If you can live well, 
you can lead well

What is so remarkable about leadership? Countless men throughout history have pontificated about what makes a leader good. Is it their conquests, their counselors, their legacies? We write about it again and again, finding some new way to say what has been said ten thousand times before. Here’s the secret: Anyone who lives well can lead well.

What more is there to say? We have all seen the visages of leaders with lofty quotes aside pensive gazes.  We have seen the trite LinkedIn posts again and again. Do you want to hear about how a leader who does not trust those who follow them will inevitably turn their fantasy into prophecy? About how a leader who belittles their subordinates can never help them grow? About how a leader who cannot keep calm in a crisis will lose the confidence of their closest allies? Do you really want to hear more about how a leader who directs from on high without getting in the trenches is naught but a tyrant with a whip?

What the Stoics know

Stoics know that a leader who fails to care for their people is not a leader at all. Marcus, emperor of Rome entire, knew this.

What does not help the hive, does not help the bee. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.54

He knew that in order to lead, he must focus on the solution rather than cast blame.

If they’ve made a mistake, correct them gently and show them where they went wrong. If you can’t do that, then the blame lies with you. Or no one. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.4

Qualities of a good leader

You’ve known all your life what a good leader should be. As a child, you knew it because of the lessons from history that taught you what a leader looks like: one who inspires, one who takes accountability,  one who isn’t afraid to do the right thing—even if it costs them everything else. You were taught that being a good leader is being a good person.

We’ve seen leaders in our own day echo these refrains:

A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. - Douglas MacArthur

Simple but not easy

These are simple ideas. But simple and easy are not synonyms. It takes an open mind, not a clever one, to accept a simple lesson. But the problem is that so many leaders are more clever than they are open. They take leadership because it was easy; not because they were ready for it.

And that is why leadership has been discussed with just as much fervour as the meaning of life. That which is simple is rarely easy; it bears repeating again and again, especially when it matters. And what matters more than the conduct of our own lives? What matters more than taking up the mantle of responsibility well when it is draped upon your shoulders? Power is easy to take, but not to wield. Its allure can intoxicate the mind until it consumes all reason.

Leadership is given, not taken

There have been presidents who fancied themselves kings, kings who sought to be emperors, emperors who claimed they were god. But each of them are little more than a man. They forget that leadership is given, not taken; that their duty is to those who follow, not to their own delusions of grandeur. The queen is just a bee. And when she cannot serve her hive, the hive responds in kind. Because they know what Marcus knew: if you cannot do your duty, you are not worthy of it.

John Kuna is a Stoic prokopton, writer, and dog lover. He likes digging deep into Stoic theory, but also writing accessible and inspiring Stoic content.

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