Leadership tips for your start-up from GOT
We all need leaders, people we can look up to for guidance and council and set us on the right path to victory. You will find that we have people leading us in all walks of like for example, heads of state like the President or Prime Minister of a country or the principal in a school or the CEO of an organization.
We humans start off in life with our parents or guardians as leaders, who show us right from wrong and mould us into being independent human beings who can look after themselves. There are several other leaders who shape our lives throughout like teachers, mentors, bosses and sometimes even our friends. We might not acknowledge several of these people as leaders, but we do seek them out unconsciously to help keep us safe, to provide guidance, to help with our self-esteem and achieve success in life. Leaders are not something that is imposed on people, it’s an innate part of us humans which help us seek out people who can guide, counsel and steer us into the right path for us.
In a start-up, the leader, who is usually the CEO, is the one who is responsible for helping the employees in achieving the company’s vision. It’s a lot like Game of Thrones, you need to strive to win or you’ll get trampled to death along the way!
“When you play the game of thrones, you win, or you die. There is no middle ground.” — Cersei Lannister
Truer words were never said! As mentioned before, the same goes for start-ups too. In the race to achieve the endgame, which is your most desired measure of success, you need to play to win. The middle ground or grey area will get you nowhere. As a leader, you need to have all the qualities which can lead your team towards this endgame.
And what better place to look for leaders than in Game of Thrones! The series is chock full of characters who drive home some very hard to digest lessons. While the characters in the George R.R Martin books might live in a medieval world, the qualities which set apart a good leader form a bad one remains the same in today’s age too. Well, winter is coming and with it the Night King and his Army of the dead, yet the Westeros populace still seems to be in a pit of chaos with the leaders fighting for supremacy! If your start-up is in a similar kind of soupy mess like Westeros, you’re in for a hard winter!
Our list is made up of characters who currently hold or held leadership roles in the series, other characters who currently operate under the “lone wolf” modus operandi, but still, exhibit strong leadership skills aren’t included. Sorry Arya, please don’t cook me into a pie! Let’s look at these characters and see what makes them a good or bad leader and what you can learn from them!
Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark
Ned Stark is an effective leader who is known to be honourable and just. He does not shy away from performing his duty, however unpleasant it might be. He also expects people to keep to the very high standards that he himself keeps to. He believes in taking responsibility and inspires people to do the same. And most importantly, Ned Stark means what he says, and his actions reflect that.
However, his one flaw is that he trusts people too much and hard-headed when it comes to decisions. He also believes that everyone will play fair as he does. This gullibility and hard-headedness ended costing him his own head! So, to sum it up, Ned is an excellent leader, but he didn’t have a proper head for politics.
My advice: If you’re a Ned Stark kinda leader, keep a cool head if you don’t want to end up dead. So, play it right, but play it smart!
Robb Stark
Robb is a lot like his father Ned, he proved himself by winning wars at a young age. He was sound tactician when it came to winning wars, but strategizing, however, turned out to be his weak point. He appeared blind to the changing environment and couldn’t adapt or change accordingly, so he ended up disregarding well-meaning advice from his counsellors and leading blindly. In the end, all this and a personal choice led to his death.
My advice: Tywin Lannister once said, “A wise young king listens to his counsellors and heeds their advice until he comes of age. And the wisest kings continue to listen to them long afterwards.” A leader must be aware of what he knows and what he doesn’t. Relying on others doesn’t undermine your leadership, so it’s wiser to surround yourself with people who know more than you and listen to them. So, listen to your mummy (or your counsellors), don’t be a dummy!
Jon Snow
Leading an army is well and good but leading the charge to possibly your own death and your followers too is just stupid, not brave! But other than this piece of foolhardiness he’s a pretty solid guy. He has all the qualities that a good ruler needs like compassion, honesty, bravery and the ability to listen to his peers. He is also wise and just. The most important character that makes him a good leader is that he doesn’t coerce his people, instead, he works towards earning his people’s trust and then guides them into action by motivating them.
Furthermore, while he does listen to and considers others counsel, he doesn’t shy away from making his own decisions. When Jon makes a decision that he feels is correct, he stands by it, even if the council or others are against it.
My advice: If you’re a Jon Snow kind of leader, you will take your start-up through the finish line. The only thing you should avoid is the kind of foolhardiness John did when he first faced Ramsay’s army. Honour and bravery are all wonderful things, but they do have their pitfalls as Ned Stark can tell you, so if you can avoid that, you’ll have a stellar career as a leader.
