Leadership: Art or Science?

"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy."

Leadership is not an exact science, an art, and on most occasions, it is situational. Reading about great leaders and their successes and failures is fascinating.

It is often believed that the war for liberating America was won by the superior military strategy of one man - General George Washington in 1776. General Washington was inexperienced and fought a vastly superior British Army of regulars. The British Army represented an empire and was backed by its untrammelled resources against a bunch of rag-tag irregulars, poorly equipped. The odds must have been impossible!

It must be remembered that George Washington had to face off against General Cornwallis, an experienced leader. Later Lord Cornwallis, who was the Governor General of India played a significant role in consolidating British rule in India, including the eventual defeat of Tipu Sultan at Srirangapatna, near Mysore.

So what contributed to General Washington's success as a leader?

1. General Washington decided not to micromanage his field officers and impose a battlefield strategy on his field commanders

Washington empowered his field commanders to make quick decisions without waiting for his consent. The strategy or lack of a concrete one led to agility and often unexpected tactics that kept the orderly British commanders guessing. George Washington always had the element of surprise and deployed his limited resources smartly. Only a supremely confident leader delegates and allows decision-making at the ground level and allows them to move swiftly. A classic flat organisation.

2. General Washington decided not to make himself supreme ruler of the United States of America

After the British were vanquished and the United States formed, General Washington, relinquished his supreme commander status and handed power back to the American people. As a leader, he was far ahead of his time and did not hanker after power, pelf or position. It was a counterintuitive decision that even led his recently defeated foe, King George III of England, to declare that Washington was "the greatest character of his generation." His action was emulated later by India's great leader Mahatma Gandhi in 1947, after India won independence from Britain.

3. Washington decided to oversee renovations on his private home during the most tenuous year of the Revolution

This action seems inconsistent and has left historians perplexed. However, psychologists say that making a small decision on something completely unrelated to your primary focus can shift you into a confident, empowered mindset. It must have called for great courage, knowing what the stakes were. To his great credit, he maintained confidence and composure despite knowingly facing such overwhelming odds.

He said "Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth." George Washington would, of course, go on to lead the United States of America as its first President.

Ref: Three Decisions that Defined George Washington’s Leadership Legacy: Nick Tasler ( HBR )