If you look at any of the great leaders, you’ll notice that they had a diverse many interests.
This is the fourth in a series of posts that will aim to teach lessons from the Stoics that can help you be a better leader, even if that means just leading your own life. The first one outlined what and why leaders have been inspired by the Stoics. This one will discuss how you should not have a narrow focus of interest. Just like in investing, diversifying yourself, having a wide range of preoccupations, leads to great chances of success in your main field. Read the others by clicking on the links below
If you examine great statesmen and leaders, you’ll likely find that they had a wide range of interests. Seneca was a philosopher, wrote plays, and mentor to Nero, or at least he tried. Marcus Aurelius was the Roman Emperor, but he used to read and write about Stoic philosophy, and had several active recreations including wrestling, boxing, and hunting. Posidonius was acclaimed as the greatest polymath of his age. He made discoveries in mathematics and geometry, astronomy, meteorology, seismology, geology, natural history, oceanography, geography, ethnography, logic, history, and ethics, and more, whilst employed as a political adviser and strategist at the highest level. Sir Winston Churchill, as well as one of the 20th century’s most prominent statesmen, wrote over forty books for which he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953; painted greater than five hundred paintings; and enjoyed laying bricks with mortar he had methodically mixed.
Author David Epstein would say all of them had ‘range’ – they were ‘generalists’. In his book ‘Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World‘, Epstein squashed the myth becoming a specialist in a specific area is the key to lasting success. In an interview with the DailyStoic.com he said:
We miss out on wisdom if we’re too narrow…Specialists become so narrow that they actually start developing worse judgment about the world as they accumulate knowledge…Breadth of training predicts breadth of transfer. Transfer is your ability to take knowledge and skills and apply them to a problem or situation you have not seen before. And your ability to do that is predicted by the variety of situations you’ve faced…As you get more variety, you’re forced to form these broader conceptual models (in the classroom setting called “making connections” knowledge), which you can then wield flexibly in new situations.
It is easy to imagine Marcus Aurelius’s duties as Emperor gave insights for his philosophical work and vice versa.
One can guess Posidonius took lessons he learnt from reading and journaling and used them to advise the upper echelons of Roman society.
Churchill probably made several self discoveries during his manual labours.
As for Seneca, his philosophy is apparent in his politics and his dark plays full of violence.
The more diverse interests you have, the more experiences, the more rounded person you will be. Great persons easily and happily step outside their comfort zone, and seek novel experiences. They read about subjects outside their occupations. They make the time to study interests unrelated to their everyday lives. They purse hobbies that challenge them both physically and mentally, then use those new found knowledge and skills in ways that apply to their leadership roles.
Enjoy!
Scott
Source: https://dailystoic.com/leadership/