What Isaac Newton can teach us about leadership, and the power of discipline

Wait, scientific leadership?

I’ve always thought engineering was extra cool because it took math and science and applied it rather than just thinking about it for the sake of it. 

In today’s newsletter, we take that application a bit deeper.

Beyond applying scientific formulas and principles to our engineering work, we can apply them to ourselves, our leadership, and our lives.

Sound interesting? Read on! 

In today’s newsletter:

• The Science of Leadership

• What your discipline says about you

• Hot Jobs

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The Scientific Laws of Leadership

As engineers, we learn a massive amount of equations, corollaries, theorems, and laws. These typically apply to mathematical or scientific principles that must be understood in order to make appropriate engineering designs and calculations.

Yet, have you ever wondered if these scientific laws that the natural world follows have applications to our personal growth, development, and leadership? In my opinion, the answer is a clear “Yes!”

So, let’s take examples from some of the most commonly known laws of physics - Newton’s Laws of Motion.

I’ll show you how these fundamental laws apply to the movement and progress of people and teams, not just physical objects. Then, I’ll provide suggested actions or “motions” you can take in your leadership.

1st Law

“An object in motion will stay in motion, and an object at rest will stay at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force.”

Essentially, any movement (or lack thereof) we have is constant unless something changes it.

As you consider a team you work with or lead, are they stagnant or moving? Often projects, initiatives, and teams can get to the point where they are “at rest” and making hardly any progress. In this case, we need to consider what “outside force” we can call upon to put some appropriate positive pressure on and get things moving again. The truth is, there are always other forces seeking to slow us down or stop us, so it’s up to us as leaders to find the forces needed to keep the group moving.

Motion: Determine the project, initiative, or team that is most stagnant, and make a plan to apply an “outside force” to get it moving again!

2nd Law

Force = Mass * Acceleration

Virtually every student who takes some sort of physics or at least physical science class learns this equation. So much about how the world around us moves can be explained by this simple mathematical law. 

It also explains a lot about how we move through challenges and opportunities. As leaders, aren’t we almost always wishing we could accelerate change? The amount and direction of acceleration is determined by the amount and direction of the force applied. There are all sorts of techniques we can use to try and accelerate projects, but it’s proven that one of the most powerful influences is accountability. 

The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) did a study on accountability and found these results:

• You have an idea or a goal:  10%

• You consciously decide you will do it:  25%

• You decide when you will do it:  40%

• You plan how  you will do it:  50%

• You commit to someone you will do it:  65%

• You have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed to:  95%

That’s astounding! 

Motion: Identify an individual or team goal that is critical to accomplish. Be personally accountable by publishing the goal and creating an accountability appointment with another person or team to push you toward achievement.

3rd Law

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Let’s apply this law to our interactions with those we lead and interact with. How often is it true that when we approach people with resentment and negativity, that’s the reaction we get back? The same is typically true when we come to people with genuine concern and kindness—they’ll usually respond in kind.

I see this to be true with those I lead, especially my children. A few days ago, I was working on a project, and my 4-year-old daughter kept getting into something I didn’t want her to. All I kept saying was, “no, stop!” Let’s say that didn’t help the situation.

When I finally took a deep breath and looked her in the eye to consider what she was feeling, we made progress and found something more interesting for her (and less disruptive for me) to do. Even more importantly, there was peace again in the home. 

Motion: Consider a difficult or toxic relationship with someone else and look inside yourself. Are you doing anything in your actions or feelings that would continue to actually invite negative reactions from the other person? We can only change ourselves, so rather than waiting for the other person to change, why don’t we actually lead and take the actions we know we need to take to invite more positivity into our relationships?

What other scientific laws do you feel apply to leadership? Your view of these equations and laws may change how you approach your personal development from now on!

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Nikola Tesla, born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, Croatia (then part of the Austrian Empire), was a brilliant and enigmatic inventor, engineer, and futurist. He immigrated to the United States in the late 19th century and quickly gained recognition for his innovative work in electrical engineering. Tesla's contributions include the development of alternating current (AC) electrical systems, numerous inventions related to electricity and magnetism, and pioneering work in wireless communication. Despite his incredible accomplishments, he faced financial challenges and spent his later years in relative obscurity, but his legacy as one of history's greatest inventors endures, with his name associated with countless technological advancements and the Tesla electric car company bearing his name in the 21st century.

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📚 BOOK RECOMMENDATION

Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control by Ryan Holiday

To master anything, one must first master themselves–one’s emotions, one’s thoughts, one’s actions. Eisenhower famously said that freedom is really the opportunity to practice self-discipline. Cicero called the virtue of temperance the polish of life.

Without boundaries and restraint, we risk not only failing to meet our full potential and jeopardizing what we have achieved, but we ensure misery and shame. In a world of temptation and excess, this ancient idea is more urgent than ever.

In ‘Discipline is Destiny’, Holiday draws on the stories of historical figures we can emulate as pillars of self-discipline, including Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth II, boxer Floyd Patterson, Marcus Aurelius and writer Toni Morrison, as well as the cautionary tales of Napoleon, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Babe Ruth. Through these engaging examples, Holiday teaches readers the power of self-discipline and balance, and cautions against the perils of extravagance and hedonism.

At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Everything else, the Stoics believed, flows from them.

Discipline is Destiny will guide readers down the path to self-mastery, upon which all the other virtues depend. Discipline is predictive. You cannot succeed without it. And if you lose it, you cannot help but bring yourself failure and unhappiness.