Thus, there are five dangers that will strike any general. If he is reckless, he can be killed. If he is cowardly and desperate to live, he can be captured. If he is easily angered, he can be provoked. If he is sensitive to honor, he can be insulted. If he is overly compassionate to people, he can be disturbed and harassed. These five characteristics are the greatest pitfalls and mistakes of a general and the cause of disasters in any military operation. The destruction of an army and the deaths of generals are caused by these five dangers, so they should be examined thoroughly. - Sun Tzu Art of War, Chapter Eight
The five characteristics stated in the section above are:
- Recklessness
- Cowardly
- Easily angered
- Sensitive to honor
- Overly compassionate
And Sun Tzu briefly mentioned the consequences of such characteristics if they are found in the generals.
BUSINESS APPLICATION
So in business, what are these five characteristics analogue to what Sun Tzu mentioned?
- Recklessness would still be recklessness
- Cowardly would be indecisive and risk averse
- Easily angered would still be easily angered
- Sensitive to honor would be egoistic
- Overly compassionate it still be the same
Such quick decisions often result in fatal mistakes that could make a company incur huge costs For example, seeing that fact, you are starting to shift your factories to be near them, without considering the infrastructure, the labor, the regulations and so on before you decide to set up your factory Such reckless decision would be deal a huge blow to the company & # 39; s financial strength, and may render it insolvent.
COWARDLY
If you lead this analogue to being indecisive or too risk averse. If a leader Again, damages if not limited would be again to fatal to the company.
EASILY ANGERED
Have you ever try to do planning in an angered state? Were you able to see a lot of loopholes in your plan after you come back and review it in a calm state? Anger will block off a lot of information from our brain and we are And we have seen in in Chapter One of Sun Tzu Art of War, how much emphasis , Sun Zi place on a detailed assessment and planning, such a general would be a danger to its own troops.
EGOISTIC
Such a person is able to carry out their tasks. But for someone who is egoistic, thinking that he is the greatest and the company would be dead without him. Such person can easily be on the lookout for his own benefits. The consequences would be the same as that of a easily angered person and a reckless person.
OVERLY COMPASSIONATE
The leader would not have be able to make his team members carry out the leader would not have his finging spirit and it gives the staff the it. Having an overly compassionate leader in the organization is tantamount to to have breakdown in a breakdown in a breakdown in a breakdown in a breakdown in a breakdown in a breakdown in an organ of a body, the whole company can not function properly. I am overly compassionate is not able to instill discipline in his teams, there is a need to be discipline. not because he did not set the example but it is because the leader would not punish them even if they misbehave.
