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To Fear Foolishness for the Sake of Wisdom: A Message to Leaders

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Abstract

The premise of this paper is that the fear of foolishness is essential to wisdom. Unfortunately, leaders are often conditioned to suppress fear in favor of confidence. However, wise leaders fear foolishness while foolish leaders are fearless. Leaders fall into traps and hit walls that result in fallacies. It is the recognition of these fallacies and the fear of their consequences that compel leaders to seek wisdom. This paper relies on protection motivation theory, the balance theory of wisdom, the imbalance theory of foolishness, and the WICS model of leadership to caution leaders of foolishness so that wisdom can be developed. Specifically, the fear of foolishness is proposed as the motivating factor for the pursuit of wisdom. In doing so, the literatures of wisdom and fear are reviewed and the appraisal process of the fear of foolishness and the coping mechanisms to address foolishness are elaborated on. The protection motivation of the fear of foolishness can fundamentally change leader behaviors and attitudes for the sake of wisdom and individual, organizational, and societal well-being.

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  1. School of Business Administration, University of Houston—Victoria, 3007 N. Ben Wilson, Victoria, TX, 77901, USA

    Stephanie T. Solansky

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Solansky, S.T. To Fear Foolishness for the Sake of Wisdom: A Message to Leaders. J Bus Ethics 122, 39–51 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1752-9

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