Arete: Why Excellence is a Way of Being, Not Achieving
By Derek Neighbors on June 24, 2025
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Leaders
Timeless Greek philosophical concepts applied to modern leadership challenges
Three months ago, I watched a VP of Engineering at a Fortune 500 company achieve everything he thought he wanted. His team hit every metric. His project launched on time and under budget. The CEO personally congratulated him in front of the entire company. By every external measure, he had achieved excellence.
Two weeks later, he was miserable.
“I don’t understand,” he told me over coffee. “I got the promotion, the recognition, the bonus. I should be celebrating. Instead, I feel empty. Like I’m playing someone else’s game and winning prizes I don’t actually want.”
This is the achievement trap in its purest form: the belief that excellence is something you get rather than something you become.
The ancient Greeks had a word for what this VP was missing: arete (ἀρετή), often translated as virtue or excellence, but meaning something far more profound. Arete isn’t about achieving excellent outcomes, it’s about becoming the type of person who naturally produces them.
This isn’t semantic wordplay. It’s a fundamental shift that changes everything about how you approach work, leadership, and life itself.
The Achievement Trap
We live in an achievement-obsessed culture. From childhood, we’re taught to chase gold stars, grades, promotions, and recognition. We measure success by what we accumulate: titles, salaries, followers, awards. We build identities around our accomplishments and define worth through external validation.
But here’s what nobody tells you about achievement-focused thinking: it creates a psychological prison.
When excellence is something you achieve, it’s always external to who you are. You’re constantly chasing the next milestone, the next recognition, the next proof that you’re worthy. You become addicted to the hit of accomplishment, but like any addiction, you need bigger and bigger doses to feel the same satisfaction.
Worse, your identity becomes hostage to your latest performance.
I see this everywhere in the business world:
- Leaders who can’t enjoy success because they’re already worried about the next quarter’s numbers
- High performers who suffer impostor syndrome despite consistent results because their worth depends on external validation
- Teams that hit targets but lose their souls because they optimize for metrics instead of meaning
- Companies that achieve growth but destroy culture because they focus on having success rather than being excellent
The achievement trap is seductive because it works, temporarily. You can push yourself to hit numbers, meet deadlines, and exceed expectations. But it’s unsustainable because it treats you as a machine that produces outcomes rather than a human being who embodies excellence.
The Performance Anxiety Epidemic
Achievement-focused thinking creates a specific type of suffering: performance anxiety under pressure. When your worth depends on your latest results, every challenge becomes an existential threat. Every mistake feels like evidence of inadequacy. Every setback questions your identity.
I’ve worked with executives who were brilliant strategists but couldn’t sleep before board meetings because their self-worth was tied to quarterly performance. I’ve seen engineers who could solve complex technical problems but froze when asked to present their work because they were afraid their achievements wouldn’t be enough.
This is what happens when you build identity on outcomes you can’t fully control.
The Greeks understood something we’ve forgotten: excellence under pressure requires something deeper than the desire to achieve. It requires becoming the type of person who remains excellent regardless of external circumstances.
The Sustainability Problem
Achievement-focused excellence is inherently unsustainable because it requires constant external fuel. You need recognition, validation, and success to maintain motivation. When those external rewards diminish, and they always do, your capacity for excellence diminishes with them.
But arete-based excellence is self-sustaining because it comes from who you are, not what you accomplish. The person who embodies excellence doesn’t need external validation to maintain their standards because their standards aren’t dependent on external recognition.
This isn’t about not caring about results. It’s about understanding that the best results come from being excellent rather than trying to achieve excellence.
The Four Dimensions of Arete
The ancient Greeks didn’t see arete as a single trait but as the integration of four essential dimensions. Modern psychology has validated what they understood intuitively: sustainable excellence requires the development of character, competence, courage, and consistency working together.
Here’s how these four dimensions create the foundation for excellence as a way of being:
1. Character (Ethos): Who You Are
Character is the foundation of arete because it determines how you make decisions when no one is watching. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being authentic to your highest values even when it’s difficult, expensive, or unpopular.
