The Tao of Leadership: A book review by Bob Morris

The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age
John Heider
Humanics New Age (2005)

Timeless wisdom for each new age

The value and impact of leadership can be measured in many different ways.  Two of the most common approaches focus on who a leader is, and, on what a leader achieves. In my opinion, books that focus on authentic, values-driven leadership are part of a tradition that can be traced back to Lao Tzu and his classic, Tao Te Ching, whereas books that focus on high-impact, results-driven leadership are part of a tradition that can be traced back to Sun Tzu and his classic, The Art of War.

As John Heider explains in the Introduction to this volume, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching “is one of China’s best loved books of wisdom. It was originally addressed to the sage and to the wise political rulers of the fifth century B.C.” Lao Tzu’s book is “simple and makes sense. But even more important, is the fact that Tau Te Ching persuasively unites leadership skills and the leader’s way of life: our work is our path.” Here is my personal favorite among many passages in a work that offers timeless wisdom for each new age:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

The wisdom of these observations is relevant to our own age, especially given the unique challenges leaders now face. For example, how to increase and nourish positive and productive employee engagement at all levels and in all areas? How to develop and then sustain a culture of mutual respect and trust between and among everyone involved?

Heider suggests that Lao Tzu focuses on three separate but interdependent topics:

1. Natural law (how things happen)
2. A way of living (how to live in “conscious harmony” with natural law)
3. A method of leadership (how to govern or educate others in accordance with natural law)

Heider’s adaptation of the Tao is based on his experiences in the classroom when he and his students discuss various passages and various translations of those passages. As he acknowledges, what he offers is his own version of the meaning of Lao Tzu’s own words. Here’s my take: For aspiring leaders, the first issue to address is “Who and what am I?” Next, ”Who and what must an effective leader be?” Then, ”What specifically must I understand — and accept as well as relinquish – to become such a leader?” Finally, “How can I help other aspiring leaders to complete the same process of development?”

Here are a few of the dozens of passages in Heider’s version that caught my eye:

o  On Tao Means How: “Tao is a principle. Creation, on the other hand, is a process. That is all there is: principle and process., how and what. All creation unfolds according to Tao. There is no other way.”

o  On Success: ”A good reputation naturally arises from doing good work. But if you try to cherish your reputation, if you try to preserve it, you lose the freedom and honesty necessary for further development.”

o  On Traditional Wisdom:  “Most people are plagued by endless needs, but the wise leader is content with relatively little. Most people lead busy lives, but the wise leader is quiet and reflective. Most people seek stimulation and novelty, but the wise leader prefers what is common and natural.

“Being content permits simplicity in life. What is common is universal. What is natural is close to the source of creation.

“This is traditional wisdom.”

o  On Unity: “Tao cannot be defined. One can only say that it is the single principle responsible for every event or thing. When the leader has regard for this principle, and for no lesser principles, the group memvers must trust the leader. Because the leader pays equal attention to everything that happens, there are no prejudices to divide the group into factions. There is unity.”

o   On Three Leadership Qualities: [133]:  “These three qualities are invaluable to the leader: Compassion for all creatures, material simplicity or frugality, and a sense of equality or modesty. A compassionate person acts in behalf of everyone’s right to life. Material simplicity gives one an abundance to share. A sense of equality is, paradoxically, one’s true greatness.”

Whatever the nature and extent of Heider’s revisions of the primary text(s) may be, the narrative is nimble and cohesive. The clarity of his prose gives eloquence to Lao Tzu’s insights. I am certain that many people who read The Tao of Leadership with an open mind (and heart) will become a more effective leader and, meanwhile, a more fulfilled human being.

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Note: John Heider recommends five translations and renditions of Tao Te Ching in his Bibliography. All use the same system of numbering chapters that he uses, facilitating comparisons and contrasts between and among different versions. I presume to add another, the Capstone edition for which Tom Butler-Bowdon wrote the Introduction.

