Sun Tzu on caring for your people without spoiling them. From The Art of War by Sun Tzu, about the 5th century BC.
Chapter 10 of The Art of War, credited to Sun Tzu, lists six ways an army falls apart. None, it insists, is bad luck. Each is the general’s fault.
Two are mirror images. When the soldiers are strong and their officers weak, the ranks stop obeying. When officers are strong and soldiers weak, the army caves in.
The Art of War says to treat your soldiers like your own children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. But a leader who is indulgent and cannot enforce orders raises spoiled children, useless when it counts. Around 400 BC, the general Wu Qi shared every hardship with his men, and they would die for him.
Care for your people like family, and still hold the line. Practical advice: pick one standard you have let slide, and restate it kindly and clearly.
Likely, on the evidence · checked against 3 sourcesPick one standard you have let slide, and restate it kindly and clearly.
“My team likes me, but deadlines keep slipping. How do I hold the line without turning cold?”
Kind, Not Soft and the other 11 ideas of The Art of War, a minute at a time.
Download on theApp StoreEvery idea is drawn from the public-domain text, and its names, dates and quotes are checked against the sources listed with it. The paintings are made for Counsel; they show the scene, not a historical record.
