How a Leader Can Bring Misfortune
Sun Tzu showed three ways for a leader to bring misfortune. They are, in his words, “ 1- By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
2- By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.
3- By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.”
In business, the same rules are applied. 1- A leader that tells you impossible tasks to do without a clear vision or reality of doing it is a hindrance and not a help. Many people know what it is like to serve under an incompetent leader shouting out orders that they do not know can even be carried out or not. This type of leader lowers moral and causes confusion and dissension in the minds of employees.
2- Sometimes someone is promoted that doesn't deserve or understand the position. They may be used to administering something else, but not be familiar with the field of conduct in that business. Many of these leaders can make mistakes because they are, in fact, ignorant of the needs of the employees. When employees realize the leader doesn't really know how they feel or what is going on, they feel restless and do start looking for a new job. Many great employees are lost to bad management.
3- Managers should be hired for their qualifications. If upper management doesn't use effective discrimination techniques, then they may get managers that are incompetent. Some companies just hire who has been there the longest, when, in fact, people should be hired based on their competency. Managers that are incompetent will not know how to adapt to changing circumstances due to their lack of experience or inability to grasp the job. Once subordinates realize the new manager cannot adapt to changing circumstances, they feel vulnerable because any thing coming along can hurt the company. Then, when the confidence of the employees waxes cold, there will be lost productivity and loss of the best performers that will look to work for a great manager, not an average or bad one.
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