The Communicators: A book review by Bob Morris

The Communicators: Leadership in an Age if Crisis
Richard S. Levick with Charles Slack
Watershed Press (2010)

Effective leadership as demonstrated by mindset-guided and values-driven behavior

Written by Richard Levick with Charles Slack, this is definitely not an “easy read” but, that said, it generously rewards those who read it with appropriate care and especially, those who then re-read it, as I did.  Levick organizes his material within nine clusters of “rules,” each cluster serving as a theme or dimension of leadership. Each of the 40 “rules” is an obvious point of emphasis or affirmation. For example, “Leadership is visible motion” (#4), “Exercise good faith management” (#8), “Knowledge is power” (#18), or “When facts don’’t natter, forget the facts” (#35). Merely listing several by no means diminishes their value. There are reasons why aphorisms, bromides, etc. endure for centuries: they concisely express an essential truth. Levick anchors each in a modern context.

He frames the clusters and their respective “rules” within a framework that presupposes the inevitability of a crisis. I agree with him that able leaders respond effectively to a crisis; great leaders either avoid crises or take full advantage of them to unleash new opportunities. (In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says that the greatest leader is he who has the wisdom and temperament to avoid a battle. He also said that every battle is won or lost before it is fought. Anticipate and prepare for everything.) I commend Levick on his brilliant use of real-world situations that illustrate the wisdom of various rules that serve as insights, guidelines, and (with modification) as strategies or tactics. A few of his exemplars were familiar to me; most were not. There are valuable lessons to be learned from them.

With regard to the title, great leaders throughout history demonstrated their skills as a communicator when confronted by crises of immeasurable peril. Passion and conviction were even more important than eloquence when President Franklin Roosevelt broadcast his “fireside chats” and Winston Churchill spoke frankly to the English people during their nation’s “darkest hour.”

As Levick explains so well, great leaders have a unique mindset that guides and informs their decisions, to be sure, but also their behavior when in a crisis. They attract and retain support because they have earned the respect and trust of those whom they feel privileged to lead.

To conclude this brief commentary, I share my favorite passage from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

 

Reinventing the Wheel: A book review by Bob Morris

Reinventing the Wheel: The Science of Creating Lifetime Customers
Chris Zane
BenBella Books (2011)

How to establish and then sustain long-term (if not lifetime) customer relationships

What we have in this book is a personal account by the founder and CEO of Zane’s Cycles. It began when Chris Zane was 12 and repairing bikes and really began to grow after he bought a local bike shop (he was 16) and eventually built it into a multi-million dollar company today, with an annual growth rate of about 25%. There are no head-snapping revelations nor does Zane make any such claim. When he wrote this book, presumably he was well-aware of other CEOs and other companies that learned how to establish and then sustain long-term (if not lifetime) relationships with their customers. More specifically, they created what Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba aptly characterize as “customer evangelists.”

After briefly identifying the “what,” he devotes most of his attention to the “how” and “why” of what seem to be nine core concepts:

1. Know what your core business is. Long ago, Home Depot’s then CEO explained that his company doesn’t sell half-inch drill bits, it sells half-inch holes.

2. Focus on building a lifetime relationship with each customer. Think of each purchase as a partial payment toward what the total (potentially lifetime) value of the relationship could be.

3. Always offer more than is expected. For example, over-serve and indicate how grateful you are to have the opportunity to do so.

4. Over time, the shared experience – rather than a product or service — becomes the brand. Take full advantage of every opportunity to strengthen it with personal attention.

5. Keep looking for a new niche. Zane urges his reader to “stretch your comfort zone.” Try new ideas. What about potential allies who could be referral sources? Which of them might be willing to co-sponsor an event such as a bicycle safety rally? Constantly energize the enterprise with creative thinking and prudent experiments.

6. Keep the competition off-balance with game-changing tactics. Pleasant surprises for the customer will be bad news for competitors. If you are proactive, they must be reactive. This concept suggests a classic strategy that Sun Tzu recommends in The Art of War.

7. Focus on continuous improvement. To borrow a line from Marshall Goldsmith: for Zane’s Cycles and just about any other organization, “what got you here won’t get you there.” In fact, the title of this book suggests to me another title: Reinventing Zane’s Cycles…Every Day.

