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A leader is bestwhen people barely know he exists;
Not so good when people obey and acclaim him;
Worse when they despise him.
But of a good leader,
Who talks little when his work is done,
His aim fulfilled, they will say:
We did it ourselves.
~Lao Tsu
This day is called the Feast of Crispian. For nearly 600 years, October 25th has been an annual shout out to the underdog; for those with insufficient resources, already exhausted from the slog, yet happily steeling themselves for another round of battle, hoping against hope for success.
That’s life in any technology start-up and we have excellent historical company in this seemingly hopeless pursuit of victory despite insurmountable odds.
At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, a vastly outnumbered and nearly exhausted English force led by King Henry V defeated the heavily armored and well-rested veteran French army of nearly fifty thousand. The French nobles led the attack with hubris, fully expecting a brief and glorious rout of their English foes. Using a shrewd, rapid sequence of longbow and hand-to-hand tactics, Henry’s Englishmen took aim at the lumbering French mounted nobility. This left the remaining French foot soldiers in disarray, arguing with each other about the next move, while the English continued to wreak havoc. On October 25, 1415, the English won the battle. They lost only five hundred men while the French suffered massive casualties. It was more than a victory. It was a crushing blow by a tiny force of unyielding soldiers.
Shakespeare created a rousing motivational speech in which Harry the King exhorts his tired English troops on the morning before this historic battle. It’s one of my favorite speeches in all of Shakespeare’s plays. Every startup has moments like this – a tiny team pitted against giant, well funded adversaries; yet somehow that small band musters up the courage to press onward and win the day. We few, we happy few, we band of entrepreneurs, today is the Feast of Crispian – Steel yourself and never give up!
Enjoy Kenneth Branagh’s perfect performance of this soliloquy (…and check out the obvious inspiration for Mel Gibson’s rallying cry in Braveheart filmed six years later…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
For those without a multimedia setup, read the glorious Shakespeare text here…and happy St. Crispin’s day!
GLOUCESTER
Where is the king?
BEDFORD
The king himself is rode to view their battle.
WESTMORELAND
Of fighting men they have full three score thousand.
EXETER
There’s five to one; besides, they all are fresh.
SALISBURY
God’s arm strike with us! ’tis a fearful odds.
WESTMORELAND
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING HENRY V
What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark’d to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Have you ever worked for a tyrannical boss? Have you ever worked with someone brilliant in their field but also gifted at demoralizing employees and pissing off peers?
Help is here!
Taming the Abrasive Manager is a quick read and a should be a mandatory read for anyone who works for (or even near) one of those “challenged” managers. Dr. Laura Crawshaw aka The Boss Whisperer shows you in fun, easy to read stories and brilliant instructions based in 25 years of real-world experience taming misguided leaders who terrorized their workplace. What I enjoyed most about this book is that the author doesn’t stoop to cheap caricatures; she succinctly and precisely nails the core driver of “bad” boss behavior – FEAR BASED TRIGGERS – and shows you how you can help yourself and help a boss see the light.
When confronted with great uncertainty, our sensory cortex fires into high gear and produces a feeling of fear in our bodies. Chimpanzees have a similar biological mechanism, but at least their fight-or-flight response only activates when confronted by real danger. We humans on the other hand react to our imagined fears with the same ferocity as a life threatening situation. Whether it is fear of failure, rejection, reprisal, or death, it is fear that rules this world.
In the midst of our chimpish lives, seeking some kind of bliss while leaping from fear to fear, every once in a while we encounter someone who stands still and stares willfully into the abyss of doubt. We admire those who can enter into a moment of great uncertainty and risk, and yet will not run. I see this kind of courage every day working with men and women who build and run new ventures. They face enormous doubt and at times experience visceral fear, yet they persevere.
What is it that allows some people to move boldly into doubt while others cower or run away? First, you need a little ego. You must believe your action might lead to a better future. Whether you are like Howard Schultz who built a new kind of coffee company despite all the naysayers that insisted middle-class Americans would never pay $2 for a cup of coffee, or like Rosa Parks who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger because it just wasn’t right, if you believe that your actions might lead to a better future, you are more willing to risk the consequences of today. Neither Howard nor Rosa was sure of the outcome of their effort. Both faced great uncertainty and economic or personal peril. Yet they each acted because they deemed that the future they sought was worth the risk.
