It is a sad feeling to know that you have peaked. And yet, as the future slopes gently down into the night ahead of you, it is always comforting to remember your moment. Peak You. Mine involved an IT project meeting and Conan the Barbarian.
This is how it happened. Pull your chairs closer and listen. The fire has banked down to glowing coals. Outside, in the distance, a wolf howls.
Once upon a time I was the HR representative on the steering committee of a large IT project. We met every week, round a large table in the video conferencing suite of the IT office. And every week the project manager began with the same question:
“What are your aims?”
Every week, for months, we would listen to the same recitation of apple pie and motherhood milksop aims. “Deliver on time.” “Engage the end user population.” “Implement a robust testing strategy.” Every. Single. Week. For months. This ritual would take up half of the time we had for the meeting. Eventually, I snapped. I decided I would share my real aims, in fact, I would answer a different, better question. That question was, of course:
“Conan! What is best in life?”
I looked round the table. I had to say it.
“My aims,” I said, savouring the moment, “are to crush my enemies, drive them before me, and hear the lamentation of their women.”
Unfortunately, unlike the mongol general from the film, the prject manager did not nod sagely (He didn’t do anything sagely, to be fair to him) and answer, “that is good, that is good.” He stared at me blankly. Some tumbleweed blew past. The mission bell tolled. And then he pretended not to have heard me and moved onto the next person.
Still, I enjoyed it.
I’ve been thinking about that moment a lot recently. We’ve got the stage in our tour of why organisations collapse where we need to look at what Toynbee called the ‘external proletariat’; the war bands that circle a dying society or business and often apply the final blow. The relationship between the society and the war bands is complex and subtle and worthy of a good examination. But that is for another time. Today, we will listen to the great war band captain, general, and philosopher Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jewelled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet. Also, its Christmas. So, listen as we learn leadership from the master himself.
Lesson One: Its Not About the Technology
Thulsa Doom: There was a time, boy, when I searched for steel, when steel meant more to me than gold or jewels.
Conan: The riddle… of steel.
Thulsa Doom: Yes! You know what it is, don’t you boy? Shall I tell you? It’s the least I can do. Steel isn’t strong, boy, flesh is stronger! Look around you. There, on the rocks; a beautiful girl. Come to me, my child…
[coaxes the girl to jump to her death]
Thulsa Doom: That is strength, boy! That is power! What is steel compared to the hand that wields it? Look at the strength in your body, the desire in your heart, I gave you this! Such a waste. Contemplate this on the tree of woe. Crucify him!
Many of the lessons we can learn from Conan are taught to him in the story, often brutally. So it is here; Thulsa Doom (the big bad of the film, played with a terrifying softness by James Earl Jones) shows the captured Conan something important. Both of them had been obsessed with technology, in this world the steel to make a fine sword from which power flows. In our world, whatever piece of disruptive innovation is getting VCs hot and bothered. But as Thulsa Doom shows, the technology is not sufficient. It is important, sure, but his literal power of life and death over people does not flow from his mastery of technology but from how he can master people. Now, the point here is not the start a snake cult and be Thulsa Doom, it is to understand that success in business does not flow from just the better mousetrap or the riddle of steel, but from the people that work with them. Choose them wisely. Lead them well. Worry less about apps.
Lesson Two: Be Clear About What Matters to You.
There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father’s love for his child.
These are the melancholy words of King Osric, played rather wonderfully in the movie by Max Von Sydow. Now grown old, he was once like the young Conan, a barbarian who rose to a throne through wit, cunning and being really, really good at violence. Now, with his daughter under the sinister influence of the Bad Guys, he turns to Conan to save her. Seeing himself, in the younger man, he tries to impart something important to him.
This is a properly important thought. Like the stoic philosophers (including the Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius (who could also be played by Max Von Sydow now I think about it)) King Osric understands what is really important to him. The stoics came to this realisation by taking the time to imagine their lives without their blessings – no gold, no jewels, no throne… no child. This exercise, unpleasant though it was, helped them to understand what really mattered, appreciate what they had and make decisions on that basis. This is as useful for considering the big questions as it is to look at the more tactical ones. What does this project really have to do? What about this product launch? And why am I doing it? Is it really worth missing bathtime for? People who know that you have a proper sense of priorities will be more likely to follow you.
Lesson Three: Greatness Does Not Require an Audience
Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That’s what’s important! Valor pleases you, Crom… so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!
With these words Conan prays to his God, Crom, as he prepares to die in battle. He is facing insurmountable odds; Thulsa Doom’s legions of, well, doom, are coming. Conan could run, but he does not. He is prepared to do the right thing and die trying.
This is interesting in two ways. First, it is the harder path and yet he takes it, for he could do no other. And secondly, his crazy, doomed courage brings people to him. People with what Liam Neeson might call a very particular set of skills. This is not good for Thulsa Doom. The point here is do not be concerned with what other people might say about you. Your authentic self (I hope) is enough if you are prepared to stand by it. There is one other thing here, Conan is not just being authentically him, he is cheating a little bit. He is being authentically the best version of himself. It’s a kind of cheating, but (as Herminia Ibarra at INSEAD has pointed out) authenticity doesn’t mean just being what you are right now, you can act as what you want to be while you become it. And if it doesn’t work and Crom doesn’t listen, then to HELL with him!
Lesson Four: What Can You Trust?
Conan’s Father: Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is your god, Crom and he lives in the earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth, Conan. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered. And the Earth shook. Fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. We who found it are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one – no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts.
[Points to sword]
Conan’s Father: This you can trust.
This may look like I am contradicting myself, but only because you have yet to see the deeper beauty, grasshopper.
What is the riddle of steel? Is it the technology to make a sword? If so, why is it so highly valued – every two penny rope climbing thief and Black Lotus peddler carries steel. No it must be something else. The Riddle of Steel lies within us.
This isn’t Thulsa Doom’s power over innocents. It is the inner steel that Conan forges, a sense of purpose, morality and determination that allows him to triumph. This is the real leadership secret here. Steel requires forging, it requires skill, failure, tempering with experience. And it requires a fundamental determination to forge it. This determination, this ability to learn and grow and temper yourself is what marks out the great leader. It, perhaps, also has some unexpected consequences. Conan set out for revenge and to crush the jewelled thrones of the earth beneath his sandled feet (in your FACE Uber) but the steel, once forged, cannot be unforged. It led him to decisions that were difficult and uncomfortable, but they were still right. This is the riddle of steel.
Lesson Five: Enough talk!
Conan: Enough talk!
Let us leave him here. The Cimmerian’s face grows dark with anger. Perhaps we should philosophise less and act more. And certainly quaff more mead. Happy Christmas!
Through The Rose Window 