The modern misunderstanding: We treat character as a nice-to-have rather than the foundation of sustainable excellence. We promote people based on results and wonder why they struggle with leadership. We optimize for outcomes and wonder why our cultures become toxic.
The arete perspective: Character isn’t separate from performance, it enables it. The person with strong character makes better decisions under pressure because they have internal standards that don’t waver with external circumstances.
I learned this lesson the hard way early in my career. I was leading a project that was behind schedule and over budget. The client was pressuring us to cut corners to meet deadlines. My team was looking to me for direction, and the easy choice was to compromise on quality to hit the date.
Instead, I told the client the truth about what it would take to deliver something we could be proud of. I risked the contract, the relationship, and my reputation. In the short term, it was painful. The client wasn’t happy. My partner questioned my judgment. My team wondered if I’d made the right call.
But here’s what happened: We delivered something exceptional. The client became one of our biggest advocates. The team learned they could trust me to protect the integrity of our work. And I learned that character-driven decisions compound in ways that expedient choices never do.
Character as competitive advantage: In a world where everyone is optimizing for short-term results, the person who makes character-driven decisions stands out. They build trust faster, attract better opportunities, and create sustainable relationships because people know they can be counted on to do what’s right, not just what’s profitable.
2. Competence (Techne): What You Can Do
Competence in the arete framework isn’t about accumulating credentials or demonstrating expertise, it’s about developing the capacity to produce excellent work regardless of circumstances.
The modern misunderstanding: We treat competence as a fixed asset. You either have the skills or you don’t. You’re either qualified or you’re not. This creates credential obsession and expertise anxiety.
The arete perspective: Competence is ongoing capacity development. It’s not about what you know, it’s about how quickly and effectively you can learn what you need to know. It’s not about being the expert, it’s about being the person who can become expert in whatever the situation requires.
This distinction became crucial during the AI revolution. I watched some of the most technically skilled engineers struggle because their competence was tied to specific technologies that were becoming obsolete. Meanwhile, engineers who focused on learning capacity rather than accumulated knowledge adapted quickly and thrived.
The difference wasn’t intelligence or experience. It was approach. The first group thought competence meant having answers. The second group understood that competence meant being able to find answers.
Competence as adaptation capacity: In rapidly changing environments, the most valuable competence is the ability to develop new competencies quickly. This requires what the Greeks called mathesis, the love of learning for its own sake, not just for what it can get you.
I’ve built my entire career on this principle. Instead of trying to become the world’s expert in one area, I focused on becoming excellent at learning new areas quickly. This meant I could adapt to new technologies, industries, and challenges without starting from zero each time.
The practice of competence: Arete-based competence requires deliberate practice focused on understanding rather than performance. Instead of optimizing for looking smart, you optimize for getting smarter. Instead of avoiding challenges that might expose weaknesses, you seek them out because they’re opportunities to grow.
3. Courage (Andreia): What You’re Willing to Face
Courage in the arete framework isn’t about fearlessness, it’s about the willingness to face reality and act according to your values even when it’s uncomfortable, risky, or unpopular.
The modern misunderstanding: We think courage means not being afraid. This creates a culture where people hide their fears, avoid difficult conversations, and make safe choices that compromise long-term excellence for short-term comfort.
The arete perspective: Courage means acting rightly despite fear, not without it. The courageous person feels the fear and acts anyway because they understand that avoiding reality is more dangerous than facing it.
I see this distinction everywhere in business. Leaders who avoid difficult conversations because they’re uncomfortable, teams that don’t challenge bad ideas because they don’t want conflict, organizations that ignore obvious problems because addressing them would be politically complicated.
Courage as competitive advantage: In uncertain environments, the willingness to face reality gives you a massive advantage over those who are avoiding it. While others are managing perceptions, you’re managing reality. While they’re protecting comfort, you’re building capacity.
Several years ago, I had to tell a client that their entire digital transformation strategy was fundamentally flawed. They’d invested millions of dollars and two years of effort based on assumptions that were no longer valid. The easy choice was to keep quiet and collect my consulting fees. The courageous choice was to risk the relationship by telling them the truth.
