Stoicism: Negativity Spawns Negativity

Stoicism: Negativity Spawns Negativity

How do you deal with unwanted situations? 

While doing some reading on attributes of a great leader this week I can across this article, “22 Qualities That Make a Great Leader” (Adam Bornsrein & Jordan Bornstein, 2016). One of these qualities made lots of sense and got me thinking and researching the concept further. That term is Stoicism,

“Stoicism is, at its core, accepting and anticipating adverse situations such as costly mistakes, unexpected failures or unscrupulous enemies, etc. in advance, so that you don’t freak out, react emotionally and aggravate things further”            

(Adam Bornsrein & Jordan Bornstein, 2016, Entrepreneur.com)

Wouldn’t it be nice if all leaders could do this?

Just this week I was watching “OutDaughtered” and the father Adam Busby showed some fantastic leadership with all five of his now 2-year-old quintuplets. In this episode, Adam didn’t show the least bit of frustration while trying to do some prep work before painting a room, he simply went with the flow, fully aware he wasn’t going to get much done before the girls went to bed for the night. It’s amazing to see a father treat his kids in this manner, wouldn’t it be great if all leaders treated everyone this way.

During my research I went from reading through articles comparing the similarities between Christianity and Stoicism, how it was the main philosophy in ancient Rome, and how Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180) was a large influence on this way of thinking and his writings are considered to be the greatest works of philosophy.

Imagine for a minute what your work place would look like if leaders practiced a little more Stoicism. Marcus Aurelius said “the happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts”, we know how negativity spawns negativity, and how being positive especially in the workplace increases employee engagement, overall Moral, and thus happier and more productive employees. 

Let’s all make Stoicism a required quality of ourselves and our leaders. The glass is half full, look into the future and anticipate those situations where your actions and/or attitude may not be what is expected or warranted and start now on the process of projecting a calm and collected demeanor in all situations good or bad.

References

Adam Bornsrein & Jordan Bornstein. (2016, Entrepreneur.com, October 28). Take It From The Pros 22 Qualities That Make a Great Leader. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from Entrepreneur.com: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270486