8. Hire for character and temperament (especially emotional intelligence) and use training to provide orientation, complete knowledge transfers, and strengthen skills.

Note: I well recall Warren Buffett’s observation, “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”

9. Respect and embrace differences between and among people. As I read this final chapter in the book, I was reminded of a passage in Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

To me, that is the definitive description of human diversity.

Yes, Zane’s Cycles sells bicycles and accessories but what it creates – as Chris Zane explains with eloquence as well as pride and appreciation — is much more interesting and much more valuable…precious, shared memories of joyous experiences.

Surviving and Thriving in Uncertainty: A book review by Bob Morris

Surviving and Thriving in Uncertainty: Creating the Risk Intelligent Enterprise
Frederick Funston and Stephen Wagner
John Wilkey & Sons, Inc. (2010)

Risk unmanaged is risk exacerbated

I am among those who find a wealth of excellent advice every time I pick up my copy of The Art of War and re-read a passage or two in any of its 13 chapters. (FYI, Samuel B. Griffin translated the edition I prefer, published in a paperbound by Oxford University Press.) As I began to read Surviving and Thriving in Uncertainty, I recalled several insights that perhaps, just perhaps, Frederick Funston and Stephen Wagner may have had in mind while writing their book: every battle is won or lost before it is fought, all warfare is based on deception, and five constant factors govern the art of war, to be assessed when determining the conditions in the field. They are The Moral Law (leaders and followers have values and goals in alignment), Heaven (physical environment: night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons), Earth (distances, strategic positions, terrain), The Commander (virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, strictness), Method and Discipline (readiness, organization of forces and resources, agility and resilience). These are the essential components of what is generally regarded as traditional, indeed “classical” strategic thinking about potential risks and how best to manage them.

I suggest you keep these components in mind as Funston and Wagner first explain why and how risks become “brutal realities,” how to survive and thrive by making correct judgments, why conventional risk management has failed, and why an unconventional approach to risk management is needed, especially “under risky, uncertain, and turbulent conditions.” For Part Two, they devised a very clever format within which to present their material: In each of Chapters 4-13, they juxtapose a “fatal flaw” in risk intelligence thinking (e.g. failing to challenge assumptions, shirt-termism, lack of operational discipline) with a skill needed to avoid or overcome that flaw. To their substantial credit, they focus almost all of their attention on the nature and potential extent of the given flaw and explain how to develop the skills needed to avoid of overcome it.

Funston and Wagner also include dozens of “Voice of Experience” mini-commentaries relevant to the given context. Other reader-friendly devices include checklists of key points (e.g. “Ten Essential Risk Intelligence Skills” and “The Rewards of Risk Intelligence”), Exhibits (e.g. organizational and performing characteristics of “Tightly vs. Loosely Coupled Organizations”), and a “Questions to Ask about [a core concept”]” section at the conclusion of Chapters 4-13.

Risk cannot be managed until it is recognized within its context, its frame-of-reference. Moreover, its implications and possible (if not probable) consequences must also be fully understood, then prepared for with meticulous care. Sun Tzu would urge today’s C-level executives to make certain that their organizations have a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program in place that addresses contingency planning, risk management, and crisis response…one that fully accommodates factors such as those previously identified. Frederick Funston and Stephen Wagner present and explain such a program in this book.

An interview of Tad Waddington by Bob Morris

Tad Waddington

Tad Waddington is Director of Performance Measurement for Accenture. He received his PhD in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis from the University of Chicago. He is the co-author of Return on Learning: Training for High Performance at Accenture and the author of Lasting Contribution: How to Think, Plan, and Act to Accomplish Meaningful Work, which has won six prestigious awards. Fluent in Chinese, Tad is Global Senior Advisor to the Asia-Pacific CEO Association Worldwide. He also sits on three boards on three continents. He is also among my most cherished personal friends.

Morris: Before discussing Return on Learning and then Lasting Contribution, a few general questions. First, please explain your interest in and extensive associations with various Asian countries, notably with China.

