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The Seven Sages’ Guide for Leaders
Ancient wisdom never grows old.
Centuries before spreadsheets, strategy decks, and shareholder reports, the Seven Sages of Greece distilled wisdom into short, sharp truths. They led through plagues, wars, and political upheavals, and their insights remain a masterclass in practical judgment.
I recently visited Delphi and was reminded of the Seven Sages’ maxims, which were inscribed in stone before the Temple of Apollo, where the famous oracle resided.
Before stepping into the inner sanctum, people seeking the oracle’s prophecy passed two maxims carved into stone:
“Know thyself.” “Nothing in excess.”
Delphi was not a place of answers, but of perspective. You had to find your own answers based on self-examination and the insights of others.
Inspired by my visit there, I paired seven famous maxims (over 140 in total) with modern leadership interpretations so you can apply their insights today.
1. Know Thyself – Thales of Miletus
Modern Insight: Self-awareness fuels organizational clarity.
Leadership Application: Self-awareness has three elements. It starts with knowing your strengths, blind spots, and motivations. Knowing how others see you helps you make adjustments that strengthen trust and understanding. Finally, perceiving what others need from you enables you to bring out their best. A leader who knows themselves creates alignment; one who doesn’t spreads confusion.
Challenge Question: When you see yourself from your employees’ eyes, what do you see?
Here’s more about self-awareness in this video.
2. Nothing in Excess – Chilon of Sparta
Modern Insight: Balance drives endurance.
Leadership Application: Overexpansion, overwork, being overcritical, and clinging to overcontrol undermine longevity. Great leaders pace their teams, not race them.
Challenge Question: Where have I over-indexed?
3. Keep Measure – Solon of Athens
Modern Insight: Standards and accountability sustain trust.
Leadership Application: Set clear standards and enforce them consistently. Culture dies when accountability wavers.
Challenge Question: What am I tolerating that erodes trust in our culture?
For more on supportive accountability, see this video.
4. Know the Right Time – Pittacus of Mytilene
Modern Insight: Timing is the invisible dimension of strategy.
Leadership Application: Growth that ignores timing becomes fragile. Sense when to push, pause, or pivot.
Challenge Question: What decision am I rushing? What decision am I delaying?
See this video on the four steps of sound decision-making.
5. Most Men Are Bad – Bias of Priene
Modern Insight: Protect what matters.
Leadership Application: Bias wasn’t cynical; he was realistic. Watch out for perverse incentives, especially in what we measure and reward. Recognize process over outcomes and create competition against objective standards rather than against each other, so you avoid temptations for cheating. The NBA’s gambling scandal was a predictable disaster.
Challenge Question: Where have we pitted people against each other?
6. Moderation Is Best – Cleobulus of Lindos
Modern Insight: Sustainable cultures embrace discipline, not grind.
Leadership Application: Great organizations do routine things routinely, and to a high standard. Doing so saves you mental and organizational energy to do great things. Geniuses design systems that idiots can run.
Challenge Question: What routine processes are more complicated than they need to be?
See this video on delegation.
7. Forethought in All Things – Periander of Corinth
Modern Insight: Strategic foresight prevents unforced errors.
Leadership Application: It’s impossible to see the forest when you are tied down in the weeds. Sustainable growth comes from recognizing patterns, thinking upstream, and applying resonant simplicity.
Challenge Question: Where am I reacting instead of anticipating?
See my podcast episode on anticipatory thinking.
Enduring Wisdom
There’s a contemporary conceit that today’s challenges are more difficult than ever, suggesting that learning from the past is irrelevant. Yesterday’s challenges were different, but just as difficult, and the solutions always relied on the principles of sound judgment and leadership.
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