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Written by: Niraj Ranjan Rout | Hiver
Military leaders like Julius Caesar have led their legions to victory time and again. Not only have they been victorious in battles through brilliant strategy, but these leaders have redefined the meaning of leadership from an archaical definition like monarchy and aristocracy to a modern definition which we follow in our business and corporate world.
Here are a few lessons I learnt from the great men like Julius Caesar.
1. Always put yourself first in the line of fire.
You must have had that team leader, who, once promoted to Team Manager starts dumping all the unpleasant and risk prone tasks on to you and a lot of times even blames! Don’t learn by that example.
Walking willingly into a problem is one of the key parts of the responsibility a leader holds.
Caesar always took accountability for the failures, instead of shifting the blame onto someone else. When something goes wrong you must make sure that your client is looking to you, rather than your team member/employee.
At Hiver, if for example there is a lapse in service, I make sure to get on the email thread and resolve the issue for the client, instead of sitting back and letting my employees bear the brunt.
This article gives you five noteworthy reasons to put yourself in the line of fire.
Takeaway: A great business leader voluntarily steps in to shoulder the unpleasant tasks and lifts that burden of their subordinates.
2. Action should be the only way to preach.
The oldest lesson in the book, and yet the most powerful one.
Leaders like Caesar were men who didn’t abuse their power by skulking backstage and coming forward to just enjoy the spoils of victories. They stood in the forefront of the battles and faced every challenge, problem and failure head on , along with their men.
One simple example, if you expect your team members to work on an issue after work hours and you get ready to go home on the dot, I am pretty sure that they will see you as a tyrant and not as a leader!
Takeaway: True leaders set standards for everyone by setting standards for themselves first.
Business leaders too, should embody this.
3. Strategy, and not skills, brings wins.
Caesar knew that using a short dagger (gladius) against long heavy swords will slow his enemies down – is the right battle strategy.
And during his reign he proves over and over again that to win you need strategy and innovation. A fact that famous business leaders and thinkers stand by today.
Steve Jobs too, knew that the only way he could create differentiation for Apple is by out-looking the chunky, bulky containers they called computers back then. Now, Apple embodies both creativity and efficiency.
Takeaway: The only way you can have the maximum impact you are capable of is by using your skill with strategy.
4. Win the work force, not the board members.
Many military leaders including Caesar and Napoleon became famous by winning over the masses and their soldiers, rather than the authorities. They worked towards building such strong relationships with their subordinates that people were gladly willing to do anything for them.
This kind of cherishing, is the difference between a leader and a great leader. The people’s love is a strong asset for a leader. Read this.
One of my favorite CEOs of all time, Herb Kelleher was an embodiment of this Ideal. He was often found working in the factories along with work force, even after becoming a CEO of a company like Southwestern Airlines. Taking care of your employees’ well-being should always be given paramount importance.
Takeaway: Managers and business leaders who are most respected by their team are also the ones most respected by the authorities.
5. Don’t leave even the smallest of details to chance.
If we are honest with ourselves, most of us have the tendency to go hard till 90% and leave the the remaining 10% to chance or ‘HOPE that everything will workout’ ; Optimism is great but not without giving your best effort first.
Our historical heroes have proved that over and over again. Charismatic leader like Napoleon , even went to the extent of practicing his smiles everyday, to achieve that charismatic smile that can swoon people.
These leaders did everything they could to have the highest impact on their followers.
Takeaway: With so much advancement in technology, analytics and areas like risk management, it is much easier now than ever before to plan out every small detail and predict every possible outcome and ready yourself for it.
6. Careful self-promotion is good.
It is true that Caesar refused the crown thrice, but he was no epitome of modesty. He resorted to self promotion whenever he could and strangely the mob didn’t consider it as arrogance or vanity, but well-deserved fame and respect.
As a leader, sometimes it is important to appear larger than life and especially in the initial stages, when you are still proving yourself. It is not uncommon or bad to promote yourself a little here and there, just enough to prove your ability and not enough to come of as self-obsessed.
A book called promote yourself is an enlightening read on the same subject.
Takeaway: No one really knows who you are until you tell them. Careful and calculated self-promotion earns you respect.
7. Chose to expose rather than hide your vulnerabilities
This is quite a counter-intuitive lesson, isn’t it?
Managers and business leaders these days work so much towards portraying a level of outward perfection such as ‘I donate half my salary to the poor’ or ‘I believe in World Peace’ just because it is the perfect impression to give.
People always sense and detest fake perfection ( actually true perfection even ). They want to know that you are human too and sharing your flaws helps you build a stronger relationship with them.
Caesar was an expert at that; he was often called the drama queen and he literally had a seizure on the stage, when he was offered the crown. This was considered by most of his peers as weakness, but not his people! They loved him for it.
Takeaway: A leader is not meant to be a symbol of perfection, but rather a symbol of compassion, trust and honesty.
Surely, there is no one consistent leadership lesson from the history or from the present. Some say impulsiveness in decision making causes failure, yet Richard Branson (known to be impulsive) is considered one of the most successful business leaders of this time. Having said that, I think it is important to draw on our past and present to understand the concept of leadership better, before we dive in.