Waddington: I suspect my interest in learning Chinese began in high school when I read Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and wanted to learn a (very) different language so I could think differently. I was also interested in philosophy so learned ancient Chinese and got a master’s in the History of Religions at the University of Chicago’s Divinity school. I’ve been going to China since 1983 so have friends throughout the region. And in a stunning act of bad planning, I married a Japanese woman.

Morris: What are some of the most common misconceptions in the U.S. about China and its objectives?

Waddington:People think that China is a rich and powerful country. It has half the per capita GDP of Botswana. People talk about “China” and “Chinese food” as if it were one thing, but we don’t do that with Europe and China is 1.6 times the size of Europe with far greater linguistic variety. Remember that a language is a dialect with an army. Many of what we call dialects are mutually unintelligible. I could go on, but just these two points—a huge, poor country—already give you an understanding of China’s objectives: To feed and employ its people without falling into chaos. Indeed, China’s objectives are far more tame than they could be; the West twice invaded China (1839-1842 and 1856-1860) to force them to buy opium and yet I’ve never heard the Chinese say they wanted revenge.

Morris: What can we learn from China?

Waddington:Absolutely nothing relating to business. OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but think about this: When the West started doing business with Japan we wrote hundreds of books on Japanese management. I can’t think of one on Chinese management and I think I’ve found a clue as to why this is and it’s not just the effects of Socialism. If you look up “List of oldest companies” [click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_companies%5D, the five oldest are Japanese, starting with a construction company in the year 578. It takes time to get good at something.

Morris: Both of us are the beneficiaries of a superb formal education. Here’s my question. How specifically have your studies at ASU, and then at the University of Chicago (both divinity school and graduate school) guided and informed, indeed nourished your personal development?

Waddington: I finished high school barely literate, having read fewer than ten books in my lifetime, but I graduated from ASU with a 4.0 GPA. I still have professors who tell me, “We live for students like you.” You can imagine how very little I slept those four years, but I learned discipline of mind. At the Divinity School I learned how to read, to see not just what is in the text, how it all fits together, and how it fits with other texts, but also how to see what’s not in the text and why and how it fits. With the PhD I learned to do the same thing with numbers. In short, I learned to think, which has nourished every aspect of life.

Morris: Here’s a follow-up question. As you reflect back on your years as a student, which books seem to have served as the most valuable “magic carpets” because they enabled your mind, heart, and soul to go where they had not been before?

Waddington: You are looking for an answer like Suntzu’s Art of War, which I’ve read quite a few times in the original, but a more honest answer is Han Yu’s (768-824) writings and is irrelevant, because it isn’t the content that mattered, but the process. I know the exact moment I became an intellectual: 3:41 a.m. on Thursday, April 12, 1990. By day I was reading Gadamer’s Truth and Method; the meaning of a text isn’t in the text and it’s not in the reader; nor is it in the intentions of the author. Meaning comes from a dialectic between the reader and the text, blah, blah, blah. At night I was translating Han Yu, averaging the blistering pace of about an hour a word. In frustration I thought, “I just want somebody to tell me what this means.” Then I realized that nobody could. Even if the professor walked in right then and told me, I would have disagreed, because I’d already considered that translation and rejected it for good reasons. I realized that I had tried every possible permutation of interpretations, still didn’t have enough data to be certain, but had to make a decision anyway and then take responsibility for that decision. It sounds abstract and esoteric, but that is the nature of judgment and it has helped me in business, in parenting, in everything.

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To read the complete interview, please click here.

Book Review: 50 Success Classics

50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom for Life and Work from 50 Landmark Books
Tom Butler-Bowden
Nicholas Brealey Publishing (2007)

In both this volume and in 50 Self-Help Classics, Butler-Bowdon has selected and then provided a rigorous examination of carefully selected works which have had, for decades, a profound impact on those who read them and then applied the principles which their respective authors affirm. In this instance, “winning wisdom” to apply in one’s life and work. There are several reasons why I hold this volume in such high regard. Here are three.

