Sun Tzu on Leadership - Part 6 of 6
“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon the as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Leadership - Not Just Management
As a business owner or manager, how do you motivate your troops? Do you manage employees by budgeting, controlling and staffing, or do you lead by setting a direction, aligning people and motivating? George Ambler over at The Practice of Leadership explains the difference extremely well:
- The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
- The manager administers; the leader innovates.
- The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.
There’s plenty more where those came from at the above link, be sure to take a look.
John Kotter does a fantastic job describing the difference between management and leadership in an article he wrote for the Harvard Business Review. He drives the point home with a military analogy:
A peacetime army can usually survive with good administration and management up and down the hierarchy, occupied with good leadership concentrated at the very top. A wartime army, however, needs competent leadership at all levels. No one yet has figured out how to manage people effectively into battle; they must be led.
Take Braveheart, for example (yes, I’m seriously going to reference Braveheart in a quasi-academic setting). William Wallace was a leader who knew how to motivate troops to tackle insurmountable odds. Of course, the thing about insurmountable odds is they’re really tough to… surmount. As a business owner, the trick is to motivate and inspire your employees toward a goal that isn’t doomed to fail from the beginning (see my previous post on choosing the path of least resistance).
Inspire, Lead by Example
So how was William Wallace so effective as a leader? There were three main reasons:
- He was extremely passionate and believed in the cause
- He led by example and never asked a subordinate to do something he wouldn’t do himself
- There was a clear benefit to following his lead (in this case, the chance of winning their freedom)
Here’s another story that really illustrates the techniques of leadership. A commentary on The Art of War, written by Tu Mu, shows how a famous general, Wu Ch’i, inspired his troops:
He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the meanest of his soldiers… and shared every hardship with his men. One of his soldiers was suffering from an abscess, and Wu Ch`i himself sucked out the virus. The soldier’s mother, hearing this, began wailing and lamenting. Somebody asked her, saying: ‘Why do you cry? Your son is only a common soldier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.’ The woman replied, ‘Many years ago, Lord Wu performed a similar service for my husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands of the enemy. And now that he has done the same for my son, he too will fall fighting I know not where.’
Again, this is probably an example you probably won’t (and shouldn’t) encounter in your own life. There are probably better techniques for removing poison these days, but there’s no question that it would inspire loyalty. Lord Wu lived among his troops, fought beside them, and would do anything to protect them. No wonder they were willing to dedicate their lives to his service.
By comparison, you’ve got it easy. If you’re an entrepreneur like me, your passion should be obvious. Share your passion and your vision with your employees. Include them in that vision. Show them how they’re an integral part of reaching the goal, and let them know that they will be rewarded for their part.
How do you (or should you) inspire your troops? Drop me a comment with your thoughts, and while you’re at it, subscribe to this blog.
[…] Sun Tzu on Leadership - Part 6 of 6 […]
April 9th, 2008 at 4:42 pm