I have been a student of Stoicism for some time. This ancient philosophy was born in Athens, Greece, in 300 BC and made famous through the writings of such philosophers as Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor of Rome. The core tenets of Stoicism are Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance. All these tenets are essential for leaders to possess. This is a given. You cannot be a leader, let alone a great leader, by doing the opposite of these tenets!
However, I want to focus this column not on these tenets but on two core phrases in stoicism that I also believe are great mindsets for leaders to possess. The two phrases are Momento Mori and Premeditatio Malorum. Momento Mori translates to “Remember, you will die,” and Premeditatio Malorum translates to “Premeditation of Evils.” Now I know you are asking, what does this have to do with leadership? Let me explain.
Momento Mori
Stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius talk about the idea that “you will die,” not to be morbid, but to train themselves to treat every day as if it were their last. Why? Because it informed their decisions, actions, attitudes, and how they looked at life and as leaders, those they led. If you knew, for instance, that this was the last day of your life, would you stress about that budget meeting, a personnel issue, a lousy boss, or a backstabbing peer? I think not. You would be thinking about doing the right thing for your team, even at the cost of upsetting the higher-ups. You would stand on principle (you should be doing this anyway, but sometimes even the best of us fail at this, especially in the face of political headwinds.) I use this philosophy myself daily. If faced with something daunting, I wonder if today was my last. While whatever awaits me is still daunting, in the face of your mortality, it pales in comparison. Telling my wife I love her, spending more time reflecting, and then approaching my day’s business problems with a better frame of mind.
Believe it or not, you can even download a death clock on your devices. No, it’s not morbid. It is based on the average life expectancy of a U.S. man or woman; I have one on my device. Hopefully, I will beat the average! But the point is to look at it; if you are my age, 68, it makes you think about priorities. Do not let the trivial, the petty, and the bureaucracy get you down. To stay above the fray, so to speak, and work on fulfilling your mission and taking care of your troops. Yes, there will still be politics and bean counters to deal with. That is life. But changing your mindset as if this were your last day will give you a sense of perspective. It will help you focus on what truly matters and make you a better leader to contend with problems and problematic people.
It gives you added courage to do the right thing. We all hope for longevity on this earth. Some get it and some don’t. But one thing is for certain, we will all die. Knowing that and living with that as a force multiplier versus something to be feared gives a leader that edge. That extra boost of courage. The ancient samurai of Japan used to say that “every step of life is another step towards death.” It is the same philosophy as Memento Mori.
Premeditatio Malorum
Now, this phrase from Stoicism is tailor-made for leaders. As I said, it translates to “premeditation of evils.” Essentially, it means preparing for the worst-case scenario in any situation.
Let’s say I am dealing with a budget issue. The bean counters want to cut your budget. A budget you and your team put together, hopefully with no fat in it, and you need desperately to run your operations. You will put up a good fight to save your budget from the axe. But you must do more than that. You must practice Premeditatio Malorum -- preparing for the worst-case scenario. By doing this, you are taking control of the situation, planning for the worst outcome and then you and your team can be prepared for this if it comes to fruition. You can think about alternatives. What programs in your org are must-have, good to have, nice to have, etc.? What are your priorities? It gives you a sense of control and helps you make the tough decisions.
By practicing Premeditatio Malorum, you have two advantages. One, as mentioned, you prepare for the worst outcome possible. You are ready. It will still suck to have part of your budget cut, but you and your troops are ready for that contingency. It’s not a surprise. Also, if the worst doesn’t happen and they don’t cut your budget or don’t cut as much of it as they were going to, it is a win. You have prepared for the worst case and have been handed something better than that. It is a mindset thing. For every crisis, for every business problem and decision, you should put this practice into place. Premeditatio Malorum. What can go wrong in the worst way? Answer that, and you and your team are in control. Not external forces. you as a leader, are in control.
Embrace the Suck
I practice these mindsets daily. They up my leadership game and give me peace, calmness, and fortitude to move forward doing the right things for the right reasons. Acting as if it were the last day of your life and preparing for the worst possible outcomes are tools in your leadership toolkit to make you more resilient. And the more resilient you are, the better leader you will be.
I have found the practice of Stoicism itself to be of immense help to me as a leader. Not letting things out of your control get to you. I cannot do anything about a bad supervisor, an enterprise’s stupid decisions that tank the company’s stock, the bomb that goes off in a country and your company has been affected, budget cuts, reductions in force, etc. But I can control my response to these issues. I can accept them as facts and then do what I can to improve the situation.
“Embrace the Suck” is a phrase from the military. It is the same philosophy as Premeditatio Malorum. Deal with it. The worst of it. Prepare for it. Embrace it. In fact, love it! Jocko Willink, the former Navy SEAL Commander, author, and podcaster had a podcast once where he talked about the word “Good.” He talked about how one of his SEALS would approach him about a problem.
“Boss, we aren’t going on deployment like planned.” Jocko’s attitude was “Good. So, we get more time to train until the next deployment.” Or, they would come to him and say budget cuts were affecting firearms training. Jocko would say “Good. So now we can work on our unarmed combat tactics or other non-firearms related skills.” Jocko was practicing Premeditatio Malorum even if he didn’t know it (and knowing Jocko, he probably does).
These links are from Ryan Holiday, an expert on Stoicism. I think you will enjoy the read. I hope this helps all of you in your leadership journey!
https://dailystoic.com/memento-mori/
https://ryanholiday.net/practice-the-stoic-art-of-negative-visualization/
