Rome Retreat ANNOUNCEMENT; Also, John Adams, Extreme Ownership, VC takeaways
Speak, Lead, Retreat. Own, too.
In October 1776, the American Revolutionary forces were struggling. John Adams wrote to Colonel William Tudor to encourage him to take a longer perspective:
“I recollect that Polybius [an ancient Greek historian], who was as great a Judge of War as any of his Age, was loud in his Praises of the Roman Troops. He never imputed any defeat, to the fault of the men, but, universally to the folly and incapacity, of their Commanders. Our Generals and other Officers must learn the same Justice and Policy. General imputations of Cowardice and impatience of discipline to the Men, are false, or, if true, it is the fault of the Officers: it is owing to their ignorance, incapacity or indolence: and farther, if it was true, concealing is the Way to cure it, not publishing of it. The frequent Surprizes, by which our Officers and Men are taken, in the most palpable trapps, convince me, that there is a dearth of Genius among them.”
Sounds like he's encouraging Tudor to adopt the principle of Extreme Ownership. If a mission fails, it's on the leader.
"But what if it really the follower, or subordinate, employeee, etc. who is at fault?"
Then, why didn't the leader train them right? Articulate the plan or the vision clearly? Or, why did the leader bring that person on the team in the first place?
If we are leading, instinct will often tell us to shirk blame in these situations. We have to work against this - it weakens us, our team, and our mission.
Discerning the character of a good leader (who will take responsibility) is one of the most valuable skills in business. That at least seems to be the opinion of Doug Leone, billionaire and former managing partner of Sequoia Capital.
In a recent interview, Leone spent the first third of the conversation talking about the importance of discerning the right kind of character, and how he does it. It requires time - usually at least 2-3 hours, he says.
Funny, about the same amount of time it takes to read a biography of Plutarch, or listen to a 3 part series in the Cost of Glory...
Plutarch's stated mission, after all, was to train us in discerning (and developing) character.
It takes time.
...AND...
I've been quiet lately with the emails because we've been working on something. Pleased to announce...
The first Ancient Life Coach EVENT!
A retreat in Rome, this summer. Check it out, Eric and I would love to see you there.
More details here:
Stay Ancient.