Stoic Leadership

Count money, man.

Count money, man.

Stacked riches.

I'm trying to told him, I'm a beast, but...

What's up, gang?

Welcome back to another episode of The Grindcast.

Get ready.

It's a new day and we got a good one for you.

You know, one of the books I like to dig into is, you know, the stoicism, you know,

stuff because it really helps you think and keep things in perspective.

And you know, no matter where you're sitting right now, the older you are, the more you

probably realize that this thing we call life is both a gift, such a blessing, but also

it's going to kick you right in the stomach, you know, every once in a while, man.

You're going to have some hard times.

And so that stoicism helps you to survive and thrive through that stuff.

And so the message today is more about having that level of leadership, a stoic leadership.

You know, you can't control people.

Like in leadership, one of the things that people frustrate themselves about is they try

to control people or they think that, you know, because they want it for somebody that that person's

going to, you know, react a certain way.

And, you know, you can only control your response to people in what you do for people,

but you can't control them.

You know, their opinions, their behaviors, their loyalty, their decisions, you know, all of those things

are outside of your control.

What's in your control is your character and your response to certain things in leadership.

How you respond to things.

And so stop expecting people to think like you.

Not everybody's going to have your same ambition, you know, for my leaders out there.

Not everybody's going to have that level of ambition.

Not everybody got the level of urgency to work ethic or the vision.

You know, that you have.

And different people operate according to different values and priorities.

Right?

And so you're going to be, if you're working with 100 people, not everybody's going to have the same values and priorities.

And so stop chasing other people's opinions.

There was a quote by Marcus Aurelius that said, everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.

Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

If everyone's opinion can change your direction, you're not leading, you're being led.

So try not to take everything personally and get, you know, so emotional over things.

You know, that Marcus Aurelius said, if you're paying to buy an external thing,

it's not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about that thing.

So whatever's on the outside that's upsetting you, it's not that thing, it's your perspective of that thing.

Rejection, criticism, losing a sale or a client or someone leaving your company, all that stuff, that's just information.

It's not a definition of who you are.

You got to have standards without becoming attached to expectations that are outside of your control.

Whole people accountable. We got to hold people accountable.

But don't make your peace dependent on them behaving exactly the way that you expect them to behave because we can't control these people.

Especially in my line of work, I have some salaried employees, some great ones that have been with me for a long time,

and I got a bunch of independent contractors. So I can't control these people.

Everything that they do, I can try to guide them, mentor them, coach them, teach them, but at the end of the day, they're going to do what they want to do.

And so pay attention to patterns, not promises.

A lot of people got good mouthpieces, and they say what they're going to do, and just pay attention to the actions.

You can't force somebody to be loyal if it's not in them.

You can't force them to be honest or ambitious or trustworthy.

But you can decide, hear me on this one, how much access that you choose to give those people to you.

So you can't force them to act a certain way, but you're in control of how much access you give these people to your life.

Stop trying to win every argument with people. You don't need to correct everybody or defend every decision or have the last word.

Sometimes the strongest response is no response.

Don't seek revenge. Seek progress for yourself. You got to hear me on this one.

Sometimes the best response is no response, and just go out there and get to work and go ahead and win.

The best response to someone who doubted you, betrayed you, underestimated you, is to keep on building and go out there and have success.

Revenge is going to keep you emotionally attached to that thing or those people.

It's the progress in winning that starts to set you free.

Judge yourself by your actions, and not other people's reactions to those actions.

Just control what you can control and do the best that you could possibly do.

Meaning, did you keep your word? Did you do the word? Did you make the best decision you can make with the information that you had?

Live according to your principles.

That's the real scoreboard. The goal isn't to become emotionless or cold.

It's just to be emotionally more disciplined.

Feel the rejection. Feel the disappointment. Feel the anger.

All that stuff is like you're a normal human being.

But then you've got to decide what the best version of you should do next.

How am I going to respond? What's the response that I'm going to choose?

And that's the freedom that the mindset of stoicism gives people that you can apply to being an entrepreneur specifically.

As you stop needing people's approval, you stop needing everybody to understand you.

You stop needing people to behave the way that you wish that they would behave.

And it gives you a real freedom in your mind and sets you free to focus on the things that you can control in the person that you're choosing to become.

And so that's the message for today.

Is we can't control people in leadership. Don't judge the exact moment even if it's not a positive thing happening to you in that moment.

Don't react to it. Respond to it. And typically the best response to it is to control yourself and make progressive steps forward.

Not being held back by the emotions or the negative feelings of something that somebody else did to you said to you.

Because then they start to control parts of your life. They should have no control over.

You realize you're in control of your own destiny, not somebody else. You're in control of your own response, not how somebody else responds.

You can control your peace by not giving everybody access to you that doesn't deserve access to you, but we cannot control these people.

And so that's my focus for myself and you for this upcoming week.

It's just let's be even keel. You know, you'll feel real emotion. Of course we're human, but just kind of take emotion out of it and do the best thing that you could do.

The next best thing that you could do control yourself and let people control themselves and let the chips forward.

And in my experience when you keep walking and making progressive steps forward, regardless of what happens around you and you stay positive and not focus on the negative and control the things that you can control.

Typically there's greatness at the end of that. And that's what I'm wishing for each and every one of you.

If this message helped you in any way, if you would do us a favor, share the message. You know, with somebody, take 30 seconds out, send it to somebody, share it with somebody that that we can impact out here.

And as always, you know, we appreciate you. You could have spent this 10 minutes or so doing anything else and you chose to spend it with us. And we're grateful for that.

As always, we'll see you guys next week on another episode of the Grand Cascade. Get ready. It's a new day.