Practical Wisdom: A Virtue for Leaders. A Dialogue Between Aquinas and Authentic Leadership

This paper analyzes in detail the virtue of practical wisdom as described by Thomas Aquinas, and on this basis it develops a comprehensive framework to read the Authentic Leadership literature, establishing practical wisdom as foundational for the authentic leader’s character development. The goal of the paper is twofold; first, it seeks to fill the void identified by many scholars on the role of virtues—and in particular practical wisdom—applied to business leadership. Second, this paper aims to show how cultivating the virtue of practical wisdom as described by Aquinas promotes the development of exactly those traits that are characteristic of an authentic leader.