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Welcome
Look in the Mirror.
If you were to ask me how I'd describe November 2024, it would probably be summed up in one grunt: Ugh. I don't know how else to express it.
There was a lot of tension and turbulence in the air, but on the flip side, all the drama gave me the opportunity to reflect a lot on the battle between emotions and rationality.
Who are we when we're dominated by either side?
And how does that show up in leadership?
It seems to me that to succeed in life, we have to continuously evolve and rise above our own biases to truly see clearly what’s going on... and that's only possible if you put your emotions aside and look objectively at a situation from all angles.
Rationality seems to win out all the time, and November was a stellar example.
Let me share an excerpt from The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene:
In one chapter, he talks about Pericles, the famous politician from Ancient Greece, and he writes the following:
“What consumed Pericles as a thinker and a public figure was how to get out of this trap, how to be truly rational in an arena dominated by emotions. The solution he came up with is unique in history and devastatingly powerful in its results. It should serve as our ideal. In his conception, the human mind has to worship something, has to have its attention directed to something it values above all else.
For most people, it is their ego; for some it is their family, their clan, their god, or their nation. For Pericles it would be nous, the ancient Greek word for “mind” or “intelligence.” Nous is a force that permeates the universe, creating meaning and order. The human mind is naturally attracted to this order; this is the source of our intelligence. For Pericles, the nous that he worshipped was embodied in the figure of the goddess Athena.
Athena was literally born from the head of Zeus, her name itself reflecting this—a combination of “god” (theos) and “mind” (nous). But Athena came to represent a very particular form of nous—eminently practical, feminine, and earthy. She is the voice that comes to heroes in times of need, instilling in them a calm spirit, orienting their minds toward the perfect idea for victory and success, then giving them the energy to achieve this.
To be visited by Athena was the highest blessing of them all, and it was her spirit that guided great generals and the best artists, inventors, and tradesmen. Under her influence, a man or woman could see the world with perfect clarity and hit upon the action that was just right for the moment. For Athens, her spirit was invoked to unify the city, make it prosperous and productive. In essence, Athena stood for rationality, the greatest gift of the gods to mortals, for it alone could make a human act with divine wisdom.
To cultivate his inner Athena, Pericles first had to find a way to master his emotions. Emotions turn us inward, away from nous, away from reality. We dwell on our anger or our insecurities. If we look out at the world and try to solve problems, we see things through the lens of these emotions; they cloud our vision. Pericles trained himself to never react in the moment, to never make a decision while under the influence of a strong emotion. Instead, he analyzed his feelings.
Usually when he looked closely at his insecurities or his anger, he saw that they were not really justified, and they lost their significance under scrutiny. Sometimes he had to physically get away from the heated Assembly and retire to his house, where he remained alone for days on end, calming himself down. Slowly, the voice of Athena would come to him.”
It goes on, but you get the idea.
Athena is a master of her emotions. She brings order among the chaos to the entire mythological world.
She was the goddess of wisdom, war, and arts.
She is depicted as the most courageous, resourceful, wise, organized, and strategic minds of the Gods, and was known as the patron goddess of heroic endeavor, meaning that she walks along the heroes as their companion. She provides them with knowledge and strategy, guidance in decision-making in all aspects of their life.
When you read about Athena, she is always the ones that upholds justice, solves disputes, and guides in decision-making because she has clear ethics and a rational mind that’s unaffected by emotion. She doesn’t react or lash out. Instead, she is proactive and pauses, analyzes, and logically thinks of a strategy before she acts.
I may not be a mythological goddess, or Greek for that matter, but everything else rings true: Athena is who I strive to be.
She and I have the same mission: to guide our heroes on their journeys and make sure they make the right decisions, at the right time, for the right reasons.
I’m the voice of rationale, logic, and direction for my clients, and I bring order and effective decision-making to their world.
It’s also who you have to be – at least to some extent.
Not to say that you have to have all the answers, but good leadership requires rational thought over rash impulse decision-making.
When you have any amount of power, you have to know how to manage yourself and get out of your own way. That’s a skill to develop if you don’t have it yet. Look in the mirror.
I watched so many people shoot themselves in the foot this past month that it was this takeaway that stood out above all.
Don’t burn your bridges with pettiness. Step back and think about the long-term strategy instead; you’ll be a lot better off for it.
So with that said, I'd love to know: What figure from the mythological world do you identify with, and why?
Hit reply and let me know.
❤️
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