Hide behind your title.

I am a (very) amateur student of Stoicism, stumbling my way through the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca's Letters, Epictetus's Discourses and the lessons of Musonius Rufus.

I happened to listen to a podcast the other day (Lead With Less with Tash Pieterse) that was completely unrelated to Stoicism, but it made me recall a very famous passage from Meditations:

I have to go to work – as a human being. What do I ahve to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for – the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was born for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?" – Meditations 5.1

The guest on the podcast, Lisa Allen, talked about how when she is faced with a difficult conversation, or having to deliver a message that may not be received well, that she will "hide behind [her] job title." Now, this can sound completely antithetical to what Aurelius was saying in the above quote, but hear me out.

If the work that you do aligns with your philosophy, then remember it is not YOU who is having the difficult conversation, but rather who you ARE (i.e., your title) that is having it. But remember this: you don't have to be an emperor like Marcus Aurelius to have an identity or a calling that gives you the authority to have your voice heard.

When you are faced with a difficult conversation, or the task of delivering a message that may not be received well, remember that it is not just you are delivering it, but rather that it is who you are, who, to paraphrase Aurelius, is what you were hired to be. It is your role, and your purpose in your organization to do this work and deliver these messages. And so long as the work aligns with your philosophy, then why should you avoid it, or again to recall Aurelius – to huddle under the blankets and stay warm?