Leadership: lessons from "War and Peace"

Published: 2010-12-19   There are 4 comments ... please add yours below

Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” is a noisy and emotional reminder of Napoleon Bonaparte’s destructive but futile invasion of Russia and the French occupation of Moscow. This campaign is also central to Leo Tolstoy’s novel, “War and Peace”. My wife and I recently revisited the BBC’s 20-part TV version of 1972, starring a young Anthony Hopkins. It remains engaging and moving – and Tolstoy’s narrative makes important points about leadership. Check below and see which of the main characters has most to teach us.

For simplicity, I’ve chosen just six characters and from each a single leadership lesson.

• Find your true north. The central character, Pierre Bezukhov, inherits a vast fortune when young but is dissolute. Swept along (including into an ill-advised marriage), he often exclaims “but how did it happen?” After near-death experiences, he matures into firm beliefs and becomes a public figure and reformer.
• Support others: Anna Drubetskaya helps Pierre with shrewd advice and interventions in the early years when his inheritance is threatened by his relations. She similarly works tirelessly to help her son get started on what becomes a glittering career.
• Maintain a positive mindset. Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre’s closest friend, is well organised and master of his own career. But, cynicism, compounded by personal unhappiness, leads him to seek death in battle, since he sees no merit in continuing to live.
• Hold to your values. Nicolai Rostov, a gregarious Hussar, believes in the old certainties of religion, the Tsar, comradeship, hard work and social stability. Holding true to these, he recovers his family fortune and finds success and happiness in the post-war period.
• Be realistic and practical. General Kutuzov, C-in-C of the Russian Army, is wise and cares deeply for the life of every soldier. He rails in private against those, like the young Tsar, who’ve “read all the books”. Only with difficulty can he pursue his prudent strategy of withdrawing towards and then beyond Moscow. He thus ensnares Napoleon in a mirage of success – that destroys the French army and Napoleon’s reputation.
• Remain humble, particularly when successful. Central to Napoleon’s failure and the disastrous retreat from Moscow is his unwillingness to listen to his generals and give due credit to Kutuzov’s abilities. Like many famous failures, he believes himself invincible.

Great historical novels have much to teach us about leadership, as about life in general. If we learn the lessons above, we’ll be better leaders – whether of frontline teams, operating divisions or entire organisations.

Please share below any reflections you have on the six lessons I’ve cited. Alternatively, the most important leadership lesson you’ve learnt during 2010.

Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®