The Stoic Management Style

I recently sat in a meeting with a well-prepared buyer, and it was clear from the start that the interaction would be challenging. Our team included new members who had not sufficiently prepared themselves for the meeting and responded to questions with emotion rather than composure. When the buyer pressed further, the discussion got out of hand. Eventually, uncertainty about the meeting's purpose arose, and the meeting became chaotic.

So we ended that meeting, being blamed for our lack of knowledge. After that meeting, we sat down for a very long feedback session. Of course, we had the best Agentic AI tools to prepare us for those meetings, and we prepared an agenda with the most important point to discuss. But even with advanced AI tools, we learned that an emotional regulation is absolutely essential for productive meetings.

The Stoic Way of Leading

Stoicism stands out as a practical operating system for leaders navigating rapid disruption and managing emotional regulation. While many books explain stoicism or offer routines, the key principle is not to act emotionless or rigid, but to learn to channel focus and composure toward what truly matters in uncertain environments.

Stoicism is grounded in focusing on what you can control. In perpetually disrupted tech markets, this means accepting uncertainty but leading confidently where your knowledge and values give you influence. A stoic executive remains resilient, negotiates clearly, and makes decisions guided by principles.

With stoic leadership, you can remain flexible and adapt to different situations, even during an important business meeting. You notice your emotions without being overwhelmed by them and can control them to achieve your desired outcome. Emotional awareness and control support effective adaptation.

How can you implement your own Stoic operating system?

• Set your boundaries and filter on everything you can control and what is not in your hands to be worked out.
• Reframe situations or business cases to avoid the influence of negative emotions.
• Set up a weekly feedback meeting to discuss which actions align with your filter and which situations still trigger emotional reactions. Regular reflection strengthens the emotional discipline of the team.

Being a stoic is not unnatural or weird in a world using gamification, tech gadgets, or instant positive reactions like smiles and thumbs up. The real practice is about balance and authenticity, not forced optimism.

In negotiations, some small talk builds rapport. However, productive meetings—especially tough price negotiations—require focused, direct dialogue. Prioritize your agenda over unrelated emotional personal stories.

The Seductive Advantages of Being Emotional

On the other hand, what is a human being? A human being has emotions, which are neither good nor bad. They're just there. Our brain functions this way. Of course we have feelings when we are sitting in a business meeting, playing tennis, or watching baseball. We have feelings for other people, and the more feelings you have for someone, the better you can negotiate with them.

Reading people—noticing similarities or differences—can provoke emotions and is valuable. Some partners appreciate authentic emotional engagement, especially if they're used to neutral business contexts.

You can engage buyers by sharing emotional stories about your startup or products, making your message memorable. However, aligning this approach with a structured, stoic mindset ensures you still communicate clearly, stick to your agenda, and highlight your USP in a composed way.

Tech products can be hard to explain, so support your pitch with relevant stories and examples. Make your value clear, showing why your product matters and justifies its price, particularly in the evolving AI landscape. Try to balance emotion and logic to communicate complex products effectively.

Establish a New Way of Negotiating

To control my emotions, these techniques helped me a lot, especially when I had long loops of negotiation rounds, negotiating million-dollar contracts or investments:

• Breathing techniques and meditation. This totally changed my business life, because I learned to control my body and mind before entering the boardroom and to focus on the essentials.
• Using a short pause. In difficult situations, I pause and reflect for a moment to lower tensions and avoid framing a simple question as an attack. With my team, we even asked to leave the meeting room and discussed every next step quietly and calmly on our own in a different location.
• Feedback is a gift. I always ask for feedback from a mentor, a coach, or a team member. They challenge my stoic boundaries and tell me when it would be adequate to show more emotions, without being an avatar of myself.

Developing a stoic system is an ongoing process. Regularly identify your true challenges and focus on what you can control. Train yourself and your team to communicate with clarity and to regulate emotions. Practicing this approach sharpens decision-making and enhances team consistency in unpredictable settings.

Cognitive flexibility and authentic leadership are essential in the AI economy, which is full of standardization and volatility. These are core skills for success. Resilience and authenticity set leaders apart in disruptive times.

Ultimately, the central question is: Can you stay focused and composed—the stoic eye of the storm—even as pressures mount and data become overwhelming?