Charting The Course Issue #7 - The Spartans at Thermopylae

Monthly Leadership and Strategy Newsletter

Issue #7, April 2024

April 19, 2024

The Spartans at Thermopylae

I was recently reminded of the Battle of Thermopylae in 426 BC, when a Greek army including 300 Spartans held back a vastly superior invading Persian force. (Full disclosure: I was reminded while watching Amazon Prime's Halo series, Season 2. And that's ok!)

Most people familiar with this battle might remember the old 1960s movie, The 300 Spartans or the more recent and egregious Zack Snyder film, The 300, complete with rippling unarmoured abs. (I certainly remember the 1960s movie, but don't need the Snyder slo-mos.)

The Greeks were confronted by a vastly superior force - the Persian army, with numbers modern scholars put at between 120-300,000 and ancient authorities said numbered over 1 million. In any era, these are huge numbers. The Greek force, topping out at 7,000, had to battle this vast group. So, they made their stand at Thermopylae.

It was a narrow pass, a perfect way to restrict the enemy's forces as they could be brought to bear.

And, so, 7,000 men killed 20,000 of the Persian army. Success, yes?!

Many would think so. What a courageous stand! Wow, look at the numbers they defeated.

The reality is, the Greeks had been badly defeated. They held for just three days and were circled in order to be defeated from the rear. All of the Spartans and a total of 4,000 of the Greeks were killed.

King Leonidas of the Greeks died in the battle. Though there was some delay in their incursions, a year later the Persians had completely defeated Greece.

You see, Persian King Xerxes I was able to use up his men to push through the Greek pass and break the Grecians. He had vastly superior forces and was happy to use them up to defeat his enemy, still coming out ahead with an immense army.

The strategic lesson?

It's easy to think that you can snooker competitors and go out bravely with a clever idea, but direct confrontation with a vastly superior force is a recipe for death. They might make movies about you, but really, you'll be a failed footnote in history.

On the other hand, retreating to achieve a different strategic objective could be exactly what you need to live to not only fight another day but thrive with a new objective.

From the Front Lines

Recently one of my clients, in a major subdivision of a multinational company, had a broad strategic goal of being "the best of the best" and prime player in their industry. It's an admirable goal that we hear all the time from organisations. But I inquired with him: "Let's be realistic; what is the likelihood of this actually happening?"

"Not a chance!" he answered. Their main competitor is multiple times larger, deeply embedded with clients and governments. There is not a hope in the dark places, as they say, for them to compete head-on against this other company.

So, what is the alternative? Well, being the No. 1 player in the B grade is better than being the loser in the 'A' grade - and, in this case, can be very lucrative and rewarding.

We revised their strategic goals, to specifically target successful sub-markets and tie into existing initiatives. He and the company are following these goals through right now, very successfully: they are making significant inroads into dominating their chosen market; his division has greater clarity surrounding their goals; revenue and profit are up; he is not wasting time, finances and resources in unfruitful enterprises; nor is he tearing his hair out trying to determine how to achieve the impossible.

Solution to Last Newsletter's Dilemma - How Did He Do It?

In the last newsletter, I presented a dilemma a client had had in the past where Senior Executives would not acknowledge serious issues. How did the client resolve the situation? What would you have done?

In this case, these were new cars being manufactured. Of course, the company had a test track - a racing track - where cars were frequently put through their paces. So, the Senior Engineer invited the Execs to come to their site and do what any rev-head would love to do: take the car for a screaming spin around the racetrack.

The execs took the new cars out and thrashed them on the testing track. At the end of their runs, they could clearly see how dangerous the doorframe post was and agreed they had to change the design and manufacture. They did and ended up with an award-winning vehicle.

Hands-on, concrete, is such a great way to convince people above numbers or a presentation!

Please feel free to share this newsletter with others.

Inquire with me for consulting, coaching or speaking services that dramatically improve your condition.

Peter McLean

Lead With Clarity & Results! Inspirational Leadership Keynote Speaker, Motivational Speaker, Strategy Speaker, Management Consultant, Executive Coach, Executive Leader