Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Sun TzuRead
When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or not he is in a position to fight, the result is ruin.
Interpretation
When leaders act on personal feelings rather than strategy, it can lead to disastrous outcomes.
This quote emphasizes the importance of discipline and strategic thinking in leadership, particularly in military contexts. Sun Tzu warns that when officers act out of anger or personal resentment, without waiting for the commander-in-chief's guidance, they risk jeopardizing the entire mission and ultimately facing ruin. It underscores the need for unity, adherence to authority, and careful consideration in decision-making during critical moments.
In practice
In a leadership seminar discussing the importance of strategic thinking.
Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Great results, can be achieved with small forces.
To capture an enemies army is better than to destroy it.
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.
You can ensure the success of your attacks if you only attack places that are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. Therefore, that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result 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.
You need people who can walk their companies into the future rather than back them into the future.
If I had to reduce the responsibilities of a good follower to a single rule, it would be to speak truth to power.
You acquire more influence with young people when you give up using your power to control them...and the more you use your power to try to control people the less influence you'll have on their lives.
Great leaders don't succeed because they are great. They succeed because they bring out the greatness in others.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.
In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.
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