The Stuff of Heroes Newsletter Vol 6, No.2 for executives, managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs on leadership, strategy, business, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship.

The Table of Contents for this Month's Edition of the Journal of Leadership Application

This Month's Topic: Commitment: The Secret of Achieving Your Goals and Objectives

Leadership Lessons from Last Month's Book: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Important Lessons from former Air Force Chief of Staff General Ron Fogelman. I was honored last month to introduce General Ronald Fogleman former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force who spoke to students and faculty at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. This was sponsored by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies. General Fogelman is one of the finest leaders I have ever met, in or out of uniform. I have frequently used him as an example or quoted him in my books and articles. Fogelman spoke on Accountability in the Service of the State: Basis, Expectations and Obligations. His basic message was that accountability for one’s actions is at the heart of the military ethos and should be at the heart of that of any organization. General Fogleman related his own experiences in dealing with the issue of accountability during a particularly turbulent time in the civil military relations in the mid-1990s. He served as the Commander in Chief of the United States Transportation Command from 1992 to 1994 and as the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1994 to 1997. In the history of the Joint Chiefs of Staff he is the only service chief ever to request relief from his duties and early retirement on a matter of principle. His presentation explored a number of important issues, one of which was the conflict between accountability for actions and "the leadership law" which requires a leader to "take care of your people." What does a leader do when a subordinate makes a serious mistake? Both the subordinate and the leader are accountable and the leader must make the decision as to the correct punishment or other action for the infraction, whether the error was unintended or negligent and considering all the circumstances. Peter Drucker said that this type of decision making is the responsibility of all managers. It cannot be delegated to either humans or computers, and is one of the most difficult for all leaders to make, but still doable through a leader's, experience, knowledge and gut feeling in doing the right thing.

Free Online Seminars Offered by Stanford University Center for Professional Development. During the autumn, winter and spring quarters, the Stanford Center for Professional Development at Stanford University makes it possible for the public to view a series of thought-provoking seminars on a broad range of topics at no cost. The weekly seminars feature presentations by distinguished Stanford faculty, senior researchers and industry experts. They are available for viewing online via streaming video. Go to http://scpd.stanford.edu/scpd/students/form.asp to register and for full information.

Seminar on Drucker at the Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia on April 10, 2008. Peter Drucker's contributions and genius are recognized all over the world and I am beginning to speak in many countries about Drucker's "lost lessons" from the classroom and on how to apply his concepts to business, universities, etc. On April 10th, I'll be giving a three hour seminar as part of a conference at one of the most prestigious universities in Colombia, Rosario University in Bogotá. If you are interested in attending, please contact Luisa Fernanda Godoy at luisa.godoy@urosario.edu.co .

Leadership Seminars and Book Signings at the Reserve Officers Association Annual Mid-Winter Conference in Washington, D.C. February 12th and 13th. I've been invited to speak on two successive days at the annual Reserve Officers Association Annual Mid-Winter Conference. Both sessions will be followed by book signings of two different leadership books: The New Art of the Leader: Leading with Integrity and Honor and Wisdom of the Generals: From Adversity to Success and From Fear to Victory. The ROA is supplying the books at no cost to attendees. For more information or to register, go to http://www.roa.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=100601. You may need to meet special qualifications to attend the seminars.

Two New Book Reviews of A Class with Drucker. I have decided to post all book reviews available --- good, bad, and indifferent --- as received. If you see one not posted, please send it and I will include it. Just click Drucker Book Reviews. I've included two new reviews this month.

In 509 BCE, Lars Porsenna, an Etruscan king, led a surprise attack against Rome. Rome was not yet an empire. It was still a city-state. The city was considered almost invulnerable. High walls on three sides and the Tiber River on the remaining side protected it. These obstacles completely surrounded the city proper. However these defenses had an important vulnerability. This was the existence of the wooden Sublician Bridge over the Tiber. In case of attack, the plan was to burn the bridge and a special ops unit was assigned permanently to the bridge for this purpose.

However, the Roman plan of defense was faulty. The bridge was valuable. The Romans did not want to destroy it unnecessarily. So, the unit whose responsibility it was to destroy the bridge was stationed on the far side and forbidden to cross back to the Roman side while on duty. The idea was that if an unfriendly force approached, the officer in-charge could access the situation up close and not destroy the bridge unless it was absolutely necessary. He and the unit would retreat across the bridge and then burn it before an enemy could cross. This procedure had never been tested in practice and in practice, as we will see, it failed.

A young Roman officer by the name of Horatius Cocles captained the special unit that was on duty the day the Etruscans approached. The Etruscans advanced stealthily. By the time Horatius and his men recognized the threat, the Etruscans were almost on top of them. It was too late to destroy the bridge and withdraw safely. The sudden appearance and rapid advance of the Etruscan attack force caused a near panic and Horatius’ men started to run. However, now that he recognized the danger, Horatius was committed to his objective no matter what.

Horatius stopped his men before they could escape without destroying the bridge. He ordered them back to the far side where the Etruscans were almost at the bridge. He persuaded them that their only hope was to set fire to the wooden bridge as rapidly as they could while he and two others delayed the enemy's advance. His personal commitment that he would destroy the bridge and stop the Etruscans, come what may, helped to steady them for their task.

