“The Leadership Genius of Julius Caesar — Modern Lessons from the Man Who Built an Empire” by Phillip Barlag (Berret-Koehler Publishers, $24.95).Most books written about Caesar were written by historians and focused on his accomplishments. Barlag delves into the “how” of the accomplishments by identifying his leadership skills — many of which are topics of […]
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“The Leadership Genius of Julius Caesar — Modern Lessons from the Man Who Built an Empire” by Phillip Barlag (Berret-Koehler Publishers, $24.95).
Most books written about Caesar were written by historians and focused on his accomplishments. Barlag delves into the “how” of the accomplishments by identifying his leadership skills — many of which are topics of today's business books. The major leadership lesson: Caesar used power, not force, to lead. He understood that power comes from the ability to motivate others by focusing on a common goal. In wartime, he lived that goal by marching beside his troops, eating in their mess hall and listening to their feedback, and talk of what they planned to do when the campaign ended. He called his troops comrades to remind them that he was one of them. They chose to follow him because they respected him and trusted him to keep his word.
At the Battle of Munda, his army was tired and wanted to rest before engaging the enemy again. Caesar drew his sword and raced up the hill alone — but not for long. His troops saw he was leading from the front, and raced after him. Putting his life on the line showed his commitment to victory. Leading from the front becomes critically important when tough decisions have to be made.
In times of peace, Caesar worked across the aisle and reminded political opponents that they were citizens of Rome and owed a responsibility to all Romans. He spoke of mutual benefit. This increased their interest in working with him.
We all know how it ended. His opponents became jealous as Caesar's popularity and power grew. They feared that, as emperor, he would resort to force to rule. They clearly didn't understand the man's motivation.
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“Hard-Won Wisdom — True Stories from the Management Trenches” by Jathan Janove (AMACOM, $17.95).
People problems and problem people are obstacles on productivity's path. Dealing with these issues often takes an inordinate amount of a manager's time and affects staff cohesion. Based upon Janove's stories, here are some of the ways management can save time (and face) and ensure people are on the same page:
Use “star profiles” when selecting people for promotion. Think beyond the job description (i.e. the tasks) and focus on the core behaviors required to succeed in a position. Define success in four or five sentences for each position; your “star profile” should include the soft skills needed to work with others. Why? Approach to teamwork/team-building, willingness to listen and communications style heavily influence their ability to produce results.
Janove makes this point with the story of Morris, a former military officer, who excelled at his non-supervisory job. When the title of acting department supervisor was added, Morris relied on his military command-and-control background to manage his staff. Subordinates complained. Productivity and morale plummeted. When counseled by upper management and offered leadership training, Morris stuck to his guns. The blame wasn't all Morris'; management set him up to fail by not taking the soft skills required of his new position into account.
“To end a feud, apply the 'Triple Two' ” to deal with conflicts. Rather than stepping in as a manager, which may be viewed as taking sides, encourage the parties to answer three job-interaction questions that require two responses each: 1. “What are two things I should start doing? 2. “What are two things I should stop doing? What are two things I should continue to do?”
The Triple Two allows the parties to air their differences and discuss their perspectives in terms of job context. More often than not, the parties will see that finding a common ground will increase their productivity.
In addition to advice on employee selection and conflict resolution, Janove covers employee engagement, performance management, harassment/bullying and stopping problems before they start.n
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
