Taking the lead from the syllabus, today I slowed down. I've been a "hair on fire" tourist for the past 3 days. Today I got up, meditated, and went for a run in Borghese Park. During the meditation lots of thoughts floated through my mind related to the readings. I really like the videos on the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. My guess is he would be considered a socially responsible leader.
It's interesting how contemporary the basic tenants of stoicism seen. Perhaps the ideas of recognizing what you can and cannot control and focusing on your own reactions resonates so much because so much seems beyond our control in modern society. Of course that means that Marcus Aurelius also felt that his control was limited (and he was an emperor living almost two thousand years ago)...
All of this brings to mind some thoughts on leadership I had during my times in command. When one becomes a commanding officer (or an Emperor or a CEO or a president) one steps into a defined position with certain responsibilities. The key responsibility is to execute the functions for which the position was created (whether that's a military mission, a fiscal goal, or the administration of a bureaucracy). It's key to remember that you are only the current office holder. There were others before you and there will be others after you. You are in essence a servant to the people who created the organization you may be charged with running (this is reflected in the phrase applied to politicians “public servant”).
It gets sticky when there is significant power associated with a position to facilitate the execution of the duties required by the office. If the office holder thinks that power belongs to him or her then the ego can be triggered and the line between office and office holder can become blurred. If someone says “I am the president” (or the Emperor or the commanding officer), then it becomes easy to believe that “whatever I say goes.” This is a perversion. The healthier perspective realizes “I sit in the office of the president and I must meet the responsibilities defined by that office.”
Sometimes the office comes with considerable pomp and circumstance (and perks and financial compensation). In these instances it gets even harder to separate yourself from the office. It becomes easy (and ego gratifying) to believe that all that pomp (and perks, and pay) are for you personally as opposed to just being the trappings of the office. (Is that why the root word “trap” is used?) When you lose the dividing line between yourself and the office you occupy, you lose the perspective needed to make decisions based solely on the challenges presented to the institution.
Hence the need for meditations. You need to constantly check yourself and remind yourself that there are limits to the office. And there are limits to who you are and what you can control. I think knowing and recognizing those limits is the beginning of socially responsible leadership. You need to be responsible to yourself and to the office you hold before you can aspire to being responsible to society at large. I think Marcus Aurelius knew this…