General James “Mad Dog” Mattis has earned the respect of Marines and many of the rest of us for his straightforward, truthful, brief observations. You might even call him a philosopher of a sort. Here, we look at one of his famous sayings: Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet. We’ll see how to apply this saying to our lives as leaders.
Show notes: General James “Mad Dog” Mattis has earned the respect of Marines and many of the rest of us for his straightforward, truthful, brief observations. You might even call him a philosopher of a sort. Here, we look at one of his famous sayings: Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet. We’ll see how to apply this saying to our lives as leaders.
Be polite and professional. Why this matter, and why it’s something I believe all men should exhibit.
People use unreasonable claims to knock you off-balance and make you lose your cool. Situations can surprise you and make you feel things are unfair. Life will bait you to lose it. But developing calmness, and its ability to keep you poised and in-control, can help you deal with the most unfair and unreasonable situations.
Professionalism means taking a stand. Taking a stand is difficult, because it requires you to give up the love of others. It also often requires you to prepare, as if preparing for war. This is why the stoic philosophers, like Marcus Aurelius, were so in favor of preparing yourself for the worst, so you could remain in-control.
Have a plan to kill everyone you meet. This matters, because it puts people into perspective. In other words, there should be nobody you need who supersedes your morality and your personal integrity. Want to test this? Next time you feel yourself losing your poise, think about who you’re talking to. You’re allowing yourself to give up your poise in order to please them. You need to have a plan to fight them and win. They can’t have a place in your heart or a myth encircling them that gives them more authority over you than they should have.
If someone has this power over you, you need to ask why, and start probing to get yourself out of this situation. This means exercising humility in order to push against whatever you’re trying to prove. Being yourself, without over-emphasizing your strengths, will let them know you’re not trying to please them. And be ready to walk away, help them or beat them...whatever the situation calls for.