The Etruscans didn’t know what to make of the situation. They were confused that only three men stood between them and the bridge to prevent them from crossing. Their indecision caused a delay which allowed Horatius’ men to set fire to the bridge behind Horatius and his two commandos. The bridge finally ablaze, Horatius ordered the two soldiers with him to retreat through the flames to safety at the last minute. Meanwhile he continued to hold the Etruscans at bay. The two leaped through the flames without injury. .

Meanwhile, Horatius fought on alone. Behind him he heard the weakened bridge fall into the river. Then, even though he wore heavy armor, Horatius jumped into the river. Some say Horatius survived, some say not. All agree that if it were not for Horatius’ commitment to his objective, which he made clear to those he led, the Etruscans would have captured Rome. The story of Horatius was told and retold to generation after generation of Roman school children as well as to new military recruits. Horatius was used as the greatest example of Roman commitment to duty, strength, and honor. 1, 2 We see it an example of leadership commitment at its finest.

If you aren’t totally committed to a project, no one else will be. However, if you are, others will follow you even at great disadvantage to themselves. General Macarthur said: “It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” Napoleon’s admonition said the same thing in a different way: “If you start to take Vienna, take Vienna.” What this means in business is not to go after any objective unless you intend to achieve it. You don’t lead others half-heartedly and win. You lead others to win and to achieve every objective you set. Over time, this becomes a habit such that those you lead know that if you set a certain objective or name a particular goal you intend to achieve it.

2. It confirms that the leader isn’t going to quit before the objective is achieved.

The need for the leader to be strongly committed is as true in business as it is on the battlefield. Jim Collins led a research team that analyzed the Fortune 500 companies during the period 1965-1995. He published his results in Good to Great (Harper Business, 2001).

Collins looked for Fortune 500 companies that had achieved rather unusual results: companies that first had cumulative stock returns at or below the market for fifteen years in a row, but then achieved stock returns of at least three times the market average over the fifteen years following. Out of 1,435 companies that Collins and his group analyzed, only eleven companies fell into this unique category.

While there were many factors that Collins and his team of researchers were able to identify as the reason for the incredible leap from Fortune 500 “good” to Fortune 500 “great,” one of the two factors that showed significant differences in the leadership of the CEOs of these super successful companies versus the 1,421 others was called a “ferocious fearless resolve.” What is a ferocious fearless resolve but total commitment?3

Here are four ways that highly successful leaders show their commitment to what they must achieve:

· To the maximum extent possible, they communicate face-to-face with those they lead

· When they intend for their organizations to do something they make their objectives and commitments public

· They don't stop because of obstacles that pop up on the way to achieving their goals

· Their philosophy is that they will always find a way to reach their objectives: over, under, around, or through

It is important for every leader to recognize that it is unreasonable to expect that anyone will be more committed than the leader. So to achieve your goals and objectives show that "fearless resolve" and demonstrate your commitment in every way that you can.

1 D. Fite, “Horatius Cocles,” (2001) http://www.dl.ket.org/latinlit/historia/people/heroes/horatius01.htm, accessed March 27, 2004.

2 No author listed, “Roman Bridges -- The Pons Sublicius,” http://www.mmdtkw.org/VBridgesSublicius.html, accessed March 27, 2004.

3 Jim Collins, Good to Great (Harper Business, 2001)

Benjamin Franklin was an amazing man. Born poor, he rose to become a leader in many different fields including a businessman, publisher, printer and inventor. He was the first Postmaster General, became an ambassador, and was even a colonel in the colonial militia. Franklin agreed with many leaders who rose to the top of their professions: “Others follow because of my integrity,” he said.

Franklin was tremendously interested in self-development and as a result he put many of his thoughts, ideas, and analysis into his autobiography. This was done to such an extent that many modern writers have termed Franklin’s autobiography America's first self-help book . Although Franklin never actually finished his autobiography, what he did write is tremendously valuable for all leaders today. You'll find the book for free downloading courtesy of Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext94/bfaut11.txt .

1. Benjamin Franklin sought personal self-improvement his entire life. He noted thirteen qualities that he felt important in this regard and resolved to improve himself in each quality every day. Some required him to proactively take actions; others required more that he avoid taking an action. Like the eight universal laws of leadership, the qualities weren't complicated or difficult in any way. However, again like the eight universal laws he found that developing these qualities was sometimes difficult to implement. Without writing things down, or having a means of measurement, he never knew exactly where he stood or whether he was improving or not. Also, he discovered that if he tried to focus on all of the qualities he wanted to develop simultaneously, he frequently got little done on any of them. So, he designed a system which helped him which he himself stated that he hoped would help future generations.

What Franklin did was to write down each quality and then keep track on a daily basis of actions he took or failed to take and the results in a notebook he kept for the purpose. This was done on a daily basis. But he did one thing more that was important. He focused on only one quality at a time. At first he spent only a day on each quality, later this was extended to a week, and still later in his life, an entire month.Those who have read my book The Art of the Strategist: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory (AMACOM, 2004) know that the essence of all strategy is concentrating superior resources at a particular time and place rather than diluting them over either. This is exactly what Franklin did.

