The 50th Law (17 page)

We moderns believe we have moved far beyond our primitive, tribal origins. After all, we live in a secular, rational world. A leader today needs to possess certain technical and managerial skills. But three thousand years of civilization have not altered human nature, and in fact the endless difficulties that plagued such leaders as Moses have become only more acute. Whereas before we humans might think first of the tribe, we now think primarily of ourselves, our careers, and our narrow interests. Office politics is the extreme endpoint of this trend.

We are now more distracted than ever, with thousands of bits of information competing for our attention in the course of a day. This makes us less patient and capable of seeing the larger picture. If we were being led out of slavery, we would not be able to focus on the Promised Land for more than a few minutes. We are much more skeptical when it comes to those in authority. We still feel the ancient ambivalence towards rulers; instead of sacrificing them, we feed them to the press and secretly gloat in their downfall. To be a leader now means overcoming these aspects of human nature while still seeming to be fair and decent—an almost impossible task.

At the same time, however, people feel this division and selfishness as a depressing phenomenon. They desperately want to believe in a cause, to work for the greater good, to follow a leader who imbues them with a sense of purpose. They are more than receptive to the kind of quasi-religious leadership that Moses embodies. As the one on top, you must rid yourself of your modern prejudices, your fetishism of technical means. To be a leader still means that you are playing a role, out in front, fearlessly driving the group forward. If you fail to unify the group around some glorious cause, some equivalent of the Promised Land, then you will find that you are having to push and pull your followers, who are constantly splitting up into factions. Instead you must assume a prophetic air, as if you were merely chosen to lead them towards some higher goal. You are compelling them to follow on their own, making less a show of personal power and more a demonstration of the cause that unites them all. This will give you the proper authority to lead and an aura of power.

To master the art of leadership you must see yourself as playing certain parts that will impress your disciples and make them more likely to follow you with the necessary enthusiasm. The following are the four main roles you must learn to perform.

THE VISIONARY

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Thomas Alva Edison was seen as America’s preeminent inventor and scientist. His research labs were the source of some of the most important technological breakthroughs of the time. But the truth is that Edison himself had only a few months of formal education and was not really a scientist at all. Instead he was a mix of visionary, strategist, and shrewd businessman.

His method was simple: he scoured the globe, looking at all of the latest advances in science and technology. With his understanding of business and the latest social trends, he thought long and hard about how some of these advances could be translated into products with great commercial appeal, that could transform how people lived—electricity lighting up cities, improved telephones altering the course of commerce, motion pictures entertaining the masses. He would then hire the best minds in these fields to bring to life his ideas. Every product that came through his lab was inevitably stamped with Edison’s particular vision and sense of marketing.

Understand: a group of any size must have goals and long-term objectives to function properly. But human nature serves as a great impediment to this. We are naturally consumed by immediate battles and problems; we find it very difficult, if not unnatural, to focus with any depth on the future. Thinking ahead requires a particular thought process that comes with practice. It means seeing something practical and achievable several years down the road, and mapping out how this goal can be achieved. It means thinking in branches, coming up with several paths to get there, depending on circumstances. It means being emotionally attached to this idea, so that when a thousand distractions and interruptions seem to push you off course, you have the strength and purpose to keep at it.

Without one person on top who charts the way to this larger goal, the group will wander here and there, grasping at schemes for quick money, or be moved by the narrow political aspirations of one member or another. It will never accomplish anything great. You as the leader are the only bulwark against this endless wandering. You must have the strength to stamp the group with your own personality and vision, giving it a core and an identity. If you lose sight of the larger picture, then only bad things will ensue.

You must play this visionary role with some dramatic flair, like Edison who was a consummate performer and promoter. He would give dazzling presentations of his ideas, and stage events to get on the front page of newspapers. Like Moses describing the Promised Land, he could paint an alluring picture of the future that his inventions would help create. This drew in money from investors and inspired his researchers to work even harder. Your own level of excitement and self-belief will convince people that you know where you are going and should be followed.

THE UNIFIER

When Louis XIV began ruling France in 1661, he inherited an almost impossible situation. The feudal dukes and lords of France maintained tight control over their various realms. Recent ministers such as the Duke de Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin had made most of the important decisions that lay outside the control of the lords. The king had been mostly a figurehead, presiding over a deeply fractured country whose power in Europe had been on the decline for quite some time.

Louis was determined to reverse all of this, and his method was powerful and dramatic. At first he kept his intentions to himself, and then suddenly he announced to one and all that he would not appoint a minister to run the country—from now on that would be his task. Next, he ordered the aristocracy to take up residence in the palace of Versailles that he had recently constructed. The closer they lived to him in the palace, the more influence they would have; if they remained in their duchies, to conspire against him, they would find themselves isolated from the new center of power he had created.

His most brilliant maneuver, however, was the most subtle one of all. He created a cause for the French people to believe in—the greatness and glory of France itself, which had as its mission to be the center of civilization and refinement, the model for all of Europe. For this purpose, he led the country into various wars to extend France’s political might. He became the preeminent patron of the arts, making France the cultural envy of Europe. He created impressive spectacles to delight and distract the public from his power moves. The nobility were not fighting for Louis but for the greatness of the nation. In this way, he transformed a deeply divided, almost chaotic country into the supreme power of Europe.

Understand: the natural dynamic of any group is to splinter into factions. People want to protect and promote their narrow interests, so they form political alliances from within. If you force them to unite under your leadership, stamping out their factions, you may take control but it will come with great resentment—they will naturally suspect you are increasing your power at their expense. If you do nothing, you will find yourself surrounded by lords and dukes who will make your job impossible.