Our inability to know the future often triggers the fight-or-flight response. The human mind, always seeking certainty, then assigns certainty to the undesirable outcome, just as a child at night is sure that the bogey man is in the closet. But until we open the closet, we just don’t know what is in it. The bogey man is in our head.
We all face uncertainty. The root of fear is fighting your doubt. The root of courage is embracing it.
Doubt is not your enemy. Doubt is the source of your creativity. By staring silently and openly into the dark closet of your uncertain future, you discover freedom. Since you can’t know for certain anything that lies in the future, you are completely free to choose today. Fear kicks in when you want to control the outcome. By definition, the riskier the decision or venture, the less control you have of outcome. Most days you can control whether one foot falls before the next as you walk. On the other hand, no matter how hard you try, you cannot control the rain. Nor can you control whether your venture will succeed or fail.
If you relax into your doubt, you will find creativity, hope, and opportunity. And others will witness courage in action.
Most successful leaders begin their careers yearning for success, fame, power, or wealth. There is nothing unusual about this motivation as a starting point, but our decisions and actions as leaders are intertwined with the lives of those we lead. Leadership is an intricate web of relationships. Build them and you succeed. Break them and you fail. Focus your effort on the greater good, and you help build a better world. Focus on your own well being, and you destroy far more than goodwill.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a stark object lesson on this topic.
The controversial President of Iran had a humble beginning as the son of a blacksmith, worked hard on his education and served in very difficult assignments in both the brutal war with Iraq and in his early political career. Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005 on a populist message. He effectively leveraged the anti-American sentiment reignited by then President Bush in “axis of evil” speech. Ahmadinejad also promised the people of Iran a government of principle, in particular focused on using their nation’s oil wealth to improve infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
Once elected, Ahmadinejad promptly revealed his true nature. In the past four years, we have seen a man drunk with fame. He has continued to beat the drum of anti-American, and by extension anti-European and anti-Israeli rhetoric, in an attempt to inspire through bravado and conspiracy theories. He has not invested oil wealth into infrastructure, education, or health care for Iranians. He has invested substantial money and effort into creating a nuclear capability in a vain attempt to lift his own stature at home and abroad.
Whether you believe the election of 2009 is a fraud or not, his actions to suppress allegations of improper voting and calls for a new, fair vote make it clear that he is not working for the benefit of those he leads. If the election were not a fraud, he would have sponsored a fair and transparent investigation to demonstrate that he is the legitimately re-elected President. Instead, he has ruthlessly suppressed criticism and debate. He isn’t using the power of his position to create a better world for Iran. He is using his power to retain his position—at the bloody expense of his own people.
History has shown us time and again—in politics, business, religion and every other field of endeavor— when a leader arrogantly pursues exclusive privileges for the few at the expense of those being led, it ends in failure. Kenneth Lay of Enron, Governor Blagojevich of Illinois, and Governor Spitzer of New York are just a few recent, home-grown examples that reiterate this point. The demise of Ahmadinejad is all but certain without a sudden and radical shift in his focus and action.
For all of us who lead, this object lesson teaches us a core leadership principle. Consider why you are in a leadership role in the first place. You didn’t achieve a leadership role because you are special. You attained this role because the people you lead want you there. Perhaps, they need an opportunity to further their career. Perhaps, they don’t have the confidence or desire to lead. Perhaps, they like you or your ideas. Regardless of the specific motivations of the people you lead, your leadership role is not about you. It never was. It’s about them. If you are sincere and thoughtful about your leadership role, then you are already investing the majority of your waking—and some sleeping—hours in leading your organization. Why are you doing this? Is it for your fame? Your wealth? Your personal satisfaction? Your professional development? Only that? Why not aspire for something more? Are you afraid to take it on? Are you unwilling to make the effort? Please note, the higher the aspiration and the more inclusive the benefit of your ambition, the more you create a sustainable and successful effort that outlasts your own personal investment of time and energy. Anything less is a waste of your opportunity, and if you insist on serving your own self-interests, it will only lead to disaster.
