of leadership, biblical wisdom shows us the importance of wielding power with humility. Chi also provides a framework for the formation of character and vision in the lifelong journey of gaining wisdom. Full of substantive and practical reflections, The Wise Leader both forms young leaders and teaches experienced leaders how to pass on the torch meaningfully.
“Uli Chi is the wisest person I have ever met in real life. So it’s fitting that he would deliver this seminal book intended to help generations of leaders cultivate and reflect on wisdom in our lives and leadership. My copy is dog-eared and underlined, and I trust yours will be too.”
—Michaela O’Donnell, executive director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary
“Reading and following The Wise Leader will take you to new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that will transform your organization and invigorate your life of leadership. Spend time with these powerful ideas and you will be equipped to change our world.”
—C. Jeffrey Wright, CEO of Urban Ministries, Inc.
“With the pace of change in today’s world, this book reminds us that there is wisdom all around us that we can draw from as leaders. Weaving together personal reflections, lessons from art and poetry, and wisdom from faith traditions from around the world, The Wise Leader captures all that Uli Chi has taught me as a leader, a mentor, and more. This book is grounded in his faith, humility, deep understanding of the nature and value of wisdom, and ability to nurture leadership qualities in others. Whether you are at the beginning of your leadership journey or a seasoned leader yourself, this is the book you will want to read.”
—Ketul J. Patel, CEO of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
“The Wise Leader calls us to a deep and rich journey into the source and nurture of wisdom. Uli Chi draws on his own life experience as a follower of Christ, mentee and mentor, student and professor. Those who are leaders, he says, share the vocation of being faithful ambassadors from the Creator to the created order. To help us distinguish between wisdom from God and the wisdom of this world, he guides us through practices that cultivate humility, a healthy vision of power, and the wisdom to see the world as it is and as it could be. I love Uli’s focus on imagination as ‘the incubator of God’s Spirit’ that enables us to envision that better world. I look forward to sharing this book with seasoned and aspiring leaders as they seek to serve God and the people he loves in some small way.”
—Katherine Leary Alsdorf, coauthor (with Tim Keller) of Every Good Endeavor
“Uli Chi’s down-to-earth wisdom will make you a better manager. And you’ll be entertained and uplifted by his wide-ranging insights, into business challenges, art, poetry, and even Star Trek. But ultimately, what Uli offers is a rare and profound gift: a pathway to becoming happier and more fulfilled by connecting your deepest spiritual beliefs to your calling as a leader.”
—Chris Lowney, board chairperson of CommonSpirit Health
“This is a beautifully written and illustrated book, full of wonderful stories gathered from a lifetime of learning to be a wise and effective leader. This book will help you reflect on what it means to embark on the journey of becoming a leader, regardless of where you exercise leadership—because we all have the opportunity to become leaders in various life contexts and we all yearn for meaning and purpose. As a colleague on the board of the Max DePree Center for Leadership, Uli Chi exhibits the same kind of faithful leadership and thoughtful writing that my dad, Max De Pree, did. It is a joy to serve with Uli and to learn from him.”
—Jody De Pree Vanderwel, managing partner of Michigan Capital Network Ventures and board chair of the Max De Press Center for Leadership
“Deeply grounded in the world that is and in the world that someday will be, Uli Chi has twined together the most ancient wisdom with his years of experience in the marketplaces of life, allowing us to read over his shoulder and through his heart, writing a book for the generations. As beautifully written as it is profoundly true, The Wise Leader is for everyone who leads, for everyone who someday will lead.”
—Steven Garber, senior fellow for vocation and the common good at M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and author of The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning,
Worship and Work
“I know of no other book quite like this one. For the past six years, I’ve watched Uli Chi’s thinking evolve as we’ve cotaught a graduate course on ‘wise leadership.’ Uli sees wisdom through multiple prisms, including art, marketplace, Scripture, literature, and personal narrative. The result is remarkable.”
