by Paul Anovick
Recently I had the honor of being a guest at a reunion of retired West Point Army officers. Leadership lessons, from the military, have always been central to my thinking on this topic. Sun Tzu wrote the "Art of War" 5000 years ago, yet his concepts remain relevant today. The extreme conditions of war make for a testing ground of leadership and management skills that every CEO and leader should heed and understand. One West Point General spoke with me about his five core strategies of leadership. The following is my interpretation of what he shared.
1. Unexpected Audacity: Everyone expects you to attack just before dawn, so this General would attack at 11:30 PM-no one did that. Last year Apple launched a product that did not exist in the marketplace, the iPad. No market research indicated a need for such a product, nor did the tablet category (which is now the fastest growing for all computers) even exist. As of today, Apple has sold over 27 million iPads and the company has increased its market cap by $100 billion dollars. Audacious? You bet. Unexpected? Competitors are just now coming to market a year later.
2. Courage: Over the past several years we have faced one of the worst economic downturns in the past 100 years. As a nation, we're experiencing massive disruptions on a global scale and ongoing battles with the "War on Terrorism." To me, courage is the ability to do what you believe is the right thing in the face of daunting obstacles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but your ability to move forward for something more important.
3. Walk the Talk: People listen to what you say, however, more importantly they watch what you do. If you don't think you look good on a horse, you will never be able to lead the Calvary. You must be consistent and live your message; it is not enough to just speak the words.
4. Humor: Take your mission serious; take the task serious, but not yourself. Be humble and be able to laugh with the troops and at yourself. By connecting and being open enough to be real, people will follow you wherever you lead. When President Reagan was shot in 1981 he was rushed to GW Hospital and taken into the ER it was a very tense and frightening time. As the Doctors stood and began to determine the seriousness of his wounds the President looked at all the Doctors and said, "I hope you are all Republicans". Reagan's ability to use humor became one of his defining strengths.
5. Persistence: "Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense," Winston Churchill. The ability to stay the course can change history. Sir Winston said the above when England was under relentless attack at the beginning of WWII. His indefatigable nature no doubt saved civilization, as we know it; without his resolve the world would have been a very different place. If you believe and are focused on your purpose, stay the course and you will eventually succeed.
Today's leaders in industry are under extreme time pressure, faced with complex, high-stakes conversations across functional areas and divisions. The business and military contexts may be different, but the challenges are similar. We can learn from what the military has been up against for hundreds of years.
Coach Anovick, Developing Potential, Producing Results, 201.445.2822
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