I am getting pretty tired of all the panicy talking heads and all the whining about how bad it is. Yes, we are in a deep recession. But let’s put this recession into perspective:
Great Depression v. Today:
1929 to 1933 our GDP declined 45%. 2007 to 2008 our GDP grew 4% and worst case it will be wobbly or flat for the next few years.
1929 to 1933 unemployment exploded from 3% to 25%. 2007 to 2008 our unemployment jumped from 4% to 8% so far and could conceivably grow above 10% but not much more because we have already injectd $1.3 trillion into the economy and several sectors including medical, internet applications, and green tech are still in growth – just not as high as it was.
1929 to 1932 the Dow Jones Industrials collpased by 89%. 2007 to 2009 the DJI fell by 55% and it’s pretty clear that we have not reached bottom. But to collapse as badly as the Great Depression, the DJI would have to reach 1584 by 2010. Not likely givent that the P/E ratios of many solid earnings companies like MSFT, DIS, IBM, etc are running at 7 while the S&P500 is at 18. Shrewd investors are already evaluating bargains.
And of course, as bad as the Great Depression was for the US in the 1930′s it is just a blip when compared to the catastrophic economic collapses that hit Germany during the Weimar Republic, Brazil during the 1980′s, most Eastern European countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Yes, many people are out of work and that makes for suffering and anguish for millions. But let’s be honest with ourselves. Most of the people in the US have been living high on the hog for several decades, living a lifestyle well beyond their means. How big of a house do you need? How many cars? How many cellphones in 5 years? How big of a flat screen TV? How many people really need a boat…and how big does it have to be?
Dave Matthews said it best. What we want is what we’ve not got. What we need is all around us.
This setback in our economy will not last more than another year or two. Enough whining! There is a lot of work to do, a lot of opportunity for those willing to try, and for those willing to fail there is enormous wealtht yet to be created.
Let’s be tenacious and get back on our horse and ride.
It’s an ancient metaphor at least 2500 years old. Yet it is so apt today. The DOW has careened around 7500 all day, jumping in the last half hour to 8000 on the news of Obama’s pick for Treasury Secretary. If it weren’t for that bit of news, it would have been a terrible day for investors on Wall Street. Sumner Redstone had a margin call. The CEO of AIG had a margin call. Just about everyone I know is lamenting the loss of at least 40 percent of their investment portfolio in the past 6 months. Maybe fire is too gentle a word for this lotus. Maybe Lotus in the conflagration is better.
What is the lotus in this flaming financial hell? My clients are alive and well in Seattle and San Francisco. Everyone is facing financial turmoil. An online game company had it’s B round erased by the credit crunch a month ago. They restrutured, regrouped, and now have raised capital from the orginal investors and a few ballsy new investors to buy time to get to cashflow positive in the near future. A tech company with a huge cashburn has pushed for and attained an enviable client list and found strong interest in several large acquirers who remain undaunted by all the financial carnage around them. A hosting company that survived the bloodbath that killed Exodus, PSInet, and other hosting companies now finds itself completely sold out of capacity and yet unable to finance an expansion, and so they have decided to hunker down and optimize their client list for profitability. A startup that launched a clever social merchandising application on facebook less than a year ago finds its current investors skittish. The team has regrouped and is finding solid interest from new investors who like the progress to date.
The entrepreneurial spirit in this sector is the lotus in the fire. Not one of the CEOs i work with have given up. Not one of them has shown any willingness to concede. Everyone has had their mettle tested and are showing their ability to keep their eyes on the prize. It is a privilege to work with them and a privilege to watch such people of great character and intestinal fortitude driving for a win in the midst of such a storm.
Who says we are a nation of whinerse? I say bullshit. We are a nation of hard driven men and women willing to batte lwith self-doubt and a naysayers and high odds against us in order to have a shot at winning tomorrow.
The lotus in the fire is a beautiful sight