Peter Drucker said that every manager is responsible for his own self-development, and he had his own principles of self-development which I discuss in A Class with Drucker: The Lost Lessons of the World's Greatest Management Teacher (AMACOM, 2008). Franklin clearly would have agreed with Drucker that leader self-develop is essential, and that it never stops.

2. Franklin had been key to getting paved streets from the main thoroughfare to the market in Philadelphia. The problem was the adjacent areas were not paved and the paved areas were soon dirty and muddy. Franklin located someone who was willing to sweep and clean the streets twice a week and to haul away the dirt; however who would pay for this service. He first communicated through a flyer sent to all residents listing the advantages of having a clean walkway including the greater ease of keeping their houses clean with less dirt and mud being tracked in, more customers for the merchants as the buyers could get to the shops more easily, no dust blown in windy weather and more. Then he visited each household face-to-face to see who would agree to subscribe. He attained 100% subscriptions.

Now make no mistake --- this was a case of leadership --- but one in which Franklin held no authority over those he was attempting to lead. He had to persuade them to pay for the common good. This he did by showing the the advantages of the services and then following this up with face-to-face communication to close the deal. The lesson here is not only what you can get done with even the minimum of formal authority, even in a volunteer organization, but what you can get done through appropriate communication even with no authority whatsoever and as in the eight universal laws of leadership, showing uncommon commitment.

3. During the French and Indian War Franklin was placed in command of a force of reserves to build forts to defend against Indians who were allied with the French against the British. He found that while engaged in hard work and important tasks they were satisfied and performed well. However, if done and if not busy working on a project they became "mutinous and quarrelsome." This is an important lesson for all of us leading organizations. There may be a difficult task which must be performed. When it is complete, there is a general letdown. Productivity falls off, and there are far more internal problems and troubles than when the group was focused on completing the task.

Charles Garfield, a well-known management psychologist found this two hundred years later in his investigation of peak performers. He found that NASA engineers and managers settled into a plateau of "business as usual" until an important mission had to be accomplished. Then, they were highly motivated and performed at levels which seemed even at times even to exceed their capabilities. Garfield concluded that the importance of the task was critical to performance.

What can you do when an important task has been accomplished? My father, then an Air Force captain based on an island in the Pacific during World War II, observed that after a battle, the Marines would take a very short rest break of a couple days and then immediately begin training hard for the next battle. This idea is something we can adapt to any organization. Training is but one example. It is always an important activity, and if properly explained to those led, defining the next objective, it in itself can be an important motivator and prevent that decline of productivity and other problems which Franklin observed. However being proactive and working toward and getting ready for any task, even if as yet unassigned, can work just as well --- just don't forget to communicate with those you lead and explain what you are doing and how this will make life much easier once the project is assigned, or for other similar projects even if the exact project anticipated is never assigned.

4. Several years prior to his death, Peter Drucker surprised many by describing leadership as "a marketing job." He said that it had to be approached in terms of not what the leader wanted, but what was desired by those led. Franklin described an excellent example of what Drucker was talking about:

Good advice for us all. Our challenge is to see how we can apply it to situations which involve neither prayers nor rum!

These are just a few of the lessons I got from reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. What lessons did you get from the book. Forward these to me, and if usable and with your permission, I'll include it in a future issue.

There have been many translations of Sun Tzu, but only in the last fifty years or so have western military theorists recognized its worth and begun to read it and study it in earnest. And even then, it’s value was not immediately appreciated. For example, when I studied the great military thinkers at West Point, Sun Tzu was not included.

It wasn’t until Samuel B. Griffith, a Marine Corps Brigadier General translated Sun Tzu in 1963 (Oxford University Press), that the U.S. military began widespread reading of the text. This edition was helped along because the British writer B.H. Liddell Hart, one of the greatest military thinkers and strategists of our time, wrote the foreword.

This translation was followed by numerous others, including by James Clavell author of such popular books as Shogun and Tai-Pan and several translations into English from modern Chinese, interpreted originally by officers of the Peoples Liberation Army. Today, there are dozens of translations, and a few individuals have based their entire careers on teaching Sun Tzu's concepts of leadership and strategy. With all this, the text translation provided through the hyperlink by the Gutenberg Project, done in 1910, was one of the first in modern times, and it may well be the best.

Sun Tzu is recognized primarily for his insights into strategy. Nevertheless, there is much regarding leadership from which any student wishing to use improve his or her ability to lead can gain.

On War is a short book divided in to thirteen chapters. The translator has included his own commentary in these thirteen chapters, but afterwards provides a translation of the pure text without comment. I recommend reading it in exactly the order presented. I promise that you will gain many insights if you will immerse yourself in Sun Tzu’s thoughts and reasoning. At times this will be a challenge, for Sun Tzu speaks to you not only from a different cultures, but across two thousand years of history.

The link to the book is http://www.gutenberg.org/files/132/132.txt (text version). For those that want to experiment, the Gutenberg Project now provides audio links at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20594 (audio versions).

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