Leaders Don't Have Plan- B

The credit of the free & democratic world goes to Sir Winston Churchill. He was the only man who stood firm against Hitler's might when others were surrendering. In May 1940, many members of Churchill's war cabinet pressurized him to cut a deal with Hitler through mediation offered by Italy. It was the 'Plan-B' for England to save the country from Hitler's brutal invasion & humiliation defeat. It was also planned to move the King to Canada to save him & his British empire from a humiliating defeat. The king asked Churchill about it. Churchill never accepted 'Plan B'. His only plan was 'Victory'. He succeeded against the might of Hitler only because he never thought or accepted the 'Plan B'. He only wanted Victory & always waved victory fingers at media while facing reversals on all fronts.

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat". --- Winston Churchill

Churchill became the greatest leader of his time because he never ever accepted a 'Plan-B' in any form. He only wanted victory Rather, he inflicted the 'Plan-B' on enemies and made them surrender. Churchill's determination & commitment to his mission saved the world from the brutalities of Adolf Hitler. He was a philosopher, writer & great orator. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1953 was awarded to Churchill "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."

“It is no use saying ‘we are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”--- Winston Churchill

What is plan-A? There could be many ways of going about the fulfillment of the mission. Different leaders might use different technics. These technics are not plans. Some leaders might work on incremental approach & reach their mission in stages that doesn't mean they are working on the plan-B. A leader works on a concrete plan which may combine many other plans, there may be alternative plans within the main plan to take care of eventualities. A leader also uses different tactics to make his plan-A work & moderate them from time to time. But all these activities are plan-A. This set of activities of strategy, plan & tactics are together called Plan-A.

Plan-A is a binder which bonds the team firmer. The team realizes the value of association & feels synergy of teamwork.

Plan-A is a maximum solution. It is an ideal solution. It is the dream comes true. The team understands the benefits if plan-A works for them. But plan-A is too costly, impossible, with the maximum probability of failure, breaks up the morale of the team in case they lose contact with the leader. A leader needs to constantly re-fuel resources & morale of the team. Plan-A is a bumpy ride, one feels the pain. It is a seesaw, full of ups immediately followed by downs. It is a roller coaster ride with interim happiness & sorrows, smiles & tears. It is swimming in the ocean, a team can easily felt at loss & lose a sense of direction.

Plan-A is an ultimate solution whereas a Plan-B is an optimal solution.

What is Plan-B? It is a radically different approach. It takes out a lot of risk, pressure, pain, resources requirements, rigor, etc compared to the plan-A. It is a relatively smoother ride. But involves trade-offs. It is a standby plan & can be triggered only when the team loses faith in the plan-A. Plan-B is also a set of activities including strategy, plans & tactics. But the expected outcome of plan-B is not the same as the outcome of plan-A. There are serious trade-offs. One has to settle for the less. The tea may not get the winner's feeling.

How leaders make their 'Plan-A' work? Leaders have a set of plans but only to achieve their mission. Plans are their ways to reach their dreams. They induce energy in their team by inspiring them with the mission. Accepting plan-B or negotiated solution dilutes the mission & brings down the spirit. Many great leaders felt that thinking of plan-B was a waste of time, it reduces focus from plan-A & creates confusion among the team. Some feel that accepting the plan-B is a step towards accepting a defeat, plan-B is an excuse.

Mission is the purpose of existence of the leaders. Those who negotiated it for plan-B got ejected from their leadership position

Kings who accepted the power of invaders, & decided to play second fiddle, helped their kingdom to get vanished. Those who refused to negotiate wrote history. Leaders have a huge ability to make their plan-A, the mission, work. How they do it?

By developing a Vision Leaders develop a vision from their mission. Vision is virtual reality. A leader puts VR box in front of the eyes of the team. The team starts looking at the world after the mission is realized. They start living a daydream. The leader knows that the team will work towards a mission when they see it visually. Vision serves that purpose. Once the team adopts the vision plan-B becomes redundant. The team tries to convert virtual reality into reality.

By cutting off a rope to retreat: Shivaji Maharaj was one of the greatest warriors of all times. He led his people of Maharashtra state in India against the fight with the Mughal invaders. This is a story of his lieutenants who fought the battle of Sinhadad.