A group needs a centripetal force to give it unity and cohesion but it is not enough to have that be you and the force of your personality. Instead it should be a cause that you fearlessly embody. This could be political, ethical, or progressive—you are working to improve the lives of people in your community, for instance. This cause elevates your group above others. It has a quasi-religious aura to it, a kind of cult feeling. Now, to fight or doubt you from within is to stand against this cause and seem selfish. The group, infused with this belief system, will tend to police itself and root out troublemakers. To play this role effectively, you must be a living example of this cause, much as Louis exemplified the civilizing power of France in his own carefully crafted behavior.

THE ROLE MODEL

You cannot control a large group on your own. You will turn into a micromanager or dictator, making yourself exhausted and hated. You need to develop a team of lieutenants who are infused with your ideas, your spirit, and your values. Once you have such a team, you can give them latitude to operate on their own, learning for themselves and bringing their own creativity to the cause.

This is the system that Napoleon Bonaparte initiated and has since been imitated by the greatest generals of the modern era. He would give his field marshals a clear sense of the goals for a particular campaign or battle, what has become known as the “mission statement.” They were then empowered to reach those goals on their own, in their own way. All that mattered were the results. The idea behind it is that those who are fighting on the ground often have a better sense of what needs to be done in the here and now; they have more information at their fingertips than the leader. With a degree of trust in their decisions, they can operate fast and feel more engaged in the execution of the war. This revolutionary system allowed Napoleon’s army to move with greater speed and to cultivate a team of highly experienced and brilliant field marshals. And it took great courage on his part to trust in them and not try to control everything on the battlefield.

Operating with a mission statement is an effective way of softening your image and disguising the extent of your power. You are seen as more than just a leader; you are a role model, instructing, energizing, and inspiring your lieutenants. In crafting this team, look for people who share your values and are open to learning. Do not be seduced by a glittering résumé. You want them near you, to absorb your spirit and ways of doing things. Once you feel they have the proper training, you must not be afraid to let go of the reins and give them more independence. In the end, this will save you much energy and allow you to continue focusing on the greater strategic picture.

THE BOLD KNIGHT

Every group has a kind of collective energy, and on its own this will tend towards inertia. This comes from people’s powerful desires to keep things comfortable, easy, and familiar. Over time, in any group, conventions and protocol will assume greater importance and govern people’s behavior. The larger the group, the more conservative it will tend to become, and the greater this force of inertia. The paradox is that this defensive, passive posture has a depressing effect on morale, much like sitting in one place for too long will lower your spirits.

More than likely you rose to the top by virtue of your boldness and desperate desire to get ahead. You took risks that made you rise to the occasion with all of your energy and creativity, and this fearless spirit attracted positive attention. The group inertia will naturally tend to tamp all of that down and neutralize the source of your power.

Since you are the leader, you are the one who can alter this and set a pace that is more alive and active. You remain the bold and enterprising knight. You force yourself to initiate new projects and domains to conquer; you take proactive measures against possible dangers on the horizon; you seize the initiative against your rivals. You keep your group marching and on the offensive. This will excite them and give them a feeling of movement. You are not taking unnecessary risks, but simply adding a dash of aggression to your normally staid group. They become used to seeing you out in front and grow addicted to the excitement you bring with each new campaign.

Reversal of Perspective

We live in times of great mistrust of any form of authority. Some of this springs from envy of those who have power and have achieved something. Some of it comes from experiences with people who abuse their position of power to get their way. In any event, such distrust makes it harder and harder to be a strong and effective leader. Under the sway of this leveling force, you yourself might be tempted to act with less authority, to be more like everyone else, or to make yourself likable. This will only make your job that much harder. Instead it is better that you see the whole concept of authority in a different light.

The word “authority” comes from the Latin root
autore
, meaning author—a person who creates something new. This could be a work of art, a new way of operating in the world, or new values. The health of any society depends on those who infuse it with such innovations. These works or actions by individuals give them credibility and authority to do more. The great Roman general Scipio Africanus the Elder invented a whole new style of warfare in the campaign against Hannibal that was tremendously successful. This gave him the authority to lead the campaign itself, and later to launch a political career. For the Romans, if you simply acted as if your position entitled you to certain powers, you lost your authority. You were no longer an author, a contributor, but a passive consumer of power.

As a leader this is how you must view yourself as well. You are an author creating a new order, writing a new act in some drama. You never rest on your laurels or past achievements. Instead you are constantly taking action that moves the group forward and brings positive results; that record speaks for itself. Despite the spirit of the times, people have a secret yearning to be guided by a firm hand, by someone who knows where they are going. It is distressful to always feel distracted and wandering. The members of your group will give you the respect and authority you require if you earn it as an author and creator. In the end, if people mistrust and resist your authority, you really have only yourself to blame.

A DISTINGUISHED COMMANDER WITHOUT BOLDNESS IS UNTHINKABLE. NO MAN WHO IS NOT…BOLD CAN PLAY SUCH A ROLE, AND THEREFORE WE CONSIDER THIS QUALITY THE FIRST PREREQUISITE OF THE GREAT MILITARY LEADER. HOW MUCH OF THIS QUALITY REMAINS BY THE TIME HE REACHES SENIOR RANK, AFTER TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE HAVE AFFECTED AND MODIFIED IT, IS ANOTHER QUESTION. THE GREATER THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT IS RETAINED, THE GREATER THE RANGE OF HIS GENIUS.