Stoic Leaders Towards a Strategic Sustainable Leadership Model

Abstract

The study explores stoic leadership's role in developing a strategic and sustainable business operations model. Stoic leaders, such as Marcus Aurelius and Teddy Roosevelt, have shared a belief in stoicism, which has become a time-honored philosophy among leaders. Stoic principles resonate deeply with pursuing excellence, greatness, and success. The study aims to provide valuable insights into how businesses can integrate sustainable decision-making into their operations.

The ancient Stoics believed it was essential for anyone wanting to be a leader to study philosophy. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor, saw stoicism as essential training for his role. Stoic philosophers like Cleanthes, Chrysippus, Diogenes, Archedemus, and Antipater believed that living well lies in doing what one's human nature seeks.

Stoic ethics have tremendously influenced the growth of ethical philosophy from the early Christian era to Immanuel Kant and the 20^th century. According to the Stoics, living in peace with nature is the most important goal in life, which is both necessary and sufficient for happiness. A virtuous life is free of passions yet incorporates appropriate emotive responses, conditioned by intellectual understanding and fulfilling personal, social, professional, and civic responsibilities. The "wise man" is extremely rare but is a prescriptive ideal for all. Progress toward this great objective is both attainable and important.

The Stoic theory of appropriation posits two developmental stages in living organisms: self-love and preserving its constitution. As children mature, their constitution evolves, transforming into rationality and identifying their true self with a perfected rational soul. This study aimed to determine the extent of the four stoic virtues, wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance, as demonstrated by Marcus Aurelius' leadership during his reign as Emperor of Rome.

Stoic leadership, as learned from ancient times to the present, can lead to better leaders like Marcus Aurelius and President Theodore Roosevelt. A stoic mindset, where individuals focus on effort rather than outcome, can make leaders more effective in decision-making and reduce stress. Stoicism offers practical benefits for leaders and business owners, leading to less stress and more creative thinking.

The study focused on an outstanding CEO in the Philippine Food chain industry who turned a local food chain product into an international brand. The relationship between emotional intelligence and stoicism was explored using the Liverpool stoicism Scale and the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory assessment. The cross-sectional survey design collected data from a 10-day response window, with no differences between early and late responders from 75.4% of published articles from 1990-1999.

This study aimed to determine the extent of the four stoic virtues, wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance, as demonstrated by Marcus Aurelius' leadership during his reign as Emperor of Rome to 120 graduate students enrolled in Leadership courses. The study population consisted of first to fourth-year university students from multiple majors. The 50-item questionnaire utilized 50 enduring quotes from Marcus Aurelius, and the results were analyzed using Microsoft Excel version 16.41 and SPSS Statistics version 24.

Stoicism is a never-ending strive to be better, and it is essential to put these stoic principles into practice daily. By doing so, one can shape one as a leader that people want to follow and cement their legacy as another great leader who followed the path of stoicism. Marcus Aurelius remains a timeless inspiration for leaders around the world, inspiring them to lead with grace, integrity, and purpose.

Recommendations for embracing stoic principles include focusing on what you can control, taking action and leading by example, being virtuous and putting aside your ego, practicing resilience when faced with failure, acting with empathy and understanding, eliminating toxic emotions and their effects, and never blaming others; shoulder the burden.