First Principles Friday: Lead with the Wisdom of a Stoic
How to obtain practical wisdom and use it to take strong action as a leader.
“Don’t just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more [discerning] and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one had made progress simply by having internalized their contents.” — Epictetus
As I mentioned last week, Stoicism is built on 4 cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Last week I talked about courage, which I consider the foundational virtue of stoic leadership. This week I’ll cover the cardinal virtue of practical wisdom.
What do the Stoics mean by “Practical Wisdom?”
Practical wisdom is about seeking out the truth. The most common stoic definition of practical wisdom is the knowledge of what is good, what is bad, and what is neither good or bad. Developing practical wisdom requires a lot of reflection and awareness. It is…