First, Butler-Bowden has assembled excerpts and focused on key points from a wide variety of works which include (with authors listed in alphabetical order, as in the book) Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick, Andrew Carnegie’s Autobiography, Jim Collins’ Good to Great, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, Thomas J. Stanley’s The Millionaire Mind, Brian Tracy’s Maximum Achievement, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Sam Walton’s Made in America, and Zig Ziglar’s Meet You at the Top. Obviously, some of this material would also be appropriate for inclusion in 50 Self-Help Classics.

Second, I appreciate the fact that Butler-Bowden also enables his readers to focus on issues of greatest interest to them by suggesting combinations of selections within these four thematic categories:

Motivation (e.g. Tom Hopkins’ The Official Guide to Success)
Fulfilling your potential (e.g. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s The Power of Full Engagement)
Prosperity (e.g. Russell H. Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds)
Leadership (e.g. Warren Bennis’ On Becoming a Leader)

The diversity of Butler-Bowdon’s primary sources even within the same category is indeed impressive.

Third and finally, he makes clever use of a number of reader-friendly devices throughout his narrative, such as “In a nutshell,” “Final comments,” and a brief bio of the author at the conclusion of each selection. I also appreciate the inclusion of brief quotations wherever they are most relevant.

In the Introduction, Butler-Bowdon observes that “When we think of success writing it is often the motivational classics that first come to mind, and the titles in this [volume] represent the historical development of the genre….While all of the books have been bestsellers [and many continue to be], the main criterion for their inclusion was their impact and renown, or whether they filled a niche in terms of a particular subject or person….The leaders discussed are not specific markers for your own success — it is generally not a good idea to compare yourself to other people — but their stories illustrate a `way’ of success that anyone can follow.”

I agree with Butler-Bowdon that each person seeking success (however defined and measured) must assume primary responsibility for being and doing whatever is required to achieve it. However, most of those who share or are the subjects of the success “stories” in this volume have duly acknowledged the assistance provided to them along the way by family members, friends, allies, and in several instances, benefactors.

Butler-Bowdon realizes that he is providing “only a taste of the literature (the main ideas, context, and impact of each title)” while urging his readers to “feast on the real thing.” What he offers is by no means a buffet of entrepreneurial “hors d’oeuvres.” On the contrary, the content is solid and skillfully presented effectively. I am convinced that many of those who read this book will then be encouraged to read (or re-read) “the real thing.” If Butler-Bowdon’s efforts accomplish nothing else, that will indeed be sufficient to earn the praise I think he has earned…and justly deserves.

Thomas Huynh: An interview by Bob Morris

In 1999, Thomas Huynh founded Sonshi.com, the Web’s most respected resource on Art of War and now consists of a network of authors, scholars, and readers around the world, attracted from various disciplines and joined together by a common interest in Sun Tzu’s classic study of strategy. He is a seasoned business executive and nonprofit board member who earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He was named in BusinessWeek magazine’s “Top 12 Most Engaged Reader-Contributors of 2008.” Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Huynh now resides with his wife and child in Atlanta, Georgia. As a war refugee, he seeks to put an end to warfare by affirming the practical ideals published in his book, The Art of War—Spirituality for Conflict.

Morris: Before discussing The Art of War, a few general questions. First, what prompted your interest in the relevance to the modern business world of what ancient thinkers such as Sunzi (Sun Tzu), Laozi (Lao Tzu), and Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) have to say about leadership, management, and strategy?

Huynh: One way to look at this is to consider the Holy Bible; some parts of the book are well over 2000 year old but countless people still refer to it every day.  If you consider many of the Greek and Roman classics, you realize they discuss many of the societal, motivational, and leadership issues we have today.  Our technology has evolved significantly, but, alas, the human brain and how it makes its decisions have not.

Also the fact that these ancient classics have survived after numerous generations is a testament and argument to their value and usefulness.  For example, a high-ranking Chinese official went to his grave with it in circa 100 B.C. who fortunately gave us the oldest surviving Art of War copy ever found.  Unlike many works that have since disappeared, even one that The Art of War itself cites, Sun Tzu’s book has never been lost or destroyed.

