What can business leaders learn from ancient Greek philosophers?
By Arwa Mahdawi,
Columnist, Guardian US
To help achieve “the good life” companies can learn from the techniques used by Greek philosophers. Jules Evans explores seven that could help employees live their lives better.
I’ve met and interviewed hundreds of people who have used ancient Greek and Roman philosophies to help them live their lives better, including soldiers, astronauts, politicians and business leaders. They all used philosophy to help them achieve “eudaimonia”, by which the Greeks meant “flourishing” or “the good life”. Here are seven techniques, from seven philosophers, which businesses can use to become more eudaimonic.
Socrates: dare to disagree
Socrates, one of the first philosophers, insisted on our right to think for ourselves. Too often, he warned, humans sleepwalk through life, simply going along with the crowd. This is dangerous in questions of morality, and particularly in corporate governance. When corruption is uncovered, too often people say “everyone else was doing it”. But our characters are our responsibility. Socrates was prepared to die rather than go against his conscience. Does your organisation encourage independent thinkers, and people who follow their conscience? Does it allow people to give critical feedback to managers? Does it create opportunities for good people to blow the whistle on bad behaviour?
Aristotle: let people seek fulfillment
Aristotle was a great biologist as well as a great philosopher. He based his ethics on a psychological theory of human nature, insisting that we are naturally virtuous, rational, social and happiness-seeking. Governments and organisations need to build the best systems to let humans fulfill their natural drives.
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