Tuesday morning → one verse → one leadership thought → one question: What will you do differently?

Proverbs 1:4 — Paying Attention to What Might Happen Next

“To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth.”

MY STORY — 

Years ago, when our daughter was little, I came home from work to find my wife stressed after looking after her all day. Rather immaturely, I wondered what the problem was. After all, she had “only” been looking after our daughter.

The conversation that followed doesn’t need recording! But I offered to stay home myself, partly believing I would demonstrate how straightforward it was. Pride does have a wonderful way of arranging its own education.

There I was, working on my laptop while our daughter played outside. Every minute or so, I glanced through the window. Then she ran past wearing a black T-shirt. I remember thinking, Wait a minute. She doesn’t own a black T-shirt.

She didn’t. I found her underneath the car, her arm up the exhaust pipe, happily rubbing soot all over herself.

I learned to listen to my wife—and that if you’re with your children, enter their world and get lost there. Don’t sit in your world watching theirs. Proverbs adds another lesson: there is a considerable difference between thinking you know what you’re doing and knowing what you’re doing.

KNOWLEDGE — One word worth knowing

The Hebrew word for “prudence” is עָרְמָה — ʿormâ. The Septuagint uses πανουργία — panourgía. Both can describe shrewdness or craftiness: a capacity that can be used well or badly. Here, it equips the inexperienced to avoid being easily taken in.

Prudence notices what is happening, considers what could happen next and adjusts accordingly. I could see my daughter. What I hadn’t considered was what she might do while my attention was on the laptop.

UNDERSTANDING — Seeing it through Strengths

Gallup Strength: Strategic

Strategic sees possible pathways and weighs alternatives. But confidence in a plan can leave us less attentive to what is actually happening.

I had a strategy: work on my laptop and check through the window. My daughter hadn’t read the strategy.

Strategic sees possible pathways. Prudence keeps checking whether reality is following the pathway we expected.

WISDOM — Turning insight into action

Covey: Habit 3 — Put First Things First

Watching my daughter wasn’t the main thing I was doing. I was working and checking on her. Habit 3 asks me to decide what matters most and organise my attention around it.

The same question follows us into meetings, coaching conversations and family life. We can be there physically while our attention is somewhere else.

Presence isn’t simply being there. It’s deciding what gets my attention while I’m there.

NEW TESTAMENT CONNECTION — Ephesians 5:15–16

Paul calls us to live carefully and wisely, making good use of our time. One question helps bring that into practice: “If I keep making this choice, where is it likely to take me?”

REFLECTION — Questions for professional supervision

• Where are you assuming something is under control because you occasionally check on it?
• What deserves your full attention but currently gets only part of it?
• Who needs you to enter their world rather than observe it from yours?

WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

Prudence means being present enough to notice, thoughtful enough to anticipate and flexible enough to change course. Sometimes that begins with putting down the laptop—and noticing that your daughter doesn’t own a black T-shirt.

THE VERSE FOCUS

Identity gives me somewhere to stand. Teachability keeps me growing. Discernment helps me see clearly. Prudence helps me think ahead.

Am I paying enough attention now to anticipate what might happen next?