Episode 58: The Stoic Strategist

'You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength'.
Almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote his masterpiece, Meditations, 'a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration'.
I believe that the philosophy he espoused, stoicism, is one that is perfectly in tune with the role of the strategist. Stoicism is not a superficially attractive or romantic quality. The stoic outwardly appears to be cold and dispassionate, lacking the enthusiasm and exuberance that draws people in. The stoic can come off as a bit of a cold fish. But consider that Marcus Aurelius also wrote to 'accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart'.