Throughout history, the Stoic philosophy has guided a wide variety of leaders, from small start-ups to empires. Stoic virtues such as temperance, patience, and determination have provided excellent values to strive for when leading a team. Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five good Roman emperors, kept a journal for a large part of his life known as Meditations. In Aurelius’ journal, he outlined lessons he learned as a leader and how others can become virtuous leaders. As a Stoic leader, one must control what can be controlled, everything else must be accepted or ignored. Stoic leaders should also be cautious with their emotions and monitor them closely. Next, a Stoic leader should practice negative visualization for preparation, gratitude, and fortitude. Lastly, a Stoic leader should charge into difficult tasks headfirst with passion and strength.
How to Lead Like A Stoic
Control What You Can, Accept What You Cannot
About 2,000 years ago, a Stoic Roman statesman named Cato the Younger said, “A stoic is like an archer who diligently and confidently notches his arrow and draws his bow but must accept that once his arrow has flown it could be blown off course or its target could move,” At some point, no matter how much effort you put in, there are certain things that are simply out of your control. It is at this point where one must accept that fact and direct their attention to something else. Note, this does not mean giving up. It actually means you are being intentional, thoughtful, and wise with your actions. Do not waste your time on futile objectives, invest your time into something that has the potential to produce something of value.
To better stress the value of this lesson from the Stoics, let’s analyze a modern-day example where this virtue can be practised. Consider the following scenario: you and three co-workers are working on a project due by the end of the month. This project is of high value and your boss is depending on you to return the finished result by the deadline. You, being a Stoic worker, managed your time well and took control of your priorities. You finished your share of the project a week in advance and even managed to assist a few of your co-workers with their contributions. Two of your partners were almost completely done, but the other partner barely started. The immediate response? Frustration, anger, or resentment. But these reactions, of course, do not advance the situation in a healthy manner. These reactions may not advance the situation at all, the third partner may retaliate and work slower than before due to your reaction! Let’s handle this in a Stoic manner. Rather than getting angry at the slacking partner, speak with them rationally and politely. Understand why they are falling behind; they may be struggling with some personal or professional issues you are unaware of. These unknown issues may change your entire perspective on your partner’s irresponsibility. In fact, your concern for your partner may motivate them to finish their portion of the project in time for the deadline! Alternatively, this plan may not go as well as you thought. The partner could be extremely difficult to negotiate with and they continue to ignore the project. It is at this point that one must accept that they will not listen to you, your efforts are futile. Rather than continuing to attempt negotiation with your unreasonable partner, bring the issue up to your boss, and move on to something more important. If you were to refuse that your frustrating co-worker will simply not listen, you would probably just be wasting your time on an unnecessary task.
All in all, take a step back and analyze how you can handle a situation rationally. Think slowly, meditate on factors that are inside and outside of your control. Act on the factors inside your control with your full attention and great discipline. If you practice this habit enough, you may begin to notice that there are not many things inside your control, they will become much more important soon after this realization. For the factors outside of your control, accept them or ignore them. Do not waste your time on supererogatory work. As Seneca once said, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.”
Be Cautious With Success
Of course, this does not mean do not strive for success. Rather, manage your emotions, both the negative and the positive. This is often easier after mastering the previous point, accepting what is out of your control and taking charge of what is within your control. Managing your emotions properly, you can direct your attention to what is most important and valuable in your life.
However, this virtue is also valuable in momentary interactions. Controlling your emotions during a confrontation is an essential asset for the Stoic leader. In 44 B.C., the Stoic teacher, Athenodorus, gave one last piece of advice to Octavian before he took the throne to the Roman empire. “Whenever you feel yourself getting angry, Caesar, don’t say or do anything until you’ve repeated the 24 letters of the alphabet to yourself,” Of course, Athenodorus was not offering this advice to Octavian, also known as Caesar Augustus, as a legitimate way to go about making a decision. Rather, Athenodorus was simply stressing the importance of taking time to decide. This is an excellent way to manage your emotions and not act on the first instinct. Before you speak, realize that words cannot be unsaid, deeply reflect on the impact your words can leave. After that, speak with precision and assertiveness. Seneca once said, “The greatest remedy for anger is delay,” Keep that in mind next time you are confronted or challenged.