Morris: When and why did you found Sonshi.com?

Huynh: We founded Sonshi.com in 1999 because we wanted a central place to meet to discuss Sun Tzu’s Art of War.  The Web was approaching its adolescent stage and we remember when Yahoo listed us on their directory — a manual process, reviewed by a real, live Yahoo editor — a sign at the time that you have “made it.”  Now any site can “make it” thanks to Google.

Morris: To what does the word “Sonshi” refer?

Huynh: “Sonshi” is an English transliteration of Sun Tzu in Japanese. If you have read General Samuel Griffith’s Art of War book, you will see Sonshi mentioned many times since he researched how the Japanese were very much influenced by the work.  Two very popular and highly successful Japanese strategists Minamoto Yoshitsune and Takeda Shingen made Sonshi Heiho (Sun Tzu Art of War) their text of choice.

The main reason why we chose “Sonshi” was that we wanted a word representative of the ideal reader, someone who takes the study of The Art of War seriously and diligently.  Even though The Art of War was written in China, who eventually took the work to heart and promoted it were the Japanese leaders.  Sonshi.com has similar enthusiasts (a few rather rabid) of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.  I’m perhaps its most ardent advocate since I truly believe it is the greatest book ever written; it has the answer to end the worst, still pervasive human activity: war.  Having been born in an environment where war dominated (Vietnam), I hope you understand why.

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To read the complete interview, please click here.

Huynh invites those who read this interview to check out the resources provided at this Web site:

http://www.sonshi.com/

 

Book Review: Duck and (Re)Cover

Duck and (Re)Cover: The Embattled Business Owners Guide to Survival and Growth
Steven S. Little
John S. Wiley & Son (2009)

Little’s insights and suggestions can be of substantial assistance to anyone who has a number of business concerns. The title refers to a situation analogous to one in sports when, for example, baseball players on defense crouch while awaiting a batter’s response to the next pitch or when linemen on defense in football await the next snap of the ball: “It puts them in the best position to release a focused, explosive movement when the time is right.” Think of a company that is fully prepared to respond quickly and effectively to a threat (e.g. a competitor’s advertising campaign promoting a price discount) or to an opportunity (e.g. to enter a market the competition has vacated). In The Art of War, Sun Tzu suggests that every battle is won or lost before it is fought. Hence the importance of preparation. “You should put your organization in a similar position right now in order to focus your potential energy. And effective duck now will enable you to focus your potential energy.”

In which areas do organizations tend to be most vulnerable? Little identifies four: 1. Not focusing on root causes: “Don’t allow symptoms to distract you from treating the real trauma.” Symptoms can usually be grouped and usually reveal a pattern that indicates causality. They do not occur in isolation. They are not self-generating. 2. Not prioritizing areas that need your attention: “Whatever your bent, that area of expertise and comfort in your business is probably pretty well covered. Too often, it is the area you haven’t paid attention to that needs your attention now.” More often than not, prioritizing involves identifying a sequence of action steps. For example: turn off the water, repair the broken pipe, and then clean up the mess. 3. Not putting new and recent problems in proper perspective: “Whatever the crisis du jur is, be sure that you are able to frame it properly. Is it really the most important thing for you to address today, or is it simply the most unsettling issue you’ve dealt with recently?” Urgency, not familiarity or novelty, should determine area or problem on which to focus. 4. Not knowing how to apply tourniquets: “You should know that in business, as in first air, the decision to apply a tourniquet could cause you to lose that arm of your business forever…In which areas of your business do you have the experience and the expertise to apply tourniquets? As you look for ways in which to stop the bleeding, remember that crudely applied devices can produce unintended and deleterious consequences.”

Near the conclusion of his book, Little focuses on seven specific areas in which sustained growth companies look for innovations, evolutions, and revolutions that lead to growth, no matter the industry in which they compete nor economic environment to which they must adapt: a strong sense of purpose, outstanding market intelligence, effective growth planning, customer-driven processes, using appropriate technologies to achieve a decisive competitive advantage, attracting and retaining “the best and brightest” people, and seeing the future more clearly.