Tanaji was leading the team of 300 soldiers to fight a guerrilla war against 5000 Mughals. They had captured Shivaji's fort. Tanaji & his team climbed a stiff cliff which was never contemplated by Mughals. They were caught by surprise when the battle started. Unfortunately, Tanaji got wounded & fell, most of the soldiers started running away. Shelarmama, Tanaji's uncle, came to rescue. He had several choices which could become 'Plan-B'. He could have continued fighting and hoping soldiers could come back and follow his example. Or he could have stopped fighting and started trying to stop the soldiers who were running away. Shelarmama did not do any of the above. He did exactly what an excellent military commander would have done in this case. He went and cut off the ropes to retreat. The only two choices faced by soldiers were to jump off the cliff and die or to turn and fight back. The risk of running away suddenly increased to infinity, while the risk of fighting the battle remained the same. So soldiers turned back, fought & won the battle. Shivaji Maharaj never had plan-B. He always worked for 'Self-rule'. He never negotiated it even against the mighty military power of invaders.

Leaders source of power is their burning desire to make their mission work. They never tame their aspiration for comfort.

Shivaji Maharaj had always sought victory & self-rule. He was the first Hindu king who never allowed Mughals to rule with the power of the sword. He inspired, recruited & trained ordinary peasants for the cause of 'self-rule' & over-powered invaders.

By connecting the mission to the survival Leaders successfully create a survival instinct among their team by connecting the mission to survival. The team swears by the mission. It gets priority over personal events & choices. Shivaji Maharaj wanted to give the mission to Tanaji when he visited for Shivaji Maharaj for inviting him to Son's wedding. The moment Tanaji got to know about the leader's wish, he postponed the wedding program in spite of the leader's preparedness to postpone the date of the mission after the wedding. Tanaji made a historical statement which can be translated from Marathi to English as " First comes the wedding of the enemy occupied fort, (the mission) & then my son's."

Great leaders align the team with the mission. The connect ensures participation & commitment of team members.

The members of the team get convinced that their fate is directly connected to the success of the mission & they will be the beneficiary if the mission works well. The leader transfers the ownership of the mission to the team. The team feels a sense of responsibility & commits itself to it.

The glorification of mission Leaders develop pride in the mission. They do it by connecting the mission to the great cause of humanity. The team is convinced about the social aspects & impact of their mission. Some leaders develop national pride through their mission. The team members feel excited by getting associated with such a mission.

Leaders glorify mission & create an identity for the team through its mission.

The team fears identity crisis in case they accept plan-B by negotiating their mission. In the modern era, Brexit can be the best example. Engish masses felt the loss of identity due to their merger in EU & also loss of mission to dominate the European economy.

By out-weighing benefits Leaders identify or develop benefits in the plan-A which out-weighs the benefit in any other plan. A leader develops logical reasoning in favor of the mission. The professional analysis favors the mission over any plan-B. The team can't imagine any other plan.

The resourcefulness of the team When the team is assured of the required resources & made to believe that if they do right things rigorously then plan-B is not required. The team develops core competencies & synergies required to make the plan-A work.

Great leaders develop their teams to take risks. Their team feels challenged by risk rather than developing fear of failure

By making the team risk resilient The leader develops the team to take a risk & convert the total risk into the calculated risk. The leader works for developing the confidence of the team with his consistent approach, constant support & trust in the members of the team. A leader makes efforts to develop the right perspective & perception of the members of the team. The look at the risks as a part of the game.Making

Plan-B is the trade-off. A leader hates to negotiate his dream. He doesn't want to settle for anything less than his mission

The mission is non-negotiable. Once the team starts living the vision then mission becomes a non-returnable path. The team starts talking about their mission & take pride in chasing it. Not only the leader but the team also hates to think about the plan-B. The mission becomes the ego of the team. It becomes the collective aspiration of the team.

Mission provides energy & induces confidence. Plan-B drains the energy, confidence & enthusiasm.

Once the mission becomes the only option, even enemies dare not to touch it. Men on mission attract cosmic power. It gets concentrated on the mission. Watch the video of Arnold Schwarzenegger by clicking the link below. He explains how he hated the plan-B & always acted only on plan-A.

About the Author: Prof Dr. Ajit Patil was awarded 'Top Voice on LinkedIn - 2017'. He is a Management Writer; Marketing, Business Development & Retailing Consultant. He conducts Management Development Programmes; trains & coaches Sales & Marketing teams. He has been teaching MBA students in India & overseas for over 18 years. He can be reached at [email protected]

Prof Dr. Ajit Patil with his dear friend Youran Li, at her farmhouse near the Great Wall, Bejing, China, May 2018.