Stoicism for Police Executives

A quote from the post-apocalyptic G. Michael Hopf novel Those Who Remain, posits a theory on the cycle of civilizations that has gained popularity over the last few years. It reads:

 “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”

It’s easy to see why Hopf’s quote has been en vogue recently. Our Amazon Prime, Uber Eats culture is becoming undeniably softer and more fragmented, and you don’t need to dig into the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting statistics to understand why Americans feel as though things are getting worse from a public safety perspective. Afterall, in the last decade they have witnessed anti-police riots, anti-government riots, clashes over statues, clashes over elections, clashes over race, public harassment of political leaders, assassinations of cops, targeted violence against religious minorities, billions in property damage, encampments and takeovers of public property and college campuses, the aggressive suppression of civil liberties under emergency power declarations, and 10 million illegal immigrants pouring across the southern border and settling in communities from coast to coast.

Hard times, indeed.

Alongside this increasing chaos, the philosophy known as stoicism has experienced a resurgence as well. The renewed popularity of an ancient school of philosophy may seem odd to some, but it makes sense when we consider its central appeal as a tool for cultivating resilience in hard times.

Stoicism was born in far harder times than ours.  The school was founded by Zeno of Citium in the Greek city-state of Athens during a period of decline following the death of Alexander the Great.  Zeno’s teachings offered a sense of individual control to his students which gained considerable popularity amidst the disorder of the Hellenistic Period.

When the most famous stoic, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, was writing his Meditations four centuries later, it was also during a time of very little peace or tranquility. As his reign began, Marcus inherited a war with the Parthian Empire in modern day Iran, overseeing it until its end.  But when the war was won, returning soldiers brought home a deadly disease – the Antonine Plague – that savaged the empire and killed an estimated 7.5 million Romans, including Marcus’s co-emperor and adoptive brother, Lucius Verus.

At the same time, Marcus faced a second war in the north with the Germanic tribes, an attempted usurpation by his close friend and trusted general Gaius Avidius Cassius, and the deaths of at least eight of his children. Marcus practiced Stoicism to maintain a sense of order amidst this political and personal disarray.

For today’s police, things feel out of control as well. Like Marcus, they inhabit a world struggling through war, pestilence, economic uncertainty, political strife and massive societal change.  The downstream effect of this disarray weighs heaviest on those charged with holding the line between the competing forces of order and chaos, and those leading them.  And as the police find themselves subject to the political debate about the proper role of law enforcement in our society, leaders in this the profession must ensure that they, as the faces of their organizations, are above reproach, exhibiting the highest moral and ethical standards.

Stoicism, with its focus on virtue and resilience is a template for virtuous leadership and moral conduct. In it we find tools to overcome, endure, and persevere, as well as to operate with reason and logic while recognizing and controlling our most self-destructive and passionate actions and reactions on and off the job.

But perhaps you’re wondering what ancient philosophers could possibly understand about the dangers and social challenges of 21st century policing? To that I would encourage you to consider what the stoics had to endure and overcome in their own time. Many of the great stoics faced obstacles that today’s leaders can identify with – and demonstrated extraordinary discipline and inner strength to overcome them. Epictetus, for instance, was a crippled slave who was freed, only to be later banished for teaching philosophy in Rome. Seneca too was exiled (twice) only to later be recalled to serve the tyrannical and debauched Emperor Nero who falsely accused him of plotting a coup and ordered him to commit suicide. Marcus, as discussed above, dealt with 20 years of war and plague and the loss of many beloved family members during his reign. It was their adherence to their philosophy which allowed them to succeeddespite the obstacles that each faced. Stoicism worked for them, and can work for us, because it is not a theoretical or academic excercise, but a lived philosophy.

Stoicism, at its most basic, is about practicing what the Greeks called Arete, or virtue – the only true good. Stoics divided Arete into these four categories:

1. Wisdom (Phronêsis) – One’s ability to employ the Dichotomy of Control and to identify and separate what they control from what they do not.
2. Courage (Andreia) – One’s fortitude in facing and overcoming fears.
3. Temperance (Sôphrosynê) – One’s self-discipline, self-awareness, and self-control.
4. Justice (Dikaiosynê) – One’s commitment to righteousness, kindness, fairness and equanimity.

These categories are as germane to police leaders today as they were to Epictetus, Seneca or Marcus Aurelius. For instance, think for a moment of how much you worry about every day that is beyond your ability to control? You’re running late because a fender bender caused traffic to back up.  Your city leaders are cutting your department’s budget, again.  The selecting official for the promotion you applied for chose to elevate the office lickspittle over you.

No amount of honking will clear the traffic.  No amount of histrionics will restore the budget.  And no amount of ruminating on the fairness of the selection process will undo the outcome.  So, what do you gain by polluting your thoughts with that which you cannot control?

When we try to control the uncontrollable, we end up feeling powerless, frustrated and anxious.  We become ineffective, bitter, and angry.  We remain stuck. And people who are stuck often turn to complaining, whining and moaning over advancing action.  So, wouldn’t practicing a philosophy that teaches us to see opportunity in obstacle and encourages us to redirect destructive emotions into effective actions be beneficial to you and those you lead?

I’ll close with an example of Stoic leadership that I site in my new book In Valor: 365 Stoic Mediations for First Responders:

In September 1965, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale’s A-4 Skyhawk was shot down in a hail of flak over North Vietnam. Badly injured, Stockdale ejected over a small village and was quickly taken captive and brought to the infamous Hỏa Lò Prison, or ‘Hanoi Hilton,’ where he would spend the next eight years as the highest-ranking Navy POW in Vietnam.

Because of his rank, Stockdale was recognized by his captors as a leader among the POWs who held great sway over their resistance to interrogation and their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation.  As such, for the duration of his stay, Stockdale was subjected to acts of unspeakable torture by the guards, who were desperate to break him.

Under these circumstances, it would have been easy for Stockdale to wallow in self-pity and hopelessness. And it would have been natural to succumb to the pain and degradation of his enemies and accede to their demands. Yet he didn’t.  He understood, as all leaders must, that the tone comes from the top and that his resolve and demeanor (or lack thereof) would be contagious among his men.

Stockdale’s refusal to talk encouraged his subordinates to similarly hold firm and, eventually, led to the guards recognizing the futility of their barbarous practices. Shortly after his return home in 1973, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his “valiant leadership and extraordinary courage in a hostile environment.”

Stockdale was a practitioner of stoicism, particularly the philosopher Epictetus, whose teachings on the Dichotomy of Control inspired his steadfast defiance.  Of his time in the Hanoi Hilton, Stockdale would later say, “My prison was a laboratory — a laboratory of human behavior. I chose to test his postulates against the demanding real-life challenges of my laboratory. And as you can tell, I think he passed with flying colors.”

This career is your laboratory.  And like Stockdale’s, there will be times when the weight of leadership in these hard and chaotic times feels unbearable. But like Stockdale, you can bring order to the chaos by practicing the same philosophy that gave him so much resolve and self-control.

To paraphrase Hopf, strong leaders create good times for their organizations. Stoicism will make you stronger.

Kristofor Healey is a former award winning Special Agent who spend more than 15 years investigating large scale tele-fraud and public corruption cases for DHS. He is now an author and professional speaker. He shares daily stoic quotes, relatable stories, and journal prompts in his new book, In Valor: 365 Stoic Meditations for First Responders and on his FREE Substack channel, The Stoic Responder. He is available for speaking through the Team Never Quit Speakers Bureau.

Source: www.lawofficer.com