Know Thyself; Know Thy Enemy

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Know Thyself; Know Thy Enemy

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

— Abraham Lincoln

I’ve always believed in the phrase made famous by Socrates: know thyself first.

At its core, this means understanding your strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and the areas where you need to improve or double down.  It’s about knowing your “go-to moves”: the stories, statistics, quotes, and philosophies that make up your personal arsenal.  In short, know what you can - and cannot - do.

But self-awareness isn’t an excuse to stay comfortable... it’s a launchpad.  You should constantly push your limits through discipline, physical challenges, and learning.  Growth comes from testing the edges of who you are.  Once you truly understand yourself, then - and only then - should you focus on your competition.

In CARVER Leadership: Lessons from the Board Room, War Room, and Locker Room, I describe a simple truth: for every move your adversary makes, you need to have a countermove ready.  But in the heat of the moment, you’ll only recognize when to deploy it if you’ve already practiced and visualized it.

Sun Tzu reminded us 2,500 years ago about the power of knowing thyself and knowing thy enemy. 

Few embody this mindset better than Tom Brady.  Nobody watched more game film or did more "homework" on their opponent than Brady.  Reflecting on his Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, he said:

“I knew Kansas City’s defense better than they knew themselves… it was like I had all the answers to the test.”

He added:

“That’s where my magic superpower was… it wasn’t how fast I could run.  It was how fast I could diagnose what they were doing.”

Brady wasn’t the biggest, strongest, or fastest quarterback... he was selected 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft.  But no one was more mentally prepared on game day.

That’s the lesson: know thyself; know thy enemy.

So here’s the challenge: sharpen your edge.  Define your strengths.  Attack your weaknesses.  Study your competition.  And most importantly... prepare so thoroughly that when your moment comes, you already have the answers to the test. 

Stay safe and vigilant!

Luke Bencie