Socratic Leadership

Leaders in the twenty-first century would do well to study the habits of great thinkers and leaders of the past. Socrates famously instructed his students through a series of carefully constructed questions designed to force self-examination and lead them to a conclusion. Contemporary leaders fill many roles: instructor, mentor, leader, follower, and peer. Each of these roles is well served by the Socratic method.

The Socratic Method  is a form of philosophical inquiry in which the questioner explores the implications of others' positions, to stimulate rational thinking and illuminate ideas. This dialectical method often involves an oppositional discussion in which the defense of one point of view is pitted against another; one participant may lead another to contradict himself in some way, strengthening the inquirer's own point. The basic form is a series of questions formulated as tests of logic and fact intended to help a person or group discover their beliefs about some topic, exploring the definitions, seeking to characterize the general characteristics shared by various particular instances.

Use of the Socratic method serves to produce a strong professional in fields that are mainly self-governing. The largely successful efforts of law and medicine to maintain high professional standards  have their foundation in the emphasis on critical thinking and professional dialogue. Commensurate with the level of trust that society places in its practitioners, the fields of law and medicine have managed to transcend simple training.Training and education bear important distinctions. Military training, for instance, requires knowledge of and adherence to procedures, regulations, and rules of engagement. By contrast, education emphasizes critical thinking, original thought, and judgment.Leadership in the twenty-first century has many emerging challenges, and leaders require tools to meet those tests. Taking lessons from an ancient technique for self-inspection provides one such tool for modern leaders to use in their many roles.