Tywin Lannister
Tywin Lannister was a brilliant tactician who was feared and respected among the people of Westeros. However, that doesn’t make him a good leader. The Lannister patriarch is one smart cookie and is also one of the richest and savviest men in Westeros. But the savvy leader is also a bigot, he brought about his own downfall because of his refusal to recognize the brilliance of his youngest son, Tyrion Lannister.
He holds Tyrion in contempt for being a little person whose mother died giving birth to him. Blaming his youngest son for something he couldn’t control and ignoring his other children’s faults show that he’s blind to reason. He is also a power hungry, selfish and manipulative person who only cares about having his family hold all the power.
My advice: History has proved time and again that a brutal leader will not rule for long, however much they are respected or feared. So, if you have Tywin-like characteristics, change your attitude or find a therapist.
Cersei Lannister
If there is a list of all characteristics that are completely wrong in a leader, you’ll find that Cersei Lannister ticks all the boxes in the list. She is vain, self-centred, cruel and blind to any faults in herself and her children. But her biggest fault is that she never learns from her errors. She is an autocratic leader who doesn’t care for the advice of others and trusts no one. She believes in ruling people by getting them to fear her rather than inspiring them to follow her. The narcissistic queen of Westeros does not think about long term goals or about her subjects. All action that she has undertaken has been to achieve a short-term goal, which is mostly eliminating an enemy without pause to think about the long-term effects of her actions, having Ned Stark beheaded for example.
And her biggest fault, which in the end might in her downfall, is her hatred for her brother Tyrion. In her hatred and arrogance, she failed to understand that Tyrion Lannister is one of the wisest of men in all of Westeros. Her father’s and her derision drove Tyrion to Daenerys Targaryen’s side. In addition to this, her refusal to keep to her promise to Jon Snow and Daenerys drove her last supporter, Jaime from her side. Cersei is set to fail as a leader because a leader knows and understands their weakness and tries to turn them into strengths by acknowledging and addressing them. Far from acknowledging and addressing these weaknesses, Cersei doesn’t know they exist in the first place!
My advice: My advice to the Cersei in you is the same that I would offer to her father, change your attitude or find a therapist, getting the subjects (employees) to fear you won’t last long.
Joffrey
Exactly like his mother, Joffrey doesn’t have an ounce of leadership skills in him. In fact, he doesn’t even have basic humanity in him. A leader like Joffrey enjoys chaos, there is no consideration for others. According to them, all others are lesser beings and exist only for their personal amusement. As we see on the show, he is a cruel person who can neither manage well nor lead effectively. Like his mother, he too doesn’t care for the advice and counsel of others.
If your company’s leader is a person like Joffrey Lannister, you might want to find a new workplace. Or else, you’re going to end up as collateral damage, because with a Joffrey-like person at the helm your start-up will eventually fail. So, unless you want front row seats to the slow-motion car crash, which will be the start-up and with it your career, you need to find another job!
My advice: If you see some symptoms, which show that you and Joffrey have similar personalities, the last thing you should do is take up a leadership role in a start-up, unless you have a Tyrion Lannister to help you out of sticky situations. Maybe not even then!
Tyrion Lannister
Sometimes the most brilliant of us are the most unappreciated ones too. In Tyrion Lannister’s case, sadly, it wasn’t just outsiders who didn’t appreciate him and cast him aside, his own family were the same too. People couldn’t see the intelligence in him, they only saw his short stature and judged him wrongly. What he lacks in physical strength and stature he makes up for with his razor-sharp wit and intelligence.
While the rest of the world perceives his shortcomings as his weakness, he doesn’t, he believes in making it his strength.
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”- Tyrion Lannister
Tyrion Lannister is a very smart yet moral person, unlike his family, whose morals are unquestionably vacant. Tyrion has proven himself to be a master strategist in both politics and war. As a business leader, he’ll be nimble and able to pivot and adapt according to the requirements of the business. Additionally, a Tyrion-like person knows how to communicate well and build relationships, so a business under their leadership not only will succeed but thrive as well.
My advice: There’s not much in the way of advice you can give to one of the wisest men in all of Westeros, however, he too has his flaws. If you’re exactly like Tyrion, you probably like to live it up at a party with some excessive drinking involved, this could you get you in some sticky situations, so knowing when to stop would be a big plus to all that wisdom.
