From Smart to Wise by Kaipa & Radjou

I finished this book in March 2026. I recommend this book 7/10.

Why you should read this book:

This is the book that lets you take a step back from the daily rat race and think about how you want to carry yourself as you get further into your career as a leader.

Get your copy here.

🚀 The book in three sentences

1. Don't let your title be your identity

2. Create a guiding North Star

3. Be willing to step down and lead from the back

📝 My notes and thoughts

• P15. The six leadership capabilities:

  • Perspective. Functional smart leaders who tend to operate in the blue zone are execution oriented, whereas business smart leaders who usually act and lead from the red zone are strategic, big-picture thinkers.

  • Action orientation. In the blue zone, leaders are risk-averse and tend to act with great caution, as opposed to leaders in the red zone, who are proactive and opportunistic in their action orientation.

  • Role clarity. Blue zone leaders operate within functional boundaries and tend to follow instructions, often letting others lead when risks are high. A red zone leader, by comparison, seeks to lead from the front as much as possible in order to control the outcome.

  • Decision logic. Blue zone leaders make decisions aimed at short-term results and improving the bottom line, whereas a red zone leader is more likely to make vision-driven, long-term decisions that affect revenue growth.

  • Fortitude. Blue zone leaders can flip between being too stubborn and giving up too easily. A red zone leader perseveres as long as the outcome is aligned with his self-interest.

  • Motivation. Leaders in the blue zone are motivated by basic safety and security needs and seek tangible benefits like job stability. A red zone leader, more like, finds motivation in intangible success factors like title, recognition, and legacy.

• P31. He came to see that the company could survive without him, but he behaved as if he could not survive without the company, a new perspective that brought him more clarity (You need more than one identity—leader, husband, dad, friend, builder, reader, learner, etc.)

• P32. Desh Deshpande, a successful serial entrepreneur in the technology sector and an innovation advisor to the White House under President Obama, notes that many business leaders, especially business-smart leaders, place too much importance on success without recognizing that it is just a milestone along a life journey, not the end point. If we focus solely on success, he reckons, then we prioritize only tangible and measurable results like money and power and our position in society, and we ignore all the important intangibles like family, children, and personal growth.

• P46. Section on finding your North Star: Lead with trust and empathy so people and systems become better than they believed possible.

• P56. You don't need to be the chief executive of a global business to apply lessons from Mulally's wise leadership at Ford. Wherever you lead, focus on helping people gain a larger and more holistic perspective and lead by example by demonstrating such a broad perspective yourself. In Mulally's own words, you have to help your team see the bigger picture, as exemplified in this story he once told:

  • A reporter went to a construction site and interviewed three bricklayers. He asked the first bricklayer about his work. The bricklayer said, "I'm making a living laying these bricks." The reporter asked the same questions to the second bricklayer, who replied, "I am practicing the profession of bricklaying, I'm going to be the best bricklayer ever." When the reporter queried the third bricklayer, he responded: "I'm building a cathedral." ... We all want to contribute to making a cathedral. The more we find meaning in our work and the more we help others find meaning in their own work, the more we can move our team performance to a whole other level of excellence.

• P58. The Blue and Red zones:

  • Red zone:

    • Are there times and situations when I tend to make decisions too rapidly and without a balanced perspective? What are they, and what are the consequences I can foresee when that happens?

    • Do I worry that I'll miss out on something if I slow down or pull back from my work? What might I gain by trying to bring more balance to my life, my work, and my decision-making?

    • Vision is not the same as purpose. Do I confuse vision, which arises out of "what" questions, and purpose, which arises out of "why" questions? If so, when do I do this and why?

    • Not every action or decision is at the same level of importance. Do I get overwhelmed because I'm not prioritizing enough? In what situations does this happen? Do I lack project management skills?

    • What is my attitude about personal change away from my areas of strength?

  • Blue zone:

    • Do I have trouble stepping back from my areas of strength—my tactical or operational perspective? In what conditions or situations is this the most difficult for me?

    • What is my attitude toward risk and failure? When I think of taking a risk or trying something new—professionally or personally—and failing, is the mere thought of failure enough to keep me from taking the risk?

    • Think of a time you experienced failure. Then ask what that failure meant to you. Do I tend to take it personally? How might I learn to reframe failure (this particular one or failure in general) more constructively?

    • Think of a time when you defaulted to a tactical or operational solution, perhaps too quickly. What was the outcome, and what were the opportunity costs?

    • What is my attitude about personal change away from my area of strength?

