Your Job is to Get The Best Out of People

One of the trickiest parts of holding yourself to a high standard in life is that it’s only natural to start to expect others to do the same. You’re not taking the easy road, why should they be able to? You’re putting in the work, why aren’t they? You don’t lie, cheat, or steal, is it so crazy to assume others shouldn’t either? Look at your results—where are theirs? Marcus Aurelius must have struggled with this too. He hadn’t wanted to be emperor, but he was pressed into duty. Still, with all this power, he was trying to be good and do good. What was everyone else’s excuse? It’s something that lots of brilliant leaders and talented people have wrestled with through the centuries, whether it’s Kobe Bryant trying to figure out why his teammates aren’t as dedicated as he is, or an A student wondering why the other people in their group aren’t striving for the grade they areWhat we know is that Marcus Aurelius found a way through. We’re told of it by the historian Cassius Dio, and it’s a worthy example for us to think about today:“So long as a person did anything good, he would praise him and use him for the service in which he excelled, but to his other conduct he paid no attention; for he declared that it is impossible for one to create such men as one desires to have, and so it is fitting to employ those who are already in existence for whatever service each of them may be able to render to the State.”We only control our behavior. We can only fully uphold our standards for ourselves. As leaders, we have to work to meet everyone else where they are—get as much as we can from them and of them—but we can’t make ourselves miserable expecting them to be like us. Because they aren’t. What they do is in their control. What we do is in ours. Remember what Seneca learned with Nero: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Never forget that. Get the best you can from yourself and hope—but don’t expect—for the best from everyone else. That’s all you can do. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com. Your job is to get the best out of people. One of the trickiest parts of holding yourself to a high standard in life is that it's only natural to start to expect that others do the same. You're not taking the easy road. Why should they be able to? You're putting in the work. Why aren't they? You don't lie, cheat, or steal. Is it so crazy to assume

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  that others shouldn't either? Look at your results. Where are theirs? Marcus Aurelius must have struggled with this too. He hadn't wanted to be emperor, but he was pressed into duty. Still, with all this power, he was trying to do good and be good. What was everyone else's excuse? It's something that lots of brilliant leaders and talented people have wrestled through through the centuries. Whether it's a Kobe Bryant trying to figure out why his teammates weren't as dedicated as he is, or an A student wondering why other people in the group aren't striving for the same grade that they are. What we know is that Marcus Aurelius found a way through. We're told by the historian Cassius Dio, and it's

• 1:34Ryan Holiday?

  a worthy example to think about today. "So long as a person did anything good," Dio writes, "Marcus would praise him and use him for the service in which he excelled, but to his other conduct, he paid no attention. For he declared that it is impossible for one to create such men as one desires to have, and so it is fitting to employ those who are already in existence for whatever service each of them may be able to render to the state." We only control our behavior. We can only fully uphold our standards for ourselves. As leaders, we have to work to meet everyone's expectations. Elsewhere they are, get as much as we can from them and of them, but we can't make

• 2:14Ryan Holiday?

  ourselves miserable expecting them to be like us, because they aren't. What they do is in their control. What we do is in ours. Remember what Seneca learned from Nero, that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. Never forget that. Get the best you can from yourself and hope, don't expect for the best from everyone else. That's all you can do. Hey, everyone. If you're stuck inside during this pandemic, there's no better way to spend your time than getting caught up on all that reading you've been meaning to do. And if you want to change the way you read so that you get as much out of the books that you do read as possible, check out our Daily Stoic Read to Lead Challenge.

• 2:59Ryan Holiday?

  It's 13 days of amazing challenges designed to rekindle your connection with books, to help you rebuild your library and even more. You can check it out today. Just go to dailystoic.com/reading.