"Leadership"

by O'Shaldrim

Leadership, Vol. I - The Importance of Warfare

War is inevitable, like a spring fog, it creeps in from the sea and slowly covers the country in a cold, white shroud. It dissipates in time, but once it is gone, the land is never the same.

In time, your lord will call upon you and your men. You will serve and you will command. But before this time comes, you must prepare and study. Just as a child must learn to walk before he should run, you must study warfare before you make war.

You will learn that victory is not taking the lives of your enemy, but saving the lives of your own. You will learn that he who falters first is the first to fall. You will learn that the price of defeat is greater than honor or pride. Learning to win is not enough. You must learn how not to lose.

There are those who say warfare is selfish, and those who study it seek only to increase their own glory and position. They are fools and lead their people to doom.

I tell you now, that nothing is more important than the study of warfare. It must be foremost in a warrior's mind at all times. Warfare is the highest of all studies, for it protects all others.

If a leader does not command his generals to study of warfare, they will become uncertain on the battlefield, and hesitate when the important decisions must be made. This will cause the leader's army to fail, and when the leader's army fails, his one moment of uncertainty causes the deaths of many thousand.

And when the army is defeated and destroyed, the enemy will march on those who thought that the study of warfare was selfish, and cut their heads from their bodies and leave them to rot in the dust.

That is the way of the world, and those who believe differently are fooling themselves.

Leadership, Vol. II - Duty and A Warrior's Purpose

I. Duty

Duty is the honorable warrior's soul, your reason to life. Neglect your duty and you scar your soul.

Duty is the perfect gem with a hundred thousand facets. Each facet is the way you live, a way you act, a way you serve.

Fulfilling duty is all or nothing. Black or white, there are no grays. Live for each facet, for if you dismiss even one, your gem loses all worth.

This is what it means to be a warrior.

II. A Warrior's Purpose

You are a warrior. Train as a warrior, live as a warrior. Foremost, from the moment you rise at dawn to when you lay at dusk, keep in mind and heart the understanding that you must die.

When you surrender your thoughts to ambition, lust, greed, or any other thing, no matter how base or noble, you will hesitate for that one crucial moment when it comes time to sacrifice your life for your lord.

Warriors live. Warriors train to fight. Warriors fight to live. Only alive can a warrior fulfill his duty and protect his lord. The fine line to learn, is that while you are fighting to live, you must be willing to die. Duty beyond all things is the soul of a true warrior.

Living to fulfill duty is why a true, honorable warrior foregoes ambition, abstains from lust, and sacrifices his personal morals. Above all, this is why you are a warrior.

Leadership, Vol. III - Ignorance and Stupidity, Good and Evil

I. Ignorance and Stupidity

There are two kinds of fools: the ignorant and the stupid.

An ignorant man puts his hand into the fire because he does not know it will burn him. Once he is burned, though, he will never do it again.

A stupid man will keep putting his hand into the fire, because he will not learn.

When you lead men, remember this lesson. teach them what they must know. A student is blameless for his ignorance. He only does what the teacher tells him.

II. Good and Evil

Often, the people will say, "Nature does not recognize good and evil."

But I tell you now that men do recognize the difference; and to ignore the way of the world and hope it to be a better place than it is is foolish.

Leadership, Vol. IV - Loyalty and the General

I. Loyalty

Loyalty is not learned, neither is it inherited. Unlike imperial and royal positions filled by right of blood, loyalty must be earned. Remember this as you remember your name each morning, for once you forget, you have done your enemy's work for him.

Your men will enter your service as a babe enters this world into its mother's arms. They will be without loyalties, without obedience, without skill. Loyalty, unlike the others, must be given constant attention. Like a lone rose in a garden of weeds, without your care it withers and dies.

Build loyalty in your men. Build it taller than the highest trees, so your enemy cannot see its end. Build it stronger than the stoutest walls, so it may weather any storm. Build it closer than the beat of your heart, so it may never be lost. Build it always.

II. The General

Lead with perception and intelligence.

With these two virtues, you need not be a master of tactics or strategy.

Nor must you be a master of command or ordinance.

Nor will you need to understand supply or terrain.

With perception, you shall find those who do understand such things, and direct them to their proper duty.

With intelligence, you will know not to get in their way.

Leadership, Vol. V - The Five Measures

Evaluate an army according to the Five Measures. As the wise master once said... As all the world was made of five elements, your army is made of the Five Measures.

Measure of Wind: An army begins with you, its general. If you are true and virtuous, you will lead from the light. Just as Lady Sun shines upon a falcon in flight, soaring without a shadow, you will lead your men quickly, because you never need to look back.

The Measure of Earth: When you understand the ground upon which you fight, the advantage is yours. An army on foreign ground, oblivious to its pitfalls and unaware of its boons, is vulnerable and easy to attack.

The Measure of Water: It is as the masters say: Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water; yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; The gentle overcomes the rigid. Your army must move with grace and fluid strategy. Ebb and flow, rise and fall.

The Measure of Fire: You must lead your army under the Lord's Laws. When you do, you give a soul of fire, for it knows its actions are just. When you do not, you suffocate the fire and rob the fuel from the flame. Your hound will no more trust you when you steal its food than will your army when you steal its fire.

The Measure of Emptiness: Lastly, there is Heaven. Understanding the passage of the stars is the final understanding. There is no explaining the Measure of Emptiness, only recognizing its virtue when it manifests. In nothing, there is everything.

Leadership, Vol. VI - The Way of Deception

To charge your army into battle without foreknowledge of your opponent's capabilities and weaknesses brings you no glory and brands you a coward. Your concern is to the safety of the reigning lord and that of your army. Blind death is swift death.

Instead, when facing the enemy, let him see what you want him to see. Show him your right hand, strike with your left. Hide all he does not need to see, for the sting of your slap will ease the pain of a sudden blade in his side.

When your enemy is entrenched and secure, lure him from his nest. Attack that which is dear to him to draw him from his ground. Take him from his sanctuary and take him on your time.

Leadership, Vol. VII - Strike Hard, Strike Quick

When your enemy is more powerful than you, strike quick and hard, and retreat. Flow like the water, move with no form or shape or substance. Commanders without courage or confidence do not know how to retaliate against you.

Those who understand your ways will know what you are doing, and know that their strength has been turned to weakness. They will know that you are the sagacious general, and those who know the ways of Heaven and Earth will retreat and go home.

When a man has time to think, he can make plans.

When he has no time to think, but must immediately react, he can only make mistakes.

Use cavalry and quick legs to harass him. Give him no rest. Rotate your legions so they may rest while another marches.

Be the hammer and make him the anvil.

This is life. This is war. This is leadership. This is honor. This is victory. Take it as you will, and blessings upon your path.