The Reason Many Leaders Improve After Learning Philosophy

I was reading about the History of Creatine, and I learned that the individual who first isolated it was a Scientist, the Founder of Modern Organic Chemistry, and a Philosopher.

It then made me think about Philosophy in Leadership.

I know that Philosophy has been Impactful in my own Life.

I have also seen many Leaders benefit from what they have learned from Philosophy.

We also see certain modern Teachers of Philosophers gaining huge Success in the Business world, such as the Modern Stoicism Movements.

I then asked myself Why Philosophy seems to have such a powerful Impact.

The first Instinct most people have is likely that Philosophy is all about Thinking.

Throughout all forms of Philosophy, you see people ask questions, dig deeper, and throw out new Ideas and alternative positions.

When it comes to Leadership, these are all very beneficial!

Indeed, most people don't ask enough Questions.

Questions Improve the Quality of our Thinking, so being able to ask better Questions is a Powerful tool for Leaders.

In the same thread, the ability to Dig Deeper is also needed as a Leader.

Most people only Focus on the surface problems, while completely missing anything of true Value.

We tend to mask problems or put band-aids on gushing wounds.

A classic example of this is in Medicine.

It is common for people to take pills to "heal" their Problems, but what happens if you stop taking those pills, even after years of taking them?

95% of the time, people either revert to where they were before, or they actually get worse.

Those are Indicators that the true Problem still exists and the pills are just band-aids that don't solve anything.

By thinking more deeply, we can see beyond that surface level.

You begin to get to Second and Third-Order Consequences when you dig more deeply.

If we solve the same problem, but the problem continues to come back time and time again, maybe we need to dig deeper.

There is also a lot of Research that shows that having options and taking alternative positions both regularly Improve Ideas.

The reason is that our first Ideas generally are not good.

Our Brain is extremely good at coming up with Solutions, but those Solutions are rarely "good".

We also have a tendency to reward the Brain for fast Results, but not "good" Results.

With this, our first Ideas tend to be highly Biased based on our "Norms".

However, the Truth is that most people's "Norms" are not "good" either.

However, Philosophy doesn't take that approach.

Instead, almost every potential Idea is given a treatment of Doubt.

The Idea isn't Rewarded until it has become a solid Idea.

By not taking the "first" Idea, your Brain becomes forced to think of alternate solutions, and looking beyond our initial Biases, we can gain Insights into things that will be significantly better.

ALL of these reasons I do believe are very Beneficial to Leaders and help them Improve in their work.

BUT I believe that there's another more Impactful reason that Philosophy helps Leaders become so much better.

When Philosophy is done well, it makes you question if you really know anything at all!

Most people call this "Humility".

That is right, the reason that Philosophy is so powerful in Leadership is that it makes you question yourself!

It doesn't matter if you were the ruler of the largest Empire of all Time!

(Aka Marcus Aurelius)

Good Philosophers understand that what they know is limited, any power they have is limited, and that they need other people, Ideas, and Perspectives to Improve.

When you understand Philosophy, you realize how little YOU actually Know.

THAT knowledge then becomes a Superpower for Leaders.

Humility creates Humbleness.

The Humbleness is appealing to others, making them more likely to listen and follow you.

It also allows Leaders to consider a wider variety of Perspectives and Ideas.

They push themselves to Learn more and to take in the Value that others have had all along.

In a sense, it is improving Emotional Intelligence.

Philosophy then gives Leaders the tools to harness all that Value that exists from those around them, pushing to get to better and better places.

That is the greatest power of Philosophy to Leaders.