After having been a student of philosophy for some time, a decade ago I became particularly interested in the Stoic’s thanks largely to the work of Ryan Holiday and the team he built at The Daily Stoic. Through his first book on stoicism “The Obstacle Is The Way”, a book he wrote while holding a full-time job directing marketing for a global fashion retailer, I discovered a practical philosophy that requires lived experience to fully comprehend, and I was inspired to go deep into many related topics of self-mastery, including meditation, behavioral science, politics and business.
Besides reading broadly on these and other topics, listening to podcasts and talking to people, I’ve regularly taken part in live courses and challenges.
Last year I took part in a course entitled The Daily Stoic Leadership Challenge, a nine-week commitment covering all sorts of topics from working hard, being dedicated to a cause, showing compassion, being self-reliant and being cheerful. Add to this list skills such as keeping an open mind, being a committed learner, taking responsibility and blame, using feedback and taking advice, keeping a good schedule and keeping your temper. As with other Daily Stoic courses I’ve taken part in, it was led by Ryan himself, with a daily essay delivered via email, and included live interviews and discussions, which were scheduled for a North American audience… so the timing sucked for me over here in Sydney, Australia, but all were worth the early wake-up.
Overall, the challenge was enjoyable, self-paced (though it always pays to keep up with the daily reading and reflection), and I would highly recommend it to those seeking to test their approach to leadership, business strategy and lead an examined life and career.
The challenge was to take ideas about leadership, learned through trial and error by others across millennia, and bring them to life by putting them into action, at work and at home, and with this, I’ve had both successes and failures.
After a month away from work for the first time in something like a decade, I decided to revisit the course and complete it for a second time, revising my thinking and actions and results and journals along the way.
I’ll make some of it available to MV.com members to seek feedback and perhaps encourage some discussion. Some questions we seek to answer throughout the course are:
“What are the traits of good leaders? Who should you model for leadership? How can I be a better leader - of my family, company, team, audience, group of friends, or myself?”
And why should we explore such questions?
“Because leaders aren’t born. They’re made. Some of us recoil at that idea. Of course, we understand that athletes and doctors and dentists and lawyers and engineers and accountants and contractors and cooks go through a process to master their profession. But leadership? Leaders don’t do that, we think, you either got it or you don’t.
Ah, but a quick look at some of history’s great leaders is all you would need to realize that leadership is a process, not a position.”
Here’s an outline of topics covered in the challenge:
- Week 1: Becoming a Life-Long Student of Leadership
- Week 2: Mastering Your Emotions
- Week 3: Dealing With People
- Week 4: Preparing For and Getting Through Adversity
- Week 5: Decision Making
- Week 6: Problem Solving
- Week 7: Culture
- Week 8: Leadership Philosophy
- Week 9: Leadership Challenges
Consider it a potential systems upgrade, and jump in!
