The Art of War: Drawing Parallels Between Leadership And The Battlefield
It can help you too
Business leaders aren’t new to the ideas of strategy and decision-making. They are concepts from the military but have become prevalent in the world of business.
Come to think of it; are we not all in some kind of business? From the housewife who works remotely from home to the writer trying to serve their clients with top-notch content and the C-suite executive who runs a multinational corporation.
It’s obvious we’re in some kind of business and these involve making decisions.
After reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese book about military strategy. I discovered why the book is highly recommended in many leadership circles as a must-read for executives.
Some think Napoleon the Great was successful in his early fights because he used tricks from this book.
There are numerous ideas on strategy and tactics in the pithy book that today’s leaders can use to improve their businesses:
These are the seven I got from reading the book:
1. Know and master your environment
Without mastery of your environment in any venture whether in the military or in business, you’re a loser. A good idea of the terrain is as good as a masterful knowledge of the dynamics in the markets.
2. Adapting easily to changes
Adaptability is key to a winning strategy. Being able to survive in both favourable and harsh conditions is essential to winning.
This is also a natural phenomenon. Animals try to adapt as the conditions change in the environment.
3. knowing your team well
As a team leader knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each team member is important.
This will enable you to assign tasks based on the strength of your people so you can achieve complementary advantage. The military does this with its army.
4. Lead by example
As the leader you don’t only talk the talk, you also walk the talk. Credibility is lost through armchair criticism. Show the people what to do and don’t just bark orders at them. Good leaders just tell, they show the people what to do.
5. Exploit weaknesses in the enemy
There is always a weakness in the enemy. The adversaries in your business are the competitors and you must identify the unique advantages you have over them.
This is what you propose to your customers as an edge for you to win the market. The military uses these tactics too.
6. Always Assess the risks
For any move that you make, there are always consequences. So, ensure to assess your courses of action properly before you make any move so, you minimize your losses.
In the army, the casualties may be many lives, and in business, this could be huge sums of money.
7. Planning and preparedness
Planning and preparation can never be enough. A battle of one day can take up to five years in planning and preparation. The military should always be battle-ready. Even when they’re not in the warfont the brigadier is always planning for the next move. Business leaders should be planning for the next moves-it may be market expansion, new product launches, acquisitions, and mergers to achieve a competitive advantage, hiring, training, and onboarding new hires. There is always something to plan and prepare for.
Now, I’m sure you’re no longer puzzled as to why a war book is relevant to leadership and management. In some big companies, work feels a bit like a battlefield. But this book isn’t teaching how to throw punches. It’s more like a guide to smart planning and being prudent.
This book, said to be written in the 6th century B.C is still relevant to this day: it’s a great book about leadership. If the principles are used skillfully by leaders they will subdue the enemy's troops without any fighting; capture their cities without laying siege to them; and overthrow their kingdom without lengthy operations on the battlefield. Likewise, those leaders in the world of business will easily manoeuvre their competition and win the businesses.
All the best of luck to them.
See you next time.
Emmanuel