It was one of the most difficult conversations of my professional life. But it led to a complete strategic pivot that saved the company millions of dollars and positioned them for sustainable growth. More importantly, it established a level of trust that has made every subsequent engagement more effective.
The practice of courage: Arete-based courage is developed through progressively challenging yourself to face uncomfortable truths and act on them. Start small, have the conversation you’ve been avoiding, address the problem you’ve been ignoring, take the risk you’ve been calculating.
4. Consistency (Hexis): How You Show Up
Consistency in the arete framework isn’t about perfect performance, it’s about reliable character. It’s showing up as your best self regardless of circumstances, moods, or external pressures.
The modern misunderstanding: We think consistency means doing the same thing every day or maintaining perfect standards. This creates all-or-nothing thinking where small failures feel like complete breakdowns.
The arete perspective: Consistency means reliable commitment to your values and standards, not perfect execution of them. It’s about getting back to excellence quickly when you fall short, not never falling short.
The most successful people I know aren’t those who never make mistakes, they’re those who maintain their standards despite making mistakes. They have bad days, face setbacks, and encounter failures, but they don’t let temporary circumstances change their fundamental approach to excellence.
Consistency as compound interest: Small, consistent actions compound over time in ways that dramatic, inconsistent efforts never do. The person who writes 500 words every day will produce more and better work than the person who writes 5,000 words once a month.
I learned this lesson through my writing practice. For years, I tried to write in bursts, waiting for inspiration, clearing entire days for deep work, pushing through marathon sessions. The results were inconsistent and unsustainable.
Then I committed to writing every single day, even if it was just for fifteen minutes. The transformation was remarkable. Not just in output, but in quality. Daily practice developed capacity that occasional intense effort never could.
The practice of consistency: Arete-based consistency focuses on systems rather than goals. Instead of trying to achieve perfect performance, you build reliable practices that make excellent performance more likely. Instead of depending on motivation, you create structures that support your values regardless of how you feel.
The Integration Challenge
The power of arete comes from integrating all four dimensions simultaneously. Character without competence is admirable but ineffective. Competence without courage avoids the challenges where excellence matters most. Courage without consistency leads to heroic moments but unreliable performance. Consistency without character becomes mechanical optimization rather than human excellence.
This integration is what separates true excellence from performance theater.
I see this integration challenge everywhere in leadership development. Organizations invest heavily in skills training (competence) but ignore character development. They promote people based on results but don’t assess courage or consistency. They create systems that reward short-term performance but undermine long-term excellence.
The result is leaders who can execute but can’t inspire, teams that can deliver but can’t adapt, and organizations that can optimize but can’t transform.
The Daily Practice Framework
Integrating the four dimensions requires intentional daily practice. Here’s the framework I use and teach:
Morning Character Check-in (5 minutes):
- What values will guide my decisions today?
- Where might I be tempted to compromise integrity for convenience?
- How can I align my actions with my highest standards?
Competence Development Block (30-60 minutes):
- What am I learning that challenges my current understanding?
- How can I practice skills that matter for future challenges, not just current tasks?
- Where can I seek feedback that helps me grow rather than just confirms what I know?
Courage Practice (Throughout the day):
- What conversation am I avoiding that would serve the greater good?
- What truth am I not telling that needs to be heard?
- What risk am I not taking that would create better outcomes?
Consistency Review (Evening, 10 minutes):
- Did I show up as my best self today?
- Where did I fall short of my standards, and how can I get back on track tomorrow?
- What systems can I improve to make excellence more automatic?
The Business Application
Organizations that understand arete create cultures where excellence becomes natural rather than forced. They hire for character and train for competence. They reward courage and build systems that support consistency.
In hiring: Instead of just assessing skills and experience, they evaluate how candidates make decisions under pressure, how they handle failure, and whether they take responsibility for outcomes.
In development: Instead of just providing technical training, they create opportunities for people to practice courage, build character, and develop consistent excellence habits.