—Alec Hill, president emeritus of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA
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—Michaela O’Donnell, executive director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary
“Reading and following The Wise Leader will take you to new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that will transform your organization and invigorate your life of leadership. Spend time with these powerful ideas and you will be equipped to change our world.”
—C. Jeffrey Wright, CEO of Urban Ministries, Inc.
“With the pace of change in today’s world, this book reminds us that there is wisdom all around us that we can draw from as leaders. Weaving together personal reflections, lessons from art and poetry, and wisdom from faith traditions from around the world, The Wise Leader captures all that Uli Chi has taught me as a leader, a mentor, and more. This book is grounded in his faith, humility, deep understanding of the nature and value of wisdom, and ability to nurture leadership qualities in others. Whether you are at the beginning of your leadership journey or a seasoned leader yourself, this is the book you will want to read.”
—Ketul J. Patel, CEO of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
“The Wise Leader calls us to a deep and rich journey into the source and nurture of wisdom. Uli Chi draws on his own life experience as a follower of Christ, mentee and mentor, student and professor. Those who are leaders, he says, share the vocation of being faithful ambassadors from the Creator to the created order. To help us distinguish between wisdom from God and the wisdom of this world, he guides us through practices that cultivate humility, a healthy vision of power, and the wisdom to see the world as it is and as it could be. I love Uli’s focus on imagination as ‘the incubator of God’s Spirit’ that enables us to envision that better world. I look forward to sharing this book with seasoned and aspiring leaders as they seek to serve God and the people he loves in some small way.”
—Katherine Leary Alsdorf, coauthor (with Tim Keller) of Every Good Endeavor
“Uli Chi’s down-to-earth wisdom will make you a better manager. And you’ll be entertained and uplifted by his wide-ranging insights, into business challenges, art, poetry, and even Star Trek. But ultimately, what Uli offers is a rare and profound gift: a pathway to becoming happier and more fulfilled by connecting your deepest spiritual beliefs to your calling as a leader.”
—Chris Lowney, board chairperson of CommonSpirit Health
“This is a beautifully written and illustrated book, full of wonderful stories gathered from a lifetime of learning to be a wise and effective leader. This book will help you reflect on what it means to embark on the journey of becoming a leader, regardless of where you exercise leadership—because we all have the opportunity to become leaders in various life contexts and we all yearn for meaning and purpose. As a colleague on the board of the Max DePree Center for Leadership, Uli Chi exhibits the same kind of faithful leadership and thoughtful writing that my dad, Max De Pree, did. It is a joy to serve with Uli and to learn from him.”
—Jody De Pree Vanderwel, managing partner of Michigan Capital Network Ventures and board chair of the Max De Press Center for Leadership
“Deeply grounded in the world that is and in the world that someday will be, Uli Chi has twined together the most ancient wisdom with his years of experience in the marketplaces of life, allowing us to read over his shoulder and through his heart, writing a book for the generations. As beautifully written as it is profoundly true, The Wise Leader is for everyone who leads, for everyone who someday will lead.”
—Steven Garber, senior fellow for vocation and the common good at M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and author of The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning,
Worship and Work
“I know of no other book quite like this one. For the past six years, I’ve watched Uli Chi’s thinking evolve as we’ve cotaught a graduate course on ‘wise leadership.’ Uli sees wisdom through multiple prisms, including art, marketplace, Scripture, literature, and personal narrative. The result is remarkable.”
—Alec Hill, president emeritus of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA
&
Uli Chi has spent his life practicing leadership in the intersection of for-profit and nonprofit businesses, the theological academy, and the local church. Uli serves as board chair of the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health System. He is vice chair and senior fellow at the De Pree Center and a fellow at the Center for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University. Uli serves on the faculty for Regent College's MA in leadership, theology, and society.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Mark Labberton
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Wisdom from Above
2. Wisdom and the World around Us
3. Wisdom and Humility
4. Wisdom and Different Kinds of Power
5. Wisdom and Healthy Practices of Power
6. Wisdom and Leadership Formation
7. Wisdom and Leadership Imagination
8. Wisdom in Three Dimensions
Epilogue
Works Cited
Index