In the later phase of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte – then a mere Brigadier General (who had, in fact, recently been struck off by the revolutionary Committee of Public Safety and was therefore technically an ex-Brigadier General) famously said that he had used ‘a whiff of grapeshot’ when he repulsed a Royalist mob who, [...]
Napoleon’s first opportunity to demonstrate his exceptional leadership skills came with the French Revolution – the dramatic social upheaval that swept away all of France’s previous power structures and hierarchies, giving this apparently unremarkable young man the opportunity to step onto the world stage.
The young student from Corsica
Napoleon Bonaparte was christened Napoleone di Buonaparte, the [...]
Abraham Lincoln, at a truly critical moment in American history, presented to a troubled and divided nation a clear and commanding vision: that the United States of America was ‘a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th 1809, in a one-room log [...]
One of the most difficult tasks that a leader may face is to change the engrained ‘mood’ of an organisation; its very culture. South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, who, after his release and his later election as president of a country that had voted for the first time on the basis of ‘one man one vote’, [...]
Zhou Enlai was Premier of the People’s Republic of China from the moment the Chinese Communist Party achieved power in 1949, following their defeat of the Nationalist government, until his death in 1976. A dedicated and lifelong communist, Zhou Enlai’s political instincts were moderate and progressive. Famous for his punishing work routine, intelligence and [...]
One of the defining aspects of leadership is courage: having the bravery not only to stand up and ask people to follow but also to put one’s head over the parapet. It is only in the military that this is a literal and life-threatening process; in modern business, it is merely career threatening. When Chief [...]
Taking the Offensive is one of the leadership and business skills that draws most heavily on comparison with military strategy. One of the greatest proponents of offensive strategy in recent military history, for example, was the American General, George S. Patton. Patton had fought in the First World War (in the new United States Tank [...]
Hannibal’s leadership is further explored in History Lessons: what business and management can learn from the great leaders of history
Hannibal Barca was one of the great leaders of all time. Borrowing, to some extent, from the example of Alexander the Great—who had conquered most of the known world a century earlier—Hannibal used bold strategy and clever [...]
‘Changing the mood’ is one of the most challenging problems that a leader of any organisation can face. Successful organisations start off in life with enthusiasm and vigour, driven by the vision of the founders and the early management teams. Sadly, leadership and vision often fade over successive generations of management, and teams begin to [...]
The last cavalry charge
At the end of the nineteenth century, a young twenty-three year-old British cavalry officer serving with the 21st Lancers under the command of General Herbert Kitchener, found himself taking part in what is generally acknowledged to be the last significant charge made by British cavalry, against rebel forces in Sudan. The 400-strong [...]
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