![\"\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/will.png?w=150\")
illiam Shakespeare \u2013 who would have turned 453 ![\"people\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/people.png?w=300\")
<\/a>on Sunday, if he hadn\u2019t died 401 years ago Sunday \u2013 wrote a bit about kings, warfare, diplomacy, and the application of power. In other words, about what it is to be a leader. Specifically, a bad leader.<\/p>\nBad behavior rules the canon. Being a humble, virtuous man did not make for great drama four centuries ago any more than it does now. (No one watches House of Cards<\/em>, Scandal<\/em>, or Billions<\/em> for inspiring messages of hope).<\/p>\n Some plays offer little for today\u2019s world: Macbeth<\/em> is a charismatic but weak man goaded into becoming king by his wife, who ultimately exerts all authority. That\u2019s certainly a tale of little relevance today, as is Lear<\/em>, a king who descends into madness after transferring power to his daughters.<\/p>\n Shakespeare\u2019s kings serve as a helpful primer on what not<\/em> to do.<\/p>\n Richard II\u2019s flaw \u2013 besides being a scheming, greedy tyrant \u2013 comes from his sense of \u201croyal privilege\u201d. He believed that, as king, he was God\u2019s chosen ruler; as such, whatever he wanted, God wanted, so he should have.<\/p>\n Not all the water in the rough rude sea How often do we These tales always become ones of comeuppance; in this, Henry Bolingbroke, rightfully angered by his (and his family\u2019s) treatment at the hands of the king, brilliantly builds a coalition and overthrows Richard.<\/p>\n Bolingbroke was a great leader. Inspired by his mistreatment, he deposes the king and launches the House of Lancaster. But something happened between the curtain dropping on Richard II<\/em> and opening on Henry IV, Part He tries to govern via bureaucracy. He fights battles (literally) on many fronts, attempting to prove his legitimacy and hold onto power. His creative energy was spent getting the job, and then on keeping<\/em> the job. At no point does he articulate a vision for England, beyond getting his stolen silver back. Luckily, in modern times, we don\u2019t see people leading campaigns for jobs, only to find out they don\u2019t know what to do once there.<\/p>\n Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n At some point, we all feel a sense of \u201cimposter syndrome\u201d. Surely, <\/em>the thinking goes, there must be somebody better, or smarter, or more tactful, to be doing this than I. <\/em>This is normal, and probably helps keep us grounded and humble, on our toes. Henry thought himself a fraud: Even after leading the movement against divine right, he started believing he had indeed usurped the throne, and lacked authenticity. This obsession hobbled his ability to lead.<\/p>\n Skipping a generation brings us to Henry VI, a king so dysfunctional Let me embrace thee, sour adversity; His team fractures, and he is unable to hold them together. They quickly take sides and declare their allegiance:o underscore the complete lack of control, they wear red \u201cI\u2019m With York\u201d or white \u201cLancaster Rocks!\u201d roses to announce their loyalty (hence, \u201cThe Wars of the Roses\u201d).<\/p>\n This lack of alignment leads to war and carnage. Today\u2019s leaders aren\u2019t faced with as much swordplay, but failure to engage the organization during troubling times \u2013 such as the loss of a territory \u2013 only begins to sow insubordination. (Even today, there are American Airlines pilots who still wear their \u201cCactus Finger\u201d lapel pin protesting the 2005 America West merger with USAirways.)<\/p>\n Shakespeare glosses over the Edwards \u2013 IV, who had a brief tenure in the middle of Henry VI\u2019s reign, and later succeeded him; and V, who never made the highly-regarded\/mostly meaningless 100-day mark \u2013 but goes all in with Richard III, as conniving and venal a character as ever staged.<\/p>\n So what was really wrong with the guy? Besides the fact that he sentenced his brother, the heir to the throne, to the Tower of London? And then dispatched assassins? And that he seduced the widow of Henry VI\u2019s son, whom he had killed, putting the moves on her in front of the slain body of her father? Who just so happened to be Richard\u2019s mentor? And he himself did the slaying?