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Learning leadership skills from 'Henry V'
November 6, 2010, Saturday
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IT has been described as one of the greatest battles of all time - the fight between Henry V of England and the French army on October 25, 1415, at Agincourt in northern France.
Henry, whose goal was to reclaim English territory seized by France in earlier centuries, had approximately 6,000 men.
The French army, depending on which historical report you read, had anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 soldiers, many of them knights in armor prepared to fight on foot and on horseback.
The English army had neither armor nor horses, and they were exhausted by their two-month trek across France trying to reach what was then the English port of Calais.
But they did have what turned out to be a decisive advantage - Henry V's leadership skills and his ability to innovate in ways that would turn significant disadvantages into game-winning advantages.
In addition, before the battle started, he delivered one of the most famous motivational speeches in history - at least as it is written in Shakespeare's Henry V.
Here is how Henry won: He stopped his army on a field that was flanked on either side by woodlands, thus forcing the French army to move forward through a narrow funnel and neutralizing their superior numbers.
He took full advantage of a rainfall that had muddied the battlefield and that would prove disastrous for the armored French soldiers - when they slipped backwards wearing their 60-pound armor, they couldn't hoist themselves back up; when they fell forward, they drowned in the mud.
In addition, rather than rely on the more traditional, easy-to-use crossbow, Henry chose the long bow, which could fire arrows more quickly and at greater range.
The resulting hail of arrows killed French soldiers behind the front line, taking away urgently needed reinforcements. Henry armed his men with pikes a foot longer than those used by the French, allowing English soldiers in hand-to-hand combat to deliver the first, and usually lethal, blow.
And, in what has been described as a last-minute innovation, Henry planted sharp stakes in the ground just at the point of the battle's engagement.
The French army's horses, rushing forward, were impaled on the stakes and fell to the ground, crushing soldiers around them and blocking the path forward for others.
When the fighting stopped after several hours, the French had lost about 6,000 men, and the English about 450.
Lessons
Some version of this battle has been told in history books, in Shakespeare's play and, two weeks ago, by Carol and Ken Adelman, founders of Movers & Shakespeares, which uses the world's greatest playwright to teach modern management skills to executives.
As Carol Adelman noted during the course, William Shakespeare offers his audience exceptionally astute insights into human nature and has a genius for telling stories, which, she suggested, "is the best way to learn."
The Adelmans' approach is to delve into the language and extract leadership lessons from Shakespeare's plays.
"By watching how historical figures behave in settings far before our time - in this case, looking at the characters Shakespeare brought to life in Henry V - we often get very good insights into what is vital in our own leadership or managerial moments," says Michael Useem, co-director of The Leadership Journey and director of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management. "We include Shakespeare in our range of learning experiences because it is one of the more indelible ways we have found of bringing points to life - in part because of the power of his insights and also because of the intrinsic elements of the stories he tells."
If you are about to walk onto a stage at an offsite event, Useem adds, "looking at the language in Henry V will remind you to offer up the big purpose of why you are there and also to make it personal and motivational. For doing that, Henry V is about as good as it gets."
(Reproduced with permission from Knowledge@Wharton, http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn. All rights reserved. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
Henry, whose goal was to reclaim English territory seized by France in earlier centuries, had approximately 6,000 men.
The French army, depending on which historical report you read, had anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 soldiers, many of them knights in armor prepared to fight on foot and on horseback.
The English army had neither armor nor horses, and they were exhausted by their two-month trek across France trying to reach what was then the English port of Calais.
But they did have what turned out to be a decisive advantage - Henry V's leadership skills and his ability to innovate in ways that would turn significant disadvantages into game-winning advantages.
In addition, before the battle started, he delivered one of the most famous motivational speeches in history - at least as it is written in Shakespeare's Henry V.
Here is how Henry won: He stopped his army on a field that was flanked on either side by woodlands, thus forcing the French army to move forward through a narrow funnel and neutralizing their superior numbers.
He took full advantage of a rainfall that had muddied the battlefield and that would prove disastrous for the armored French soldiers - when they slipped backwards wearing their 60-pound armor, they couldn't hoist themselves back up; when they fell forward, they drowned in the mud.
In addition, rather than rely on the more traditional, easy-to-use crossbow, Henry chose the long bow, which could fire arrows more quickly and at greater range.
The resulting hail of arrows killed French soldiers behind the front line, taking away urgently needed reinforcements. Henry armed his men with pikes a foot longer than those used by the French, allowing English soldiers in hand-to-hand combat to deliver the first, and usually lethal, blow.
And, in what has been described as a last-minute innovation, Henry planted sharp stakes in the ground just at the point of the battle's engagement.
The French army's horses, rushing forward, were impaled on the stakes and fell to the ground, crushing soldiers around them and blocking the path forward for others.
When the fighting stopped after several hours, the French had lost about 6,000 men, and the English about 450.
Lessons
Some version of this battle has been told in history books, in Shakespeare's play and, two weeks ago, by Carol and Ken Adelman, founders of Movers & Shakespeares, which uses the world's greatest playwright to teach modern management skills to executives.
As Carol Adelman noted during the course, William Shakespeare offers his audience exceptionally astute insights into human nature and has a genius for telling stories, which, she suggested, "is the best way to learn."
The Adelmans' approach is to delve into the language and extract leadership lessons from Shakespeare's plays.
"By watching how historical figures behave in settings far before our time - in this case, looking at the characters Shakespeare brought to life in Henry V - we often get very good insights into what is vital in our own leadership or managerial moments," says Michael Useem, co-director of The Leadership Journey and director of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management. "We include Shakespeare in our range of learning experiences because it is one of the more indelible ways we have found of bringing points to life - in part because of the power of his insights and also because of the intrinsic elements of the stories he tells."
If you are about to walk onto a stage at an offsite event, Useem adds, "looking at the language in Henry V will remind you to offer up the big purpose of why you are there and also to make it personal and motivational. For doing that, Henry V is about as good as it gets."
(Reproduced with permission from Knowledge@Wharton, http://www.knowledgeatwharton.com.cn. All rights reserved. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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