Burning the Ships

One of the greatest of the 16th century explorers was Hernando Cortez.  While no model for humanity, what he lacked in moral character, he made up for in anecdotes for leaders.  In the spring of 1519, Cortez took an armada of 11 ships carrying 508 men from Cuba to the Eastern shore of Mexico just beyond the Yucatan peninsula.

The expedition was to create a Spanish settlement by conquering the inhabitants and taking their riches.  What they found was a hostile, treacherous land, and indigenous Aztecs who practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism.  After 5 months of being on the foreign, unforgiving land, Cortez's men decided to return to the safety of home and leave Captain Cortez to fend for himself.  To ensure his men stayed in Mexico and were properly motivated, Cortez did not have a motivation meeting, one-on-ones with the opinion leaders, or even threaten the men (as far as we know).  He took away the one thing that tethered the men to their Spanish homeland--he burned the ships.

The thing to realize is that Cortez' goal was not to execute a successful voyage to foreign lands nor to touch down and go back to Spain an Explorer Hero.  His charge was to subdue if possible or conquer if necessary the land's inhabitants, and start a Spanish settlement.  He did so by conquering the Aztec nation of 5 million with less than 1000 soldiers.  Most experts agree if Cortez had not set the ships ablaze, someone else would have discovered and conquered Mexico.

I find myself consulting with a handful of companies whose owners and leaders want to ensure they are not keeping their old ships (outdated strategy, market, and operational models), and that both they and their staff know what their "real mission" is while making the bold moves necessary for success.

To successfully navigate our economic realities, competitive onslaughts, and shifting customer demand; business leaders should consider a few questions from Cortez' motivation manual:

• Are we concerned with the methods we are using more than accomplishing our ultimate goal?

• Has being in the survival mode made your top staff or you hazy on the vision your organization is pursuing (one generally follows the other)?

• Has the last few years taught us to be so risk-averse that we keep the old "ships" that have worked in the past (i.e. old strategies, value propositions, views of who is our customer / competition, etc.) rather than evaluating those ships allowing new strategies, solutions and value propositions to be considered?

• Have the payroll reductions, bonus freezes, job uncertainty, and extra workloads caused your team to take a "I just work for my paycheck now" attitude? --Be honest.

• Are you as a leader prepared to make the bold moves needed to be successful in the new market realities, or are you busy with the old "ships" while others are conquering the marketplace?  A good read for this is  The Innovator's Dilemma   by Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School 

One last thought.  Historians tell us that although Cortez accomplished his expedition’s goals, he did not accomplish his own mission: to rule Mexico.  Being aggressive was not his problem, knowing when to use aggressive leadership was (like conquering the Aztecs who initially welcomed the Spanish visitors).  So, one last question:

• Are you accomplishing goals in a way that will detract from your full mission?  Most of us know what our default leadership/communication style is, but rarely use other styles based on the demands of the situation.  In my next post, I will bring a few lessons learned in this area and a few tools that helped.

 

Comments

[Paul Abdool]

Brilliant... I find that my own people start to lose their focus as the deals get closer to closure. It is critical to keep their eyes on the ball and remember why the deal is going to close or why it closed in the first place.

[Chris Boue]

Paul,
Thanks for your comments. I have found that Focus can be a strategic strength or weakness and usually driven by a compelling vision, a solid plan, and a culture of execution.