Meditations On Leadership
These are my thoughts on leadership related topics and ideas. It is meant to be a sort of journal for me and if you find it useful than I am happy to have helped.
There are few times in recorded history when the most powerful person in the world is also one of the wisest. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, in my opinion, was one of those times. Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic and I have many writings of the Stoics in my collection though I don't consider myself to actually be one. I am Christian but I find many of the beliefs of the Stoics to be in line with the teachings of Christ and their logic has been useful to me in strengthening my understanding of many of the commandments and has also helped me temper my demeanor and allow for reason to prevail in my thinking far more often than before. I don't agree with everything that the Stoics teach, they were after all pagan and I am Christian. Their logic is very sound though and I have found it useful to consider their teachings in relation to leadership. A Stoic would say that you shouldn't seek after being a leader but that if you are leader you should be the best leader that you can possibly be. I agree with that, whatever you are, you should strive to be the best you can.
They also teach skills that are useful to leaders and that are worth studying if you want to be a good leader. For example, they teach ways to deflect insults so that you aren't angry or actually even feel insulted. This is a useful skill as a leader because if you are in any kind of visible position sooner or later someone is going to insult you and if you react with anger or retribution you undermine your authority and can cause dissention. On the other hand if you can tactfully deflect the insult you can more firmly maintain your position. One of their teachings on the subject (there are many others) is to consider the source of the insult and weather or not it has any truth to it. If the source is unreliable what sense is there in being insulted? There is no foundation to the insult. If it is from a credible source, do they have your best interest in mind? If they do then how is it an insult and not correction? If they don't then why are you offended? This is what the insulter wants and you are better off not giving them the satisfaction of your offense. If there is no truth to the insult then you have no need to be offended and if there is truth to it how can you be offended by the truth? However you slice it there really is no use or need to be offended when someone insults you. If you are striving to be a good leader I encourage you to read the teachings of the Stoics. I also encourage you to study religious figures such as Christ and Buddha. It is my belief that all good things, no matter their source, originated with God. I believe that all people are given the ability to discern what is good from what is not and I find there to be great merit in studying the beliefs of others. If nothing else you will one day be a leader of someone who believes differently than you and it will help you to understand their perspective.
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AuthorJ. LaVarr Roberts Archives
April 2021
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