Anger, Self-Will, and Leadership

A neighbor across the street has a customized license plate that reads: BN2SELF. Perhaps it’s a bit uncharitable of me, but I don’t find myself particularly interested in getting to know this person, let alone follow her. 

In one of his texts on guarding the intellect, Saint Isaiah the Solitary writes, “Without anger a man cannot attain purity: he has to feel angry with all that is sown in him by the enemy…He who wishes to acquire [this] anger must uproot all self-will…”

One doesn’t need to believe in God, sin, or the devil to profit from this text.

Isaiah’s statement may come as a surprise to those who expect a monk to be all about peace and serenity. He recognizes our need for anger, with the important caveat that it is directed toward the right target: anything that enters our minds or hearts that undermines our alignment with the greater good. The purity of which Isaiah writes is purity of the mind, the state of being untroubled and undistracted by negative thoughts and desires. All of us have surely experienced the opposite and how that state of mind negatively affects our work and relationships.

But what about uprooting self-will? Some may dismiss this activity as specifically monastic or Christian and irrelevant to others. I’d argue that it’s not. We’ve all seen coaches yelling at their players for doing their own thing instead of following the plan. Self-will undermines both teamwork and community.

This topic also calls to mind Jim Collins’ famous description of a “level five” leader as one with a combination of personal humility and professional will. A great leader subordinates self-will to professional will in service of the company’s mission and vision.

Cutting our self-will paves the way both to the external, public victory of a team in the marketplace and to internal, personal victory on the battlefield of the mind because it helps us subordinate what we want to what we need, and our own good to the greater good. 

Fueling our self-will, on the contrary, turns the crosshairs of anger’s targeting scope toward other people who would thwart us, like the person who cuts us off in traffic, and makes them the enemy instead of the thoughts and desires that undermine our alignment with the greater good. 

To start shifting the crosshairs of anger’s targeting scope to a worthier target, answer this question: To what are you committed that is greater than yourself?