What Businessmen Can Learn From Historical Leaders

World history is full of charismatic leaders who led armies, had a great visionary resolve, solved world issues and built bridges between different nations. But the question is, how did they manage to achieve so many great things? They were humans, and just like the rest of us, they had flaws. However, when they set their mind to something, they didn’t rest until they had achieved it. Let’s take a look at what the businessmen of today can acquire from the business leaders of the past.

Horatio Nelson – How To Lead From The Front

As a businessman, you must lead from the front. Whether it is about taking on an unpleasant task or a difficult decision, as a leader you have to take on various things on yourself. Not asking others to do what you will not do yourself is a trait of someone who leads from the front, a trait that Horatio Nelson had. It is what defined him. There are other leaders from whom we can acquire leadership skills such as Zhou Enlai, Marshall Cavendish, and Jonathan Gifford. In essays, you can read about Napoleon Bonaparte and other historic leaders. When Nelson was on a shore attack in Corsica, he lost an eye. 

In another fight, in Tenerife, he was badly injured and had to lose his arm. However, did he hesitate, and sit back, and ask his men to fight for him? No. Nelson was always at the front, leading armies to capture Spanish vessels while fighting the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. This caused him to gain unflinching loyalty from his men. While fighting with the Spanish at Cadiz, his coxswain John Sykes used his bare arm to stop a life-threatening blow from landing on Nelson. They provide lessons for the people of today, making things easier for global leadership. It was his trait of fighting alongside his men that made them loyal to him. Horatio Nelson died putting his life at risk, above that of his soldiers. This is what the businessmen of today need to do.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson – Being On The Offensive

Sometimes, you can’t sit on the sidelines. You have to play with offensive tactics. No one illustrates this trait better than Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, a Victorian middle-class lady from Suffolk. She wanted to practice medicine. It was not the norm for women in the 19th century to do so, but she did not let this deter her. Elizabeth took up her fight against the entire medical profession and did everything she could to fulfil her desire to practice medicine. However, none of the medical examining bodies would issue the required qualifications to a woman as they never imagined they would face this demand. Elizabeth found a loophole in the charter of the Society of Apothecaries, and she did everything she could to assemble the required credentials. However, her journey was not over. No medical school would enrol her, and the society withdrew her credentials and said that she couldn’t sit the exams. When her father threatened to sue them, the lawyers advised the society to step back.

Ms Anderson was the first woman to receive a medical degree. She went on to found a medical college specifically for women, and become the first woman mayor of Aldeburgh. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson is a shining example of how one should never take no for an answer and should exhaust every possibility before sitting down in defeat. Once we set our heart to achieve something, nothing in the world can deter us if we are determined.

Nelson Mandela– Changing The Narrative

Changing the atmosphere or culture in an organisation is very hard to do. Once a particular ideology and set of habits set in, it is usually there to stay. However, Nelson Mandela didn’t let the difficulties he faced stop him from dismantling the narrative of South Africa, fraught with civil war and conflict. He didn’t allow charges of high treason to deter him. He said that he had a set of ideals, and he would keep fighting to achieve them, even if it meant that he would have to die. Mandela spent over 27 years in prison, but never let go of his principles. When the first multi-racial elections were held in South Africa, the white minority was afraid that the repressive white regime would be replaced by an equally repressive black government. However, Mandela did everything he could to keep the nation from falling back into chaos and kept the country from going back to civil war.

Abraham Lincoln – Clear And Bold Vision

To make sure that your business is successful, a great leader needs to have a long-term view of the goals of the business. This doesn’t mean that your leadership goal for the future has to be dramatic or earth-shattering. Your business management goals simply need to be clear and focused, something that people can relate to and will happily help you achieve. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t born into a wealthy family. He worked on a farm, yet he self-educated himself through reading. Lincoln taught himself law, and then passed bar exams and got involved in politics. He was the one who resolved the issue of slavery that was threatening to destroy the United States nation. As America’s first Republican president, he did all he could to keep the nation together. Starting from areas where slavery wasn’t deeply rooted, he then changed the issues in states with long-established traditions. He knew what he wanted, and took careful, calculated steps to be there.