9 Lessons I Learned from History

I have found no better teacher in the area of leadership than history. Often dismissed by many a high schooler, history offers an unimaginable resource for any young person trying to get ahead. History is a blueprint for success. NFL QBs watch tape. Chess masters study matches. I read history.

We have, at our fingertips, an unbelievable database of human experience: a library of decisions and their consequences. We can dive in and watch young Churchill make a career ending misjudgement in WWI, only to recover to save the Allied cause in WWII. We can chart Napoleon’s climb to power, his fall, his return, his defeat. One has to only pick up a book and open their eyes to power history has to shape out own decisions, and soon the successes and defeats of the past become meaningful lessons in daily life.

It is my intention to dedicate this site to this subject. From my readings, I have distilled 9 Lessons on Leadership that, if followed, will provide the skeleton for a successful life. Before I get to the Lessons, let me list a few assumptions about my relationship with history and these Lessons.

These are Lessons, not Rules. Lessons have some complexity to them, and are not rigid. These are lenses for exploration, not commandments.

Cultivated image is just as useful as the truth. Most of our ancestors who are “study-able” are so because they are well documented. Letters, articles, commentary, diaries — these are the artifacts that allow us to paint the portrait of our past. They are also imperfect. Individuals carefully crafted their personae. Washington, for example, hired a group of poets and lawyers to edit his letters after the Revolutionary War. But, just because much of the documents we work off of are put through filters (both positive and negative), that doesn’t mean they aren’t useful. Public image goes a long way in the area of leadership.

History wasn’t pretty. No conversation about history today seems to be complete without commentary on the inconsistencies of some of histories greatest figures. Jefferson owned slaves, it was hypocritical, I get it, the truth is: he got that too. Letting flaws overshadow accomplishments is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We can talk about both.

History should be repeated. The old adage: “those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” is somewhat incomplete. It should read as follows: Those who fail to learn from history will be doomed to repeat its failures; Those who learn from history will repeat its successes.” The lessons of the successful battles, civil rights movements, and the other hardships overcome are easily translatable to present day.

The world changes, people don’t. Some would argue that history is irrelevant in the global, digital age. However, any armchair student of history knows otherwise the moment we pick up Thucydides or Shakespeare and see ourselves on the page.

OK. Without further ado, here are the 9 lessons I will be elaborating on moving forward.

1. You are Probably Just Lazy
2. Be Friends with Old People
3. Keep Your Penis in Your Pants (KYPYP)
4. Fight (Dirty)
5. It is Probably Better to Be a Banker
6. It’s Good to Be Uncomfortable
7. Read a Book
8. Tell Good Stories, Especially About Yourself
9. Fail hard. Bounce Back

Check back as I dig deeper into these lessons, historical figures, and tackle the thorny questions about leadership, ambition, and failure.