Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Success Principle # 3 – Offensive Action

Posted: March 7, 2012 in Brilliant Manoeuvres, Business, Crisis Leadership, Enterprise Robustness, Entrepreneurship, Exploiting Change, Leadership, Management, Military Lessons, Never Fight Fair, Opportunity, Innovation and Adaptation, Personal Development, Strategy, Uncategorized
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Nobody ever won a war by staying on the defensive. When you’re on the defensive, you willingly or unwillingly cede the advantage and the initiative to your opponent. In war this is the enemy, but in business, it can the competition or other stakeholders that don’t have the same objectives as you do and who are willing to interfere with your ability to achieve your aims, sometimes with great vigour and aggressiveness.

Sometimes you do have to cede ground and go on the defensive temporarily. This can be to rest, recover and regroup, or just to gain a temporary position from which to continue your advance.

There are four key points to seize and maintain the initiative so you can maintain offensive action:

  • Know what your objective is.
  • Manoeuvre from a position of strength against your opponent’s weaknesses.
  • Build on successes by preparing for breakthroughs and pouring forces into the breech when you have one.
  • Be relentless in pursuing the opposition and in pressing your advantage.

© 2012 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes permitted with full and proper attribution.

Success Principle # 2 – Maintain morale

Posted: March 6, 2012 in Brilliant Manoeuvres, Business, Crisis Leadership, Enterprise Robustness, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Military Lessons, Personal Development, Uncategorized
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This is very similar to one of the principles of military leadership, because it is so fundamental to any kind of undertaking. Morale is the willingness to persevere and fight in the face of obstacles, opposition, resistance, and even temporary defeat. You haven’t truly lost until you admit defeat. Therefore, morale is faith that you and your side will ultimately prevail.

Persistance, determination, faith, prevail. These are all words that are just as applicable in business or anything other undertaking as they are in war and conflict. Nothing ever works the first time you try it, or if it does, it’s often a fluke. Assumptions prove unfounded; estimations can be grossly incorrect; people in the company resist the new way of doing things; competitors imitate your initiative and fight back with their own approaches. You need strong morale, perseverance, and an unshakeable faith that you will ultimately prevail.

Many people only see the ‘overnight’ successes of a Facebook or other tech wonders. What most people fail to appreciate is all the work and consistent effort that went into that success. They see the tip of the iceberg that is the project or business being brought to successful fruition, but they don’t see the 95% of the iceberg that was all the work and sweat in the face of discouragement, opposition, mistakes, and just plain friction that had to be overcome. They see the rewards but they don’t see the morale that was needed to achieve them.

© 2012 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes permitted with full and proper attribution.