• P95. N.R. Narayana Murthy, cofounder of Infosys, stepped down as CEO when he turned fifty-six years old because he wanted to give others a chance to lead the company. Murthy then assumed many other professional roles, including government advisor, board member, philanthropist, investor, and mentor to young entrepreneurs in his career, and in each role, he exhibited integrity and thoughtfulness with a strong commitment to serve. Many people who interacted with him across these roles, as well as in private, have told us how amazed they were by the consistency of his character and commitment to contribution. They describe his warmth, empathy, and lack of ego, echoing our own impression of him.

• P96. Wise leaders are great team players: they seek partnerships and collaborate with others instead of wanting all the glory and rewards that go with a leadership position. They recognize that leadership is primarily a stewardship role that consists of developing others and producing value through others. There are times when one does not have to let go of power but can share it with others or collaborate with others, as wise leaders seem willing to do to serve a larger purpose. Guided by their noble purpose rather than their ego, wise leaders strive to create a sense of shared ownership and common purpose across their span of control.

• P110. Wise leaders are like skilled actors who have clarity about what role they want to play and how they should perform that role. They let their authentic selves shine through in every role they perform and bring humility, enthusiasm, and competence to that role. All of this is done with detached engagement—that is, they don't let themselves become attached emotionally to their role or to the outcome, even as they engage with it fully and enthusiastically.  By gaining role clarity, you will recognize that you are far bigger than any specific role you play. When you know that you are neither the "doer" behind the role nor the ultimate "enjoyer" of its benefits, you have less difficulty in becoming a steward of your organization and acting as a servant leader. When you have a clear, noble purpose—a North Star that acts as your guide—it becomes easier to transcend personal gain and ego and become a wise and effective leader. Leading from the front, leading from the back, or letting others lead is not a one-time affair. It is a continuous process of developing oneself while developing others, a process that requires mindfulness to be effective and bear fruit.

• P111. Reflect on these questions:

  • Where do I get most caught up in my job? What bugs me the most about the role that I currently play?

  • Which roles and responsibilities of my current job are my favorites? Which ones are my least favorite?

  • How do I engage with my role at work? Do I tend to assume it as a red zone leader or a blue zone leader? How could I take my filters off and see the role from others' point of view?

  • How good a follower am I? Do I always strive to be in the driver's seat? What do I need to learn about leading from behind and becoming a servant leader?

  • What practices (e.g., meditation) will help me cultivate mindfulness os I can perform my role with detached engagement?

  • Which competencies do I need to prioritize in my effort to become a wise leader: mindfulness, servant leadership, humility, empathy, compassion, or openness?

• P121. Wise leaders are level-headed when making decisions. They don't rush into decisions driven by strong emotions such as fear or greed. When they face a crisis, they don't try to outsmart the problem by devising a clever solution. They slow down their decision-making process and maintain their composure, exploring the best possible options before coming up with a simple and yet effective solution. Wise leaders are likely to look at the big picture to reframe the situation. Then they gather all the information that is already available, explore different processes to make decisions, evaluate risks, and identify alternative scenarios instead of a single right decision. They bring ethical considerations and values to the table. Finally, they turn to their own instincts as well as intuition to think through trade-offs, risks, and execution issues.

• P121. Wise leaders make decisions trying to mitigate the fact that there are "losers."

• P125. To cultivate a mindset of abundance, start identifying where you struggle with a scarcity mindset. You can create your own logic—a rationale or process—and follow it with discipline for an extended period until that logic gets internalized and reduces your anxiety. To begin, pick one resource—say, money or time—that you worry you might run out of. Expand the time frame from immediate to medium term or long term, and see whether you feel more relaxed about opportunities and abundance. Over the next thirty days, visualize that you actually do have a lot more of that resource—say, money—than what you may ever need. With that belief, for the next thirty days, donate some money—as little as two dollars every day. Each day, identify a charity or person for whom even two dollars a day would make a difference, and give it to that charity or person. Remember that your job is to develop a new decision logic, so let go of short-term worries and concerns about scarcity just for that moment. Instead, consciously and appreciatively visualize what the people you are giving the money to could buy with your donation, and, if they buy food, how they feel after eating that breakfast. You might even feel that you should increase your charity from two to five dollars sometimes, and follow that instinct: your decision logic is slowly adjusting to a new abundance mindset. Slowly, your worry about scarcity will be eclipsed by an increased feeling of abundance.

• P136. You can use these points to assess past decisions and get a clearer picture of what your traps, flaws, and automatic tendencies tend to be (and where they are operating). You can also use them more dynamically as touchstones when you are engaged in decision-making:

  • In addition to relying on your experiences and instinct when making decisions, pay closer attention to the broader context and explore various options that resonate well with your own values and ethics.