In leadership: Instead of just managing performance, they model the integration of character, competence, courage, and consistency in their own behavior.
In culture: Instead of just optimizing for results, they create environments where people can be excellent rather than just achieve excellence.
The Compound Effect of Being
When you shift from achieving excellence to being excellent, everything changes. Your relationship with pressure improves because your worth isn’t tied to outcomes. Your capacity for difficult decisions increases because you have internal standards that don’t waver. Your ability to inspire others grows because people are drawn to authentic excellence rather than performed success.
Most importantly, you become antifragile. Instead of being weakened by challenges, you’re strengthened by them because each difficulty becomes an opportunity to practice the four dimensions of arete.
The VP I mentioned at the beginning? Six months after our conversation, he made a fundamental shift. Instead of chasing the next promotion, he focused on becoming the type of leader he’d want to follow. Instead of optimizing for metrics, he started optimizing for character, competence, courage, and consistency.
The external results followed naturally. His team’s performance improved not because he pushed harder for results, but because he created an environment where excellence was natural. His reputation grew not because he marketed himself better, but because his authentic commitment to excellence attracted opportunities.
But more importantly, he found sustainable satisfaction in the work itself rather than just its rewards.
This is the promise of arete: when excellence becomes who you are rather than what you achieve, you stop chasing external validation and start creating internal fulfillment. You stop performing excellence and start embodying it.
The Challenge and the Invitation
Shifting from achievement-focused to being-focused excellence isn’t easy. It requires confronting some uncomfortable truths about how you’ve been approaching work and life. It means developing aspects of yourself that don’t show up on performance reviews. It means caring more about who you’re becoming than what you’re accumulating.
But it’s also liberating. When your excellence isn’t dependent on external circumstances, you become free to take bigger risks, face harder truths, and pursue more meaningful challenges. When your worth isn’t tied to your latest performance, you can focus on your long-term development rather than short-term optimization.
The invitation is simple but profound: Start with one dimension.
If character feels most important, begin each day by clarifying your values and committing to decisions that align with them. If competence calls to you, dedicate time to learning something that challenges your current understanding. If courage seems most necessary, identify one difficult conversation or decision you’ve been avoiding and act on it. If consistency feels most needed, choose one small practice and commit to it daily.
The Greeks understood that arete isn’t a destination, it’s a way of traveling. Every day offers new opportunities to practice character, develop competence, exercise courage, and build consistency. Every challenge becomes a chance to integrate these dimensions more fully.
Excellence isn’t something you achieve once and then possess. It’s something you become through thousands of small choices to be your best self regardless of circumstances.
The question isn’t whether you can achieve excellence. The question is whether you’re willing to become it.
Final Thoughts
The journey from achievement-focused to being-focused excellence isn’t one you have to take alone. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to sustain without the right environment, accountability, and systematic approach to development.
This is why I’ve been developing frameworks and systems that help people integrate the four dimensions of arete into their daily practice. Because understanding the philosophy is just the beginning, the real transformation happens when you have structures that support consistent application of these principles.
The ancient Greeks understood that excellence was cultivated in community, not isolation. They learned from mentors, practiced with peers, and held each other accountable to the highest standards. They created environments where arete wasn’t just an ideal, it was a way of life.
If you’re serious about making this shift from achieving excellence to being excellent, consider how you might create or join a community that supports this level of development. The frameworks exist. The principles are proven. What’s often missing is the systematic application and the accountability that turns knowledge into transformation.
This is exactly what we’re building at MasteryLab.co, a systematic approach to developing the four dimensions of arete through community, accountability, and proven frameworks. Because reading about excellence and becoming excellent are two very different things.
Excellence as a way of being isn’t just a personal philosophy, it’s a competitive advantage that compounds over time. The question is whether you’re ready to invest in developing it with the same intentionality you’d bring to any other crucial business skill.
What would change in your work and life if you focused on being excellent rather than achieving excellence? Which of the four dimensions, character, competence, courage, or consistency, do you find most challenging to develop? How might your organization transform if it optimized for arete rather than just results?
