Leadership lessons are just everywhere around us. Many also form the basis for Organization Culture. We just need to observe the world and seek these lessons. History has many such lessons, which are important because the result is dramatic. If it weren’t dramatic, it won’t be in the history books, isn’t it?
Many leadership lessons are in military anecdotes. Simon Sinek has some in his book, Leaders Eat Last (affiliate link). I have come across more dramatic anecdotes from the World Wars. Here are some from WWII.
Table of Contents
Loss of France: Importance of Communication
France was known to have the best equipped and best trained military in Europe. But they got captured by Germany in a surprisingly short period of just six weeks. The reason was lack of good communication between the departments and with the leadership. The chief did not have a telephone ‘for security reasons’. Warnings by soldiers on the ground, of German tanks headed their way, were not believed. The senior officer in-charge was travelling to meet and greet.
When the German tanks arrived, they did not face much resistance. Their speed of progress was grossly underestimated by the French, and nothing was done to get accurate information. They assumed it based on their own methods while the Germans worked very differently (termed blitzkrieg, or lightening war).
Lesson to Learn: Have proper communication channels between all personnel and leadership. Trust the word of those on the ground instead of leaders going by their own instincts.
The Battle of Britain: Pleasing the Boss
After capturing France, the only big target left in West Europe was Britain. Hitler didn’t want further war with Britain, so his attacks on London were only to get them to agree for truce. All that effort didn’t work, just because someone was not providing the correct information to the bosses to keep them happy.
Joseph “Beppo” Schmid, the head of the Military Intelligence Branch of the Luftwaffe (air force) provided all feel-good information to his bosses instead of real intelligence. His boss, Hermann Göring (the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe), never had correct data and continued being overconfident of wins against Britain because of this misinformation.
Lesson to Learn: Do not encourage yes-men. They will keep you blinded of the problems you need to resolve.
The Battle of Midway: Sticklers for Processes
After Pearl Harbour Japan wanted to wipe out the rest of the Pacific Fleet of USA. That was the only way to continue their capture of South Asian regions. As long as this US fleet existed, there would be resistance. They laid a trap at the Midway Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean, to destroy the aircraft carriers of the US. However, the events ended with Japan’s own aircraft carriers getting wiped out. All of them.
The Japanese admiral in-charge of the mission, Chūichi Nagumo, was a stickler for processes. He went by the book when the situation became different than planned. The Japanese lost a whole lot of time in making changes and became sitting ducks when the enemy bombers arrived.
Lesson to learn: Being too rigid with processes, and having very detailed processes, does not allow quick adaptability in different situations.
There are many such anecdotes from history to learn leadership from. If you would like more posts on this topic then do comment below, share on social media, and write to us.
Popular Books on Leadership (Affiliate Links to Amazon)
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership : Follow Them and People Will Follow You
Author: John C. Maxwell
CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest
Authors: Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Author: Stephen R Covey
The Diary of a CEO : The 33 Laws of Business and Life
Author: Steven Bartlett
The 5 AM Club
Author: Robin Sharma
Disclaimer: BizLeader does not endorse the ideas and suggestions in any of these books. These books are popular, so at least some readers have liked them. Leadership methods aren’t black or white. Each person has a different personality, and so a different leadership style. Some leadership styes we prefer reflects in our posts. We do not expect all to agree with us. Also, the way you achieve success too may differ. Some through discipline and a strict regimen, while another may be successful even while breaking all known rules.