“One trick ahead of disaster
They’re quick, but I’m much faster”-Aladdin in Disney’s Aladdin
On June 15, 1775 George Washington was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army of the newly-formed United States of America. He faced a nearly impossible task in this new role. The British army was large and better trained, the territory he had to defend was enormous, the morale of the troops was low, his officers were in competition with each other, he had to petition state governors for assistance, his food and supplies were always dangerously low, and his superiors in the Continental Congress had the annoying tendency of trying to micro-manage him.
How was Washington able to lead his army to victory? His leadership could be studied as a textbook staying one step ahead of disaster.
Some leaders always lead like they are in crisis-mode. Ultimately this is not an effective way to lead. But there are seasons of unexpected emergencies or rapid change that one-step-ahead-of-disaster leadership becomes necessary. Every leader will have to weather these seasons, and they will have a chance to see if they’re cut from the same cloth as Washington. Here are some of the things that Washington did to successfully stay “one step ahead.”
1. Keep your head
When the British launched their campaign to capture New York City in September 1776, British general Howe was more focused on taking the city than destroying Washington’s army. Washington used this as an opportunity to retreat with most of his army intact.
You win some, you lose some. But the best leaders are able to “fail well” by refusing to give in to despair and focusing on the small victories of a larger defeat. This is an important skill while leading in crisis, when losing your cool could mean losing everything. If you keep your head, losing doesn’t have to mean losing it all.
2. Move quickly
After his defeat in New York, Washington led a successful counter-attack while the British were distracted fighting militias in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He surprised the enemy by crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, and attacking.
After Washington’s surprise attack on Trenton, New Jersey he anticipated a British counter-attack and was ready for it. His snipers made sure that the British didn’t reach the front lines until twilight. American forces then held off the enemy until they gave up and withdrew for the night. Washington then surrounded the British camp during the night, attacked them at first light, and drove them completely out of New Jersey.
Washington was a master of seizing any and every opportunity. He knew he didn’t have luxury of waiting for the perfect opportunity, because in a crisis there is no such thing as a perfect opportunity.
When it comes to staying one step ahead of disaster, fortune favors the quick.
3. Don’t get cocky
When Washington was appointed as commander-in-chief he was quoted as saying, “with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.” He began the job with humility.
He had plenty of opportunities to get an inflated ego. After his victories in New Jersey, Washington became nearly deified by some Congressmen. He also got international recognition with Fredrick the Great remarking, “the achievements of Washington were the most brilliant of any recorded in the history of military achievements.” Nevertheless, Washington did his job with humility.
During the war, Washington was essentially granted dictator-level powers. It is all-too-common that crisis leaders are granted great power in the heat of the moment in order to address a problem, only to later refuse to give up that power, and a military dictator is born. When this happens in organizations, an unhealthy amount of influence is wielded by one person.
However, when the Revolutionary War concluded, Washington relinquished his power back to the Congress. By resigning his commission as commander-in-chief, Washington showed that any hunger for power in his heart was trumped by his devotion to republicanism. He ended his job with humility.
The principle that “pride comes before a fall” is especially true when a leader is trying to stay one step ahead of disaster. Don’t get cocky.
4. Know your resources
When he took over the military during the siege of British-occupied Boston during 1775, gunpowder and weapons were in short supply. He quickly ordered raids of British arsenals for supplies and an expedition to Fort Ticonderoga to retrieve cannons.
Throughout the war, Washington depended on local militia resistance to harass the British and keep them off guard. Most of the time, he only loosely coordinated these groups, recognizing that they didn’t need to be tightly controlled in order to be strategically useful.
In 1780, realizing that his forces were short on people, supplies, and weapons, Washington ignored urging from Congress to undertake major expeditions. Instead he focused on the center of British forces, New York City. He maintained this focus even as the British were capturing cities in the south, and even as his world was rocked by betrayal of his friend and go-to guy, Benedict Arnold.
Washington was the very definition of resourcefulness and focus. Leaders-in-crisis walk the precarious balance beam of resource management. They can fall off one side into a “scarcity mentality,” failing to see the opportunities right in front of them because they are too busy fretting over a lack of resources, volunteers, or funds. Or they can topple the other way, overextending themselves by trying to do too much, too soon. This second extreme is often the result of internal pride or external pressure from others.
Take a lesson from George and walk the resource management beam with grace.
5. Jump in and fight
When Washington finally moved his army away from New York, he left decoy camps behind that fooled the British into thinking he was still there. By the time they noticed the deception, Washington and his 6000 troops were already on their way to Yorktown, were the final battle of the Revolutionary war would be fought.
Washington often found himself on the front line with his troops, fighting alongside them. He was a man of initiative who didn’t scare easily. A leader-in-crisis has to be willing to slug it out on the front lines, and he knows you can’t lead people somewhere you aren’t willing to go yourself.
Every leader needs people who will follow without question when the time comes. This takes trust on part of those being led, and that trust is only developed when they observe their leader fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with them. Any leader worth his salt always has “skin in the game.”