Author: michaelbelcher

In the Dale Carnegie [and Associates, Inc. (natch)] book The Leader in You they tell the story of Julius Caesar, during his campaign in Gaul, landing on the south coast of England and then burning his ships; ensuring his troops will not have a means of retreat. It’s in the chapter 14: Creating a Positive Mental Attitude.

“One of a leader’s most important jobs, then is to set a positive, self confident tone, showing others that failure isn’t even a possibility.”

It makes for a good visual, doesn’t it? This great conqueror, who has already marched over much of continental Gaul has set his sights on England, like so many conquerors before and since. The story talks about the legions on the white cliffs of Dover looking down at their ships being set ablaze. Caesar, so sure of his legions that he cut off their link with Europe so they must conquer, and win, or perish.

“What else could they do but advance? What else could they do but conquer? What else could they do but fight with every ounce of strength that was buried in their souls? That is precisely what they did.”

Only, they didn’t.

On Caesar’s first invasion attempt many of his ships were damaged by the strong tides and storms, but the Romans eventually repaired as many ships as possible and retreated back to the continent until the next year. His second attempt fared much better, with him marching to the Thames, but his ships were still damaged by the extreme Atlantic and Channel tides. There is no account of him purposefully burning any of his ships.

Other conquerors have burned, or sunk, their boats behind them to create a “point of no return”, including Hernan Cortez, the conquistador, in 1519.

But this story is supposed to be an illustration on LEADERSHIP, not a history lesson, so how does the accompanying advice measure up? Just like the history lesson, it’s also BS.

Telling people their job is “showing others that failure isn’t even a possibility” is horrible advice. Failure is always close by, and will happen. Hell, Caesar had to retreat after the first invasion failed.

Better advice, that would fit the actual historic account of Caesar’s invasions of England, would be:
“One of a leader’s most important jobs, then, is to set a positive, self confident tone, showing others that failure in most cases doesn’t lead to instant death and dismemberment can be learned from, and that success can follow after a failure.”

There: a much more accurate portrayal of how failure works, and a much more accurate portrayal of Julius Caesar.

Sadly, a lot of managers reading this book (it’s pushed as a “must read!” to those moving up in the ranks at my company) may actually take advice like this to heart. Please don’t.

Instead think – consciously sit down and examine – all the advice you get. Whether from a book or mentor, whether about managing people or your 401K. Not every piece of advice is applicable to you. Some are downright silly. Others require you to first analyze yourself before you can judge the advice. But none should be taken on whole-heartedly without first understanding what the advice is really suggesting.