  • Rather than evaluating options based purely on their tangible benefits, assess them based on their ability to serve a larger purpose—and then decide which among these options will get you closer to your North Star.

  • Don't let tactical execution issues or emotion sway your discrimination and discernment when making strategic decisions that will affect your own or your organization's long -term future.

  • Avoid justifying your own unique logic to yourself or others, even when you have an inkling that it is flawed. Rather, become mindful of your decision traps—such as an emphasis on short-term benefits or over-reliance on experience—and work to consciously avoid them so you don't get blindsided by them.

  • Pay attention to the three components of good decision-making. First, take the time to gather complete, appropriate, and unbiased data. Second, be mindful of the context in which the decision is to be made. Third, focus on making prudent and intuitive judgments with ethical clarity. Don't compromise on any of the three components.

  • If you get stuck while trying to make a tough decision, take into account whatever data is readily available to evaluate the external context and then ultimately trust your intuition in making the final decision.

  • Focus on pragmatic and ethical approaches instead of idealistic and impractical ones.

• P150. Before Alan Mulally took over as CEO at Ford Motor Company, the carmaker routinely put together multiple strategic plans every year. But Mulally had a different idea: he believed in the concept of One Ford and having a single plan or strategy to stay with until it achieved the desired results. The plan was based on four critical elements: coming together as a team, leveraging the company's global assets, building vehicles that customers wanted and valued, and arranging the financing to pay for it all. Mulally hammered home these four points at every opportunity—every town hall meeting, interview, and press conference. By managing your energy selectively, just as Mulally has done, you will avoid over-investing emotionally in multiple projects.

• P153. There are some ways you can build up your flexible fortitude when you are dealing with previously made decisions, as well as when you are engaged in projects in a shifting context:

  • Stretch yourself. When you are given a challenging project, don't balk or panic. Rather, stretch yourself to do the best job you can in that project and see what you can learn from it.

  • Let your North Star guide you. When you get stuck in a project or struggle to see through a decision you made before, avoid giving up too easily or using "brute force" to complete your project or see it through a decision. Rather, pay attention to any shift in its external context. If a shift did occur that requires you to discontinue a project or roll back a decision, consider whether doing so would best serve your North Star—and only then decide whether to hold on or to fold.

  • Reframe failure. Fortitude isn't about avoiding failures at all costs and being successful at all times. Rather, it is the ability to "fail successfully." Indeed, Winston Churchill famously said, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Hence, if you were to abandon a project or revise a decision for the right reason, step back and reflect on what you could learn from that setback.

  • Cultivate psychological capital. According to Fred Luthans, an expert in organizational behavior, leaders can learn to demonstrate fortitude in the face of adversity by cultivating what he calls "psychological capital." It is built on four attributes known as HERO:

    • H: Hope. Don't lose it even if the situation looks gloomy.

    • E: Efficacy. It is about operating with self-confidence.

    • R: Resilience. Failure is always a stepping stone to future success; hence, try to learn from your past failures.

    • O: Optimism. Expect to succeed while others might have failed.

• PP174. Engage in every project with a learning attitude. If it is boring and you get demotivated, find ways to make the project more engaging and meaningful. Can you reframe the project in a way that adds interest and value to it? Can you help others on the project team complete their tasks and learn more about their job? See whether if your happiness can multiply by bringing happiness to others. In other words, see whether you can bring energy, enthusiasm, and happiness to your colleagues and partners and help fulfill their goals and increase their motivation. What is the result for your own happiness and motivation?

• P204. For smart leaders, complexity tends to trigger the flight-or-flee reflex: functional smart leaders hunker down, and business smart leaders tend to tackle complexity head-on, often reusing outdated formulas that served well in the past. But wise leaders are not overwhelmed by complexity: rather, they see the potential benefits in complexity and seek to turn it into an opportunity to bring value to their organization and the larger community. And since wise leaders are both grounded in noble purpose and at ease accepting the idea of change as a constant, they are much more likely than smart leaders to turn the key drivers of complexity (diversity, interconnectivity, velocity, ambiguity, scarcity) to their organization's advantage. While smart leaders might feel challenged by the growing diversity among employees and in the customer base, wise leaders have the capacity to welcome this diversity and turn it into a competitive advantage—for example, by leveraging the creativity of their diverse workforce to address the needs of their more heterogeneous base. Smart leaders who are generally used to a command-and-control management style can feel threatened by the world's pervasive interconnectivity, which disrupts the top-down leadership model they prefer in favor of an open, bottom-up, participatory approach. Wise leaders can more readily see social media-enabled interconnectivity as an asset because it allows more stakeholders to interact and collaboratively solve problems in a way that is faster, better, and cheaper.