To this day, Julius Caesar – with a career that is both a blueprint for success and a stark warning of how success can come to an abrupt and tragic end –\u00a0remains\u00a0one of history’s most compelling case studies in leadership.\u00a0With this in mind, this\u00a0extract from \u201cLead Like Julius Caesar: Timeless Leadership Lessons from History’s Most Influential Leader\u201d by leadership scholar Dr Paul\u00a0Vanderbroeck\u00a0will explore how Caesar\u2019s career developed over time.\u00a0\u00a0Encompassing his rise from ambitious young politician to ruler of Rome to reveal key timeless lessons about influence, reputation, and human\u00a0behaviour\u00a0inside competitive systems that leaders\u00a0and CEOs\u00a0can still learn from today.<\/p>\n
Turning Opportunity into Growth\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As a young adult, Caesar showed that, in the words of leadership scholar Morgan McCall, he was a \u2018high flyer\u2019 gifted with the innate raw talent that, with the\u00a0appropriate development, can be turned into the \u2018right stuff\u2019 that makes a successful leader.<\/p>\n In his early career and before taking on a formal leadership position, Caesar seized opportunities to put himself through the right experiences that would grow this talent into leadership skills and\u00a0behaviours. These experiences involved taking up challenging assignments, overcoming\u00a0hardships\u00a0and learning from others. Learning from experience was critical for his leadership development. With his mother, Aurelia, in the driving seat, Caesar\u2019s family gave him a support network that\u00a0permitted\u00a0him to take risks and gain\u00a0experiences. He therefore started the cursus\u00a0honorum\u00a0with a series of strengths, which propelled him to the consulate without delay in his thirties.<\/p>\n Caesar\u2019s career success shows that it is important for young professionals not to wait to take on operational responsibility. Rather than a desk job doing analysis, they should take jobs that allow them to\u00a0actually achieve\u00a0and learn something and gain visibility, even if that means making mistakes.<\/p>\n Playing to Strengths While Managing Weaknesses\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Caesar then used such experience to develop his competencies to\u00a0a high level\u00a0so that his 9 years in Gaul could be marked by\u00a0great success. However, the two jobs he had to combine during the civil war proved more challenging. As a military leader, he\u00a0failed to\u00a0develop three essential\u00a0behaviours\u00a0(Emotional Intelligence, Coaching and Feedback, Networks and Alliances) to the required level. However, he had enough qualities to win in the end. In his role as dictator, he again managed to develop all\u00a0behaviours\u00a0and capabilities except one to at least the level of \u2018competent\u2019,\u00a0which, as discussed at the end of the\u00a0previous\u00a0chapter, is quite enough once having reached the very top.<\/p>\n As recalled above, Caesar compensated for his weakness in Emotional Intelligence when he was consul by\u00a0establishing\u00a0an influencing\u00a0organisation\u00a0rather than improving this\u00a0behaviour. For us, it is essential to\u00a0recognise\u00a0how he managed to achieve this by\u00a0leveraging\u00a0strengths, notably Team Building,\u00a0Empowerment\u00a0and Change Orientation. When Caesar lost his key allies who had helped him keep this\u00a0organisation\u00a0working smoothly while he was away, this compensation approach\u00a0came to an end. Rather than\u00a0develop\u00a0his weaker\u00a0behaviour, in this case his Emotional Intelligence, Caesar again relied on his strengths to compensate. To win the civil war,\u00a0he notably deployed Tenacity and Courage, the Ability to Execute, Change Orientation and Energy.<\/p>\n Caesar\u2019s success shows the importance of\u00a0leveraging\u00a0strengths. Deploying strengths to compensate for weaknesses can bring better results than developing weaknesses.<\/p>\n The Perils of Unchecked Success\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Come to think of it, Caesar, next to\u00a0leveraging\u00a0strengths to compensate for weaknesses\u00a0in a given\u00a0situation, sometimes\u2014consciously or unconsciously\u2014shifted the circumstances to put him in a position where he could use his strengths. For example, he aimed for a win-lose outcome when negotiating with\u00a0Ariovistus\u00a0in Gaul.\u00a0Getting to\u00a0a win-win would\u00a0have required\u00a0Emotional Intelligence. In contrast, a win-lose would inevitably lead to armed conflict unless\u00a0Ariovistus\u00a0backed down. Since the latter had no intention to do so, Caesar could confidently bring his strengths to bear in the ensuing battle.\u00a0By the same token, Caesar\u00a0perhaps felt\u00a0or knew that choosing an alternative course of action when his dealings with the Senate did not go his way would put him in a position of strength. Thinking that breaking off the discussions could change the situation in his\u00a0favour\u00a0may have enhanced his impatience. Despite the risk, it always went well for Caesar, until that fateful month of March in 44, when he was so eager to start his war against Parthia that he was prepared to leave many things unfinished in Rome.<\/p>\n Receiving and interpreting feedback were the most\u00a0important factors\u00a0hindering Caesar\u2019s leadership development. He was not always proactive in inviting feedback, and he was unaware that his direct reports and less powerful individuals hesitated to offer advice. This was not only due to the difficulty of speaking truth to power but also because others perceived Caesar as not needing feedback. Caesar was oblivious to the importance of interpreting feedback and not taking it at face value. Interestingly, his emphasis on\u00a0honouring\u00a0his commitments blinded him to the self-interest embedded in the advice he received from his followers.<\/p>\n At the same\u00a0time\u00a0this shows that while strengths can compensate for weaknesses,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a limit to\u00a0leveraging\u00a0them. Inviting continuous and diverse feedback is critical to knowing when\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0starting to overuse your strengths and need to rebalance your\u00a0behaviour.<\/p>\n Overall Caesar\u2019s career shows that talent needs experience\u00a0in order to\u00a0be transformed into successful leadership\u00a0behaviour. The earlier and the more operational such experience, the\u00a0better for your learning and your visibility. On balance,\u00a0leveraging\u00a0strengths is more important to success than developing weaknesses. But mind the balance, feedback is critical to avoiding a strength becoming a liability.<\/p>\n This is an adapted book extract from\u00a0Chapter 7 of\u00a0Lead Like Julius Caesar – Timeless Leadership Lessons from History’s Most Influential Leader<\/a> by Dr Paul\u00a0Vanderbroeck<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To this day, Julius Caesar – with a career that is both a blueprint for success and a stark warning of how success can come to an abrupt and tragic end –\u00a0remains\u00a0one of history’s most compelling case studies in leadership.\u00a0With this in mind, this\u00a0extract from \u201cLead Like Julius Caesar: Timeless Leadership Lessons from History’s Most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6166,"featured_media":258661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37307],"tags":[36225,36226,36227,36228,36229,36230,36231,36232,36233,36234,36235],"class_list":["post-258662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-executive-opinions","tag-chief-risk-officer-insider","tag-chief-sales-officer-insider","tag-chief-science-officer-insider","tag-chief-security-officer-insider","tag-chief-software-officer-insider","tag-chief-solutions-officer-insider","tag-chief-strategy-officer-insider","tag-chief-sustainability-officer-insider","tag-chief-technical-officer-insider","tag-chief-technology-officer-insider","tag-chief-value-officer-insider"],"yoast_head":"\n
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