Daenerys Targaryen
The Mother of Dragons has had quite a tough life, an exiled woman who was initially sold as a bride and then widowed but chose to be reborn instead of giving up. She chose to fulfil her dream of claiming the Iron Throne, which she believes is her birthright. She is an honest and compassionate leader, who also knows to punish the wrong. She stands by her convictions, yet she also pays attention to her advisors’ counsel. Her greatest strength is that she knows her worth and doesn’t underestimate herself. She inspires loyalty among her people by being loyal to those beneath her, as a proper leader should.
A leader who understands the employee concerns is equally important as understanding and adhering to client needs and requirements. More than anything else, Daenerys’s advantage lies in the fact that she is not prejudiced towards people, she doesn’t judge them by their birth but by their talent. She has surrounded herself with a motley assortment of excellent advisors who are extremely loyal to her.
My advice: If you’re a Daenerys Targaryen kind of leader, you are highly ambitious and crave power, but power corrupts too. So, you need to make decisions with good intent and have a solid moral grounding to avoid the pitfalls of power.
Stannis Baratheon
Stannis Baratheon wanted the Iron Throne for himself after his brother, Robert Baratheon died. He is led to believe that it is God’s will and destiny for him to sit on the Iron Throne and rule all of Westeros. While he is not exactly a cruel person, he is easily influenced. So, with the influence of others, he performs heinous acts like killing his brother and burning his own daughter at the stake, all because Melisandre tells him to do it!
While Stannis might appear to be a spineless character who cannot lead without help from the occult, he is a decent enough leader, who can inspire and lead when necessary. But he is also single-minded and merciless when it comes to achieving his purpose and mission, which is his pursuit of power.
My advice: If you think you have Stannis-like characteristics, you have very little bend, meaning you cannot differentiate between what you believe and what you know to be true. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise might find themselves eliminated. So, you cannot go purely on personal convictions, you must learn to draw a line. Look to other experts and listen to their advice, or you’ll end up destroying your team and your business.
Mance Rayder
Any man, who can unify all 90 clans of the Free Folk and inspire several thousands of wildlings to stay together without tearing each other apart is praiseworthy indeed. And Mance Rayder is more than just the King beyond the Wall, he is also a feared opponent of the Night’s watch, where he earlier served as a ranger.
Mance, who was chosen by the Free folk as their leader is a charismatic, calm, and determined man. He has exceptional communication and social skills, which helped him in uniting all the various wildling clans. The leader of wildlings is also an honest person with a stern persona and trusts people easily. He claims that his trusting nature is a weakness and we see that when he trusts that Jon Snow has defected from the Night’s Watch. And even when he finds his trust has been betrayed, he keeps calm and stays level-headed without bursting into fits of anger. He also stays true to his convictions, even though it led to his imminent death.
My advice: A person like Mance Rayder, who can stay calm and level headed in all kinds of situations and always stays true to his convictions, is the perfect person to lead a company. A leader who is like Mance is not prejudiced and will not discriminate between their employees. The only bit of advice I would give to such a person is that they extend trust with some caution so that they don’t get exploited.
Conclusion
A lot of the leaders in Westeros aren’t people that I would want to work with personally. However, unfortunately for us, these types do exist in the real world and we must deal with them whether we like it or not.
The best leaders, whether they’re the CEO of a company or the King of Westeros, surround themselves with people wiser than they are, and listen to them. Great power is a brutal business and needs a person who will handle it with great responsibility, or the very same power can corrupt a person and they might end up paying a very high price.
A good leader recognizes and addresses their weaknesses and turns them into strengths, but to do this you must know they exist in the first place. Understand your strengths, and then focus on what you are good at, this will help in further developing your skills to become a more effective leader.
Often, leaders make decisions for other people without considering how their decision impacts others. But as a leader, you need to make decisions for the good of all and not only for yourself. However, while a leader must listen to their advisors, you also should know to stand firm in your convictions. You cannot afford to doubt your own choices, the personal choices of others do not matter, as a leader only your choices matter. And the most important part is knowledge. Knowledge gives you real power and respect. Moreover, a knowledgeable leader can easily inspire trust among their people.
Beyond all this, Game of Thrones teaches us one of the most important lessons in being a leader. It shows that those willing to make great personal sacrifices make the best leaders, and those who don’t fail.
So what kind of leader are you?
Images via Google
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