Business Lessons: War Films

I had the opportunity to vote (in 2008) for the best ten films in ten different categories (in a survey conducted by the American Film Institute) and think that all of the 100 winners are worthy, as are many of the other 400 nominees. For whatever reasons, there was no category for WAR films. Here are my ten favorites, listed in alphabetical order:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Business Lesson: The trust, respect, faith, and loyalty of youth must never be betrayed.

2. Attack (1950)
Business Lesson: The potential damage that toxic leaders can commit is incalculable.

3. Braveheart (1995)
Business Lesson: As Sun Tzu suggested (and Don Corleone concurs), “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”

4. Paths of Glory (1957)
Business Lesson: When involved in a corrupt culture that you cannot leave, at least for a while, do what you can to protect those for whom you are responsible from toxic leaders.

5. Full Metal Jacket (1942)
Business Lesson: Recognize and avoid the “breaking point” of every person for whom you are responsible.

6. Platoon (1995)
Business Lesson: Extreme pressure does not develop character, it reveals it…for better or worse.

7. Saving Private Ryan (1991)
Business Lesson: However vast and complicated an organization may be, the importance of each individual in it must never be underestimated.

8. Spartacus (2001)
Business Lesson: A positively engaged worker is the organization in which she or he is actively and productively involved: “I am Southwest Airlines!”

9. Twelve O’Clock High (1950)
Business Lesson: As Full Metal Jacket also demonstrates, it is very important to recognize and then take into full account human limits.

Note: Stress in the workplace is inevitable and, for some, a serious problem. Supervisors must be very alert to early-warning signs of it and respond appropriately in a timely manner.

10. Zulu (1964)

Business Lesson: The best way to earn a competitor’s respect is to demonstrate professional competence, moral courage, and personal commitment.

It is possible to stretch correlations between the battlefield and the business workplace and yet the fact remains that in both, leaders must possess a combination of professional competence, impeccable character, respect for everyone involved (including opponents), and the trust and respect of those whom they are privileged to lead.

You can check out the wealth of resources provided by the American Film Institute and the Internet Film Database. Here are links to their Web sites:

http://www.afi.com/

http://www.imdb.com/

Comments? Please share.

Q #58: What’s “guerilla marketing” all about?

In this series, Bob Morris poses a key question and then responds to it with material from one or more of the business books he has reviewed for Amazon and Borders.

The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1983 book of that name, Guerrilla Marketing. The best way to understand it is not in terms of specific strategies but, rather, as a mindset in a ferociously competitive situation and you have severely limited resources. Here are two true stories.

Example #1: There was a family-owned barbershop that found itself in competition with a franchise that opened across the street, offering “Haircuts only $5!” as a special introductory promotion. The two barbers, father and son, could not afford any advertising and had to charge at least $15 a haircut to break even. What to do? Finally, the father came up with an idea and hand-printed a sign to hang in the window: “We repair $5 Haircuts.”

Example #2: Another family saved up its money and invested all of it (plus two loans) to open a pizza parlor, in direct competition with franchises of national chains and with almost no money for advertising. What to do? Finally, the Italian grandmother who provided the recipes also came up with an idea. It worked. What was it? Place a small ad in the daily newspaper offering a 50% discount to anyone who brings in the Yellow Pages listing where to buy pizzas. Those who did also received a small magnetic business card (to attach to a refrigerator) with the pizza parlor’s name and telephone number.

David chose not to wrestle Goliath; rather, he slew him with one small, carefully selected, well-placed stone. In 1588, Queen Elizabeth’s “Sea Hawks” did not engage the Spanish Armada directly; rather, Hawkins, Frobisher, and the other captains took full advantage of the speed and agility of their much smaller ships using a “hit and run” strategy. With all due respect to Jay Conrad Levinson, I think the best explanation of the mindset needed for Guerilla Marketing is in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The “rules of engagement” for that mindset are deception, application of maximum force where there is least resistance, and timing.

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob