Leadership: "the human element will remain decisive in battle..." Sun Tzu

Amidst the chaos of war remains the decisive component of humanity.  A single soldier can change the tides of war.  General Patton’s type of field management supported by a willing organization was a turning point in the Battle of the Bulge which was the turning point of War in Europe.  The Punic wars would have not been in history without the presence of its charismatic soldier-leader in the person of Hannibal who laid waste battalions of Roman Legions battle after battle in their own territory.  Amidst the growing sentiment of this generation for technology in the 21^st century,  the human factor in operations will be put to the test. Amidst streamlining and cost cutting of modern organization, there will always be business value disciplines that will call for the best in the human factor  as leadership and interpersonal skills. 

A Cebu Pacific would have only be possible by the leadership and strategy of John Gokongwei whose astute business skills paved the way to a succession process which resulted to a competent second generation Gokongwei.  Philippine Airlines and Fortune Tobacco would have only be possible with the shrewd business management approach of Lucio Tan; a most practical demonstration of Sun Tzu’s doctrines in the Art of War. 

Sir Jo is one illustration of a competent  Salesman-soldier.  Known for his accomplishments in the retail, real estate and distribution business.  The Yap family started their success from humble beginnings of a competent couple in the person of Sir Jo and Mam Carmen.  From stories shared by long time employees of the family the couple assumed a modest grocery space at Valencia in the early 80s. Years before that Sir Jo was an edible oil salesman covering Northmin in the 70s while Mam Carmen was a resourceful woman who worked her way up as a working student and business woman. Sir Jo once shared with your humble writer how he had designated Bodega 1, 2 and 3 the stores of his peers in Valencia.  The system was to improve his assortment he contracted his peers in the nearby streets who specializes in certain category which he was not yet carrying. The staff can contract this items from customers under arrangement of “pick up later” to give them ample time to pull out from Bodega 1, 2 and 3. 

 Machiavelli and Clausewitz spoke of a path  to sustainable  effective leadership. Machiavelli  has clearly differentiated the competence of acquiring power from the competence of sustaining it.  While discussing the concepts of fortune and skill, many princes and kings have acquired fortune by birth right but have failed to sustain their position because of lack of skill. However,  history is full of accounts as well of bold and sublime men who have reached the pinnacle of their chosen field from humble and heroic beginnings as the Patriarch of LCG Group of Companies Lu Chiam Giam and the Matriarch of the Gesalem Group of Companies. Having worked with the next generation sons and daughters, it’s a humbling and awakening moment to stand in the presence of the children and the companies they have built. Trully, a legacy to human limitless possibilities. 

Experience, to start from the bottom and to know the idiosyncrasies of your chosen industry or profession,  historical appreciation, to gain knowledge as to how decisions and its consequences were made in the past  and Intellectual capacity to persist amidst the success and failures of your chosen path; to realize these impostors and be quick in anticipating traps. A strength of mind to remember and keep faith  to your life’s purpose even in the darkest dungeons of captivity; to remain faithful in your cause however hopeless.  

Planning: “The victorious warrior win first before they go to war … “ Sun Tzu

A plan is prepared for the purpose of execution. Preparing a plan is one part of the equation and execution completes the essence of the plan. In preparing a plan, the aspect of execution is a major factor considered. Can it be executed by the manager or the organization it is intended for use? The Pareto Principle applies as well in Planning wherein 70% of the energy must be devoted to the Planning Process to ensure victory before actual operation. Thus when there is a need to materialize the 70%, the mental, psychological, emotional and mental aspect must be thoroughly exhausted.

The physical aspect of a plan is the resources and the physical person combined for  the operation. Vital in every operation is a grounded assessment of the level of performance a resource can produce wherein it is hardly wise to expect more sales from a motor van than an L300 Van; More so to expect more productivity on the first month of a rookie than a veteran salesman with a keen knowledge of the territory and high level of competence in tactical aspect of the industry.

In the venture of a bold and ambitious enterprise where we involve ourselves in the extraordinary, beyond the normal course of things and the regular eventuality of the natural function of life, we construct a plan with mental, psychological and emotional preparedness. In the absence of perfection, we can only aspire for excellence and appeal to the god inside each of us. Wherein in the absence of a perfect plan, we prepare the best course of action with contingencies and combine it with an emotional commitment supported with a psychological mindset that will sustain our rigors amidst the “frictions of war” – natural, human, operational setbacks. 