<\/p>\n He adopts a public persona of being a humble servant, lacking in pretentiousness and overflowing with piety, then executes his main detractor and spreads illegitimacy rumors about his competition. (We can all be Richard so wanted power that he did anything and everything to get it. Like Bolingbroke, he had no plans for what to do once in power. He did not want to lead, but to command. He wanted people to bow before him, and he found a way to make that happen. His violent and reprehensible path to the throne left little support or affiliation, and he realizes how alone he is whilst preparing for (what became) his final battle. Hell, even his horse famously left him.<\/p>\n Richard III \u2013 like another Richard, years later \u2013 saw enemies everywhere. If you look for adversaries, you will find them. Even if they weren\u2019t foes to begin with, presuming that others are out to get you \u2013 or your job \u2013 leads to the leadership behaviors (secrecy, duplicity) that fuel rebellious fire.<\/p>\n Henry VI was regarded as a decent, honest guy \u2013 but had no desire to be king. Whether he was fundamentally unfit, or just had no interest in the job, he didn\u2019t do it well. Many people take on roles because they feel it\u2019s \u201cwhat\u2019s next\u201d; even if it\u2019s a necessary stepping stone, a lack of desire is easily read and leads to a lack of engagement. Henry IV didn\u2019t want the job, either \u2013 he just didn\u2019t want Richard II to have it.<\/p>\n Shakespeare\u2019s eight history plays treat Leadership as a family business \u2013 which was largely true for the Houses of Plantagenet, Lancaster, and York. In fact, Lancaster sets the prototype for the rise and fall of a family business \u2013 Henry IV builds the foundation, his irresponsible son rises to the challenge and flourishes in every respect, and the third generation lets it go to hell.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All is not winters of discontent in Shakespeare\u2019s plays; in fact, for Henry V, almost all is well. From his proto-Ted Talk on the eve of Agincourt to his ability to build alliances, he was \u2013 and remains \u2013 a highlight of Western history. But St. Crispin\u2019s Day \u2013 October 25th<\/sup> \u2013 is a more appropriate time to review his success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shakespeare gave us the language of love, but he also gave us some darn good rules for management.<\/p>\nHaving the Title Does Not Make You the Leader<\/h4>\n
\n
\nCan wash the balm off from an anointed king;
\nThe breath of worldly men cannot depose
\nThe deputy elected by the Lord<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/sw_richard2_011.jpg?w=150\")
see others assume the mantle of leadership \u2013 from first-time floor supervisors to presidents and CEOs \u2013 presume that, because they are The Boss, whatever they say goes? Even if it were true, what good can come from building resentment and disparaging the very people we are supposed to inspire? (Rhetorical question!)<\/p>\nThat Said, Don\u2019t Be Afraid to Lead<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/henry4.jpg?w=139\")
One<\/em>. A brilliant tactician in taking<\/em> power, as King Henry IV, he is incapable of actually using<\/em> his power.<\/p>\n\n
Don\u2019t Presume the Team Is Aligned<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_2849.jpg?w=300\")
it took three plays to cover his failures. (Although the first of the three, \u201cThe Phantom Menace\u201d, is just not very good.) Henry VI is nowhere near the leader (or man) his father was, and he starts to lose control of the French territories that Henry V had so masterfully won. (And because it\u2019s a woman<\/em>, of all things, besting him, he makes sure she is vilified as a witch and a whore).<\/p>\n\n
\nFor wise men say it is the wisest course.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nDon\u2019t Forget to Be Human<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/342b67bf00000578-3590907-image-m-74_1463268016200.jpg?w=150\")
Bacon said he was \u201ca good lawmaker\u201d \u2013 in other words, a policy wonk \u2013 but no one has ever had anything else nice to say. Afflicted with minor scoliosis (that \u201ca good tailor\u201d could have hidden, according to the Daily Mail<\/em>), Shakespeare created the popular image of a monster \u2013 a \u201cpoisonous toad\u201d with a twisted head, mismatched legs, a horrible lurch and a limp arm \u2013 that remains to this day.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/eb093910790c1f23ed1f8aca2b7f3d8c.jpg?w=150\")
thankful modern-day campaigns don\u2019t behave this way).<\/p>\nDon\u2019t Be Paranoid<\/h4>\n
If You Don\u2019t Want the Job, Don\u2019t Take the Job<\/h4>\n
Don\u2019t Ignore Succession Planning<\/h4>\n