I strongly recommend that leaders study great books, especially books which have stood the test of time. One author you should read is Marcus Aurelius, the “philosopher king” Roman emperor.
Here are some quotes from his book of “Meditations”:
Now that you are old, it is time you stopped allowing [your body] to be enslaved, jerked about by every selfish whim, grumbling at its present lot one moment and bemoaning the future the next.
Do not dress your thought in much fine talk. Be short in speech and restrained in action.
Don’t look at the world through the eyes of an insolent and unhappy man, or judge things as he would, but see life as it truly is.
Don’t act as if you’ll live to be a thousand.
You are but a soul propping up a corpse.
If it is good to say or do something, then it is even better to be criticized for having said or done it.
Let this be your one joy and delight: to go from one act of kindness to another with your mind fixed on God.
You always own the option of having no opinion.
Bear in mind that the measure of a man is the worth of the things he cares about.
Living is more like wrestling than dancing: you have to stay on your feet, ready and unruffled, while blows are being rained down on you, sometimes from unexpected quarters.
Do not feel for misanthropes what they feel for mankind.
You get what you deserve because you would rather become good tomorrow than be good today.
Loss and change: two words for the same thing.
Stop all this theorizing about what a good man should be. Be it!
Studied sincerity is a stiletto. The wolf’s friendship for the lamb is a trap. Avoid these above all.
I often marvel at how men love themselves more than others while at the same time care more about what others think of them than what they think of themselves.
Be a boxer, not a gladiator, in the way you act on your principles. The gladiator takes up his sword only to put it down again, but the boxer is never without his fist and has only to clench it.
I’ll have to check out “Meditations”. Thanks, Glenn!
Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic. In many ways he was a product of his times and yet he also shaped the Roman Empire. His “Meditations” was not written as a “book” to share, really, but a collection of his insights and ideas.
Truth is truth, no matter who said it or when.
“Do not dress your thought in much fine talk. Be short in speech and restrained in action.”
We are, of course, dealing with a translation here. In context of Aurelius’ life and writings, I wonder if a better phrasing here might have been “… and precise in action.” If I were to give my own take on this bit of wisdom, I might say it this way:
“Giving good speeches and being busy are worthless in and of themselves. Only clarity of focus and decisiveness of action bring change.”
Thanks for the refocus point, Glenn.
I’ll think I’ll use this in an upcoming strategy conversation, Erik: “Giving good speeches and being busy are worthless in and of themselves. Only clarity of focus and decisiveness of action bring change.” Thanks!