A psychological mindset characterized by maturity, positive disposition, results orientation and passion for excellence. Maturity in accepting the natural course of things that setbacks and problems is part of the game. A positive disposition to persist in finding solutions in once predicament; to be roused rather than discouraged by setbacks. Results orientation in remaining steadfast and faithful to your objective despite the rain and the challenge of a hard customer. Ad astra per aspera – to aspire for the stars despite adversities that comes your way. 

In the chaos of operation and the fogs of war, the need for a certain level of intellect is required. Such that despite the chaos, one must have a mental capacity for steadiness where decision making is a vital function of operation – a wrong decision can change the tides of war.  A classic case which is a perennial problem in Key Accounts Operation is the decision of a salesman to assign the “suggested order” process to a merchandiser.  An innocent decision which has a tremendous impacts on distribution operation. Another case would be a decision of salesman to prepare a Callsheet at the office versus standard of preparing it during call. Probably, a tendency of manana habit or others would refer to it as procrastination. Robert Sternberg in his material Sources of Failure refers to it as Failure to translates thoughts into action when a salesman knows a standardand yet does not act on it.  A behavior demonstrated by a Salesman in foregoing a Sales Admin requirement would result to a breakdown in the Account Management Business Process. This manifests Lack of Will and Lack of Initiative in surpassing the status quo.

There seem to be a need to short circuit the emotional framework of a human subject to manage behaviors prevailing in an individual not aligned to the values required in Operations or organization. Either self initiated or thru external means, the process would ensure the survival of the individual in the organization wherein thru time certain virtues where identified that contributes to the survival of the organization . External means are demonstrated in a PMA plebe recruitment and training program wherein the values of the Organization is oriented in the individual for the purpose of inculturation.  Though executed differently in a civilian organization, the principle is the same. Habits, values and behaviors will have to be unlearned and learned which will require a certain level of intellect for the individual to decide favorably to his survival. Thru patient coaching and counseling, the culture is revealed to the individual.

“When the going gets rough, on the tough ones gets going” the saying goes. Divine in every human being is our capacity for passion, for emotion. When everything has been exhausted in us – physically, mentally, psychologically – there remains the last human straw of emotion. An intense of emotion or passion has sustained great men in their areas of interest. Michaelangelo’s passion for the arts. Longfellow’s passion for poetry. Gokongwei’s passion for business. Patton’s Passion for victory in Europe. Hannibal’s passion for the conquest of Rome. Rizal’s Passion for his country. Henry Sy’s passion for retail. Sun Tzu and Clausewit’z passion for warfare. When all else has been exhausted, there remains the human emotion that over powers all else.

verses from clausewitz

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.

Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.

A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.

Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.

Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain.

All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.

Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.

If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.

The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response.

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

War is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, a carrying out of the same by other means.

War is the continuation of politics by other means.

I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together.

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.

The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes.

War is not an exercise of the will directed at an inanimate matter.

War is regarded as nothing but the continuation of state policy with other means.

War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.

War is the province of danger.

Lessons from Sun Tzu

A leader leads by example not by force.

風　Swift as the wind 林　Quiet as the forest 火　Conquer like the fire 山　Steady as the mountain

To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.

He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

All warfare is based on deception.

Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.

Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle.

A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.

Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities... It is best to win without fighting.

To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape.

One defends when his strength is inadaquate, he attacks when it is abundant

If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him.

Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.

When the enemy is at ease, be able to weary him; when well fed, to starve him; when at rest, to make him move. Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.

A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates.

When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of its momentum. When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing.

The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited and used.

If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders ARE clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.

Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.

The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.

And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.

The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

Too frequent rewards indicate that the general is at the end of his resources; too frequent punishments that he is in acute distress.

Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.

Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.

If you know your enemy and you know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself you will succumb in every battle.

The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

The ultimate in disposing one's troops is to be without ascertainable shape. Then the most penetrating spies cannot pry in nor can the wise lay plans against you.

If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight.

When able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near

If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need to do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.