Awesome Office: Lead. Create. Inspire

The Top Nine Leadership Secrets from Ancient Rome

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You might think that Ancient Rome would be the last place to look in order to gain insight into the modern workplace.

Considering today’s lightning-fast pace, constant technological disruption, and hordes of smartphone-toting Millennials, what can the ancients possibly teach us about leading our organizations?

But as we learn in this latest installment of the Awesome Office Show, quite a bit actually.

In Episode 29, we decided to flip the script and put our fearless leader and AO host Sean Kelly on the hot seat to share some of his learnings from a recent Harvard Business School course he took on the leadership secrets of Ancient Rome.

Sean’s course focused on the teachings of ancient Roman philosophers Seneca the Younger and Valerius Maximus, both of whom lived and worked during Rome’s Julio-Claudian dynasty, under Emperors Tiberius and Nero, respectively.

Sean gave us a fantastic deep dive on his learnings from the course, and tells us how we can apply their timeless wisdom in the service of creating better, longer lasting organizations.

Key Takeaways

  • The best leaders(paradoxically) combine super human confidence and super human humility. 
  • Self confidence must be driven by a sense of purpose.
  • Purpose, it turns out, is a choice, and choosing to see purpose in the road ahead has a powerful impact on results.
  • The best leaders possess both deep devotion and high standards, two concepts embodied in the ancient ideal of Justice.
  • In order to get the best out of people, you must see others "as God sees them," that is, as the best version of themselves.
  • Don’t like someone? Empower your sense of empathy, and try to see the world through their eyes. 
  • Trust relies on authenticity (the real you), logic (a plan), and empathy, and is possible without the "burden of knowledge."

    • Recommended Reading

    • Memorable Doings and Sayings, Voume I by Valerius Maximus
    • Letters from a Stoic by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
    • Good to Great by Jim Collins
    • Uncommon Service by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss
      • As always, if you haven't yet, please subscribe to, rate, and review the show in iTunes. This show grows by word of mouth, and the more we grow, the more Awesome we can all create together.
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      Awesome Office: Lead. Create. InspireBy Sean Spear