Being a leader is hard work. You always need to be out in front, inspiring your followers with your enthusiasm, motivation, and drive. You need to be the one with the vision for where your organisation needs to be in three, five, ten, and thirty years. You need to be a mentor to your peers and subordinate leaders, a teacher for junior leaders, and a role model to all. Intelligent, charismatic, connected, empathetic and compassionate, a great communicator with high integrity; but also self-motivated and driven. The buck stops with you. You are both responsible and accountable for the success or failure of everything you preside over.
How best to cope with this tremendous burden of responsibility? In my view, the answer is not in the future but in the teaching of the great stoics of the past. Embracing the wisdom and teaching of the stoics gives leaders the ability to remain calm and focus on what they can control and accept what they can not. It provides clarity of mind and resilience of character, especially in times of crisis.
For leaders, stoicism is the ability to separate emotions from feelings and disassociate emotions from the situation. This is not to say that stoics ignore emotions, rather they acknowledge them but choose not to allow them, or those of others, to direct their decisions or actions. Emotions are judgements that involve beliefs about value. We often apply disproportionate value to things we deem important or sacred to us and this drives our behaviour. Being stoic is to remain objective and use logic rather than emotion to shape action.
This is often easier said than done as the more important the issue or sacred the artefact, the higher the emotional response will be and the harder it is to remain objective.
Centred around the time of the Vietnam War, society was transforming from a generation that valued morality and self-control to one where freedom of expression was paramount. Young people were disenfranchised and resorted to the use of mind-altering drugs and spiritual pursuits. The influence of Libertarianism, the Hippie Movement and the expression of free love saw a shift from the ’stiff upper lip’ mindset of the WWII generation to that of the more emotionally expressive Baby Boomers. The push for people, men in particular, to express their feelings and share their emotions has continued to be the advice of psychologists and gurus alike.
The belief that bottling up your emotions will result in you becoming overwhelmed by them and eventually ‘exploding’ is widely held. However, practitioners of stoicism seem to miraculously and relatively easily cope with their emotions by understanding that they are nothing more than feelings that can be acknowledged, understood, and moved past.
This is not to say that strong feelings and emotions don’t have a chemical impact on the body, they do, if you let them. However, those who can control their emotions are also able to greatly reduce the rise of cortisol and take advantage of the power of adrenaline, rather than being reduced to a whimpering mess lying in a corner in the foetal position.
Research shows that leaders who are able to control their emotions and respond effectively to difficult situations are more likely to be successful. This is because they are better equipped to handle stress, make objective decisions, communicate effectively, and build trust with their team. These skills are crucial for success as a leader and are associated with higher levels of emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
Additionally, leaders who can regulate their emotions and respond appropriately in challenging situations are perceived as more credible, trustworthy, and effective by their followers.
However, the increased representation and impact of diverse perspectives in the workforce has contributed to a growing emphasis on emotional expression in the workplace. Historically, the vast majority of leadership positions in corporations were dominated by men, with many women pursuing careers in caring fields such as nursing, teaching, and childcare. As more women have taken on leadership positions in corporations, norms regarding emotional expression and expectations have shifted.
Nowadays, it is more widely accepted for individuals of all genders to express their emotions in the workplace, including crying. However, this does not necessarily reflect a healthy response to adversity and can stem from a wider cultural influence that reflects a sort of social neuroticism that has become prevalent in modern times.
The push for emotional expression in the workplace aims to create a more inclusive and equal environment, where all individuals feel comfortable sharing their feelings. This shift has been facilitated by the increased prominence of Human Resource Management (HR), as a trusted leadership advisory function within the boardroom and has likely been influenced by the growing dominance of women in senior HR roles.
Emotions drive us and can be involuntary responses to stimuli. Adopting a stoic approach to leadership does not mean ignoring emotions, but rather recognising and acknowledging them while choosing to make decisions based on logic and without excessive displays of emotions.
Displaying these and succumbing to your emotions will not help you deal with the situation or be a better leader. Rather, they will weigh heavily on you in the future when you reflect on how you handled the situation and how you conducted yourself. Being stoic means remaining true to your values and beliefs but not falling apart if these are challenged or threatened by an external force. It means being true to yourself and maintaining your moral character and virtue above all else.
The four Stoic Virtues are courage, justice, moderation (temperance), and wisdom.
Courage: Leaders can exhibit courage by standing up for what they believe in and not being afraid to take calculated risks.
Justice: Leaders can embody justice by being fair and impartial in their decision-making and treating others with respect and kindness.
Moderation: Leaders can practice moderation by avoiding excess and finding balance in their actions and decisions.
Wisdom: Leaders can incorporate wisdom by continually seeking out knowledge and understanding, as well as using reason and critical thinking when making decisions.
Incorporating these virtues can help leaders make ethical decisions, inspire trust and respect among their team members, and lead by example. They can also help leaders stay calm and level-headed during difficult times.
The ability to remain calm and stay focused also has a way of soothing others and is a powerful form of leading by example. Being a stoic leader does not mean leading without empathy or compassion and requires the leader to possess a high degree of Emotional Intelligence.
Stoicism is the ultimate form of self-regulation and when coupled with the other elements of Emotional Intelligence sets the leader apart from those with less self-control.
We could all benefit from more stoic leadership. If you want to know more about leading in a more stoic manner, I recommend checking out the Daily Stoic