In order to be a great leader, you must take control of your emotions. However, This is not exclusive to anger, frustration, and resentment. Be cautious with overwhelming positive emotions as well. The human psyche is more generally attuned to loss aversion over acquiring an equal gain. This is why people spend a lot of money on insurance and why the “40% OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME” advertisements work so well. So, of course, we will focus more on how we should deal with negative emotions. Though, dealing with positive emotions with equal caution and wariness is just as important. In the Stoic philosophy, it is still important to stay reasonable and rational during times of great success. Ironically, we can get just as carried away with extremely positive emotions as we can with extreme negative emotions. Practice equal temperance with negative emotions as with positive emotions. Strive for success but be cautious of the emotions it can bring. Stay objective and do not act irrationally due to overwhelming emotions.
Meditate on the Worst Case Scenario
In Marcus Aurelius’, Meditations, he offers a piece of advice that is quite a contrarian approach to how one believes they should begin their day. Aurelius writes, “Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. […] [N]one of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading. Neither can I be angry with my brother or fall foul of him; for he and I were born to work together, like a man’s two hands, feet or eyelids, or the upper and lower rows of his teeth. To obstruct each other is against Nature’s law – and what is irritation or aversion but a form of obstruction,” Each morning, Marcus Aurelius reminds himself of the difficulties he is about to face. He reminds himself that things will not go the way he wants them to, and to be patient with those inconveniences. He also notes that other people face these same issues and to forgive them for it, as he says, “Neither can I be angry with my brother or fall foul of him; for he and I were born to work together”. What Marcus Aurelius is promoting is a Stoic practice known as Negative Visualization or Premeditatio Malorum (we wrote an article on this topic alone because of how valuable it is).
Premeditatio Malorum, which is Latin for “premeditation of evils”, is not a way to bring negativity into your life. Rather, practising this habit can cultivate many positive impacts on your mindset. Practising Premeditatio Malorum is an excellent way to manage fear, become more grateful, and assist with loss aversion. As a leader, the benefits from Premeditatio Malorum are indispensable. To further explain, taking risks in business is intimidating and sometimes unattractive, despite the possible benefits that may arise from these risks. With Premeditatio Malorum, the worst-case scenario and best-case scenario can be properly analyzed. You may find that the worst-case scenario for a risky business venture may actually not be as bad as you initially thought. Even if the worst-case scenario actually occurs, you were at least psychologically prepared for it due to Premeditatio Malorum.
Pursue Challenging Ventures
Also in Meditations, Marcus Aurelius offers another piece of wisdom, “Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it—turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself—so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal,” Marcus Aurelius encourages one to face challenges head-on because it transforms you into a better person than you were before. Additionally, Aurelius writes that difficulties can give you tools to assist you in other areas of life or in achieving a goal. In leadership, this practice can build resilience and confidence in you and amongst your peers. LaRae Quy, former FBI intelligence agent, wrote an article for Medium titled, 4 Reasons Why Stoics Make Great Leaders. Quy offered an excellent figure to aim for when analyzing the risk of an obstacle. Quy suggests, “If you want to increase your performance, set high goals where you have a 50-70% chance of success. According to psychologist and Harvard researcher David McClelland, that’s the sweet spot for high achievers. When you fail half the time, it motivates you to figure out what you should do differently and try again.” As a leader, encourage calculated risks. These risks motivate you and your team to aim higher and achieve more.
Conclusion
Stoic virtues are priceless as a leader. Focusing your attention on what remains in your power and what is not will guide your team to the end goal. Taking the time to analyze your emotions will control how you react and often encourages a more positive outcome from your team. Practising negative visualization can actually boost team morale, assist in preparation before pursuing an objective, and increase motivation towards accomplishing intermediate and long-term goals. Lastly, pursuing challenging tasks can benefit your team in a multitude of ways, such as acquiring helpful skills, fostering a passion for a long-term vision, and developing mental fortitude. Stoic leadership is an excellent system to follow when leading a team. Practising these four habits will lead you and your team to success.