The ancient Greeks believed the human soul had three parts: reason, appetite, and something called thumos. Thumos is difficult to translate into English. It encompasses anger, noble spiritedness, pride, ambition, a sense of honor, and the drive to act. The Greeks thought it was essential to living a life of manly virtue, and my guest thinks we could use a lot more of it.
His name is Mike LeBlanc, and he’s a decorated Marine, a Harvard Business School grad, a tech founder, and the author of What If Anger Is the Answer? Today on the show, Mike and I discuss how the angry energy of thumos can help you close the gap between who you are and who you should be. We discuss why physical training helps cultivate thumos, how it can be an aid in overcoming appetites, overthinking, passivity, and cynicism, and the role it can play in being an effective leader.
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0:00 Introduction
1:42 Meet Mike LeBlanc: Marines, Great Books & Robotics
5:45 A Letter to His Son: What It Means to Be a Man
8:07 Socrates' Metaphor: The Little Man, the Hydra & the Lion
15:26 The Attributes of Thumos: Dignity, Pride & Shame
17:36 Thumos and Action: The Soul's Three Parts at Work
20:19 Thumos in Defending Boundaries
25:31 Thumos and the Physical Body
31:36 Thumos vs. Overthinking: The 70% Solution
36:03 Thumos, Power & Authority in Leadership
44:42 Overcoming Cynicism with Thumos
49:46 Raising Boys with Thumos & Where to Find the Book