Revolutionary Leadership
Five lessons from the First Battle of the American Revolution
Concord, MA — A group of educators from the Harvard Business School recently stepped back in time to glean lessons on leadership from the first battle of the American Revolution. Historian and speaker Ed Ruggero took the visitors on a "staff ride" to the Old North Bridge, where the Revolution began in April 1775. Militaries around the world use the staff ride to teach leadership and decision-making by visiting battle sites to discuss what combat commanders on the ground did or failed to do. The intent is not to second-guess those commanders, but to practice thinking through the challenges a battle captain—or any leader—might face. Ruggero has adapted the staff ride concept for business leaders and runs leadership experiences at Concord, Massachusetts; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and in Normandy, France.
"History, like a good case study, offers us a glimpse of how human beings act under pressure," Ruggero says. "Our staff rides are not about military strategy; they're about how leaders make decisions within tight time constraints, with imperfect information and when the stakes are high. When it's handled well, history offers us a priceless trove of information that we can use to make smart decisions today."
Here are a few of the leadership lessons Ruggero highlights during the visit to Minuteman National Historical Park, which includes Lexington, Concord and Battle Road.
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THE HISTORY LESSON: British Strategy: Good Idea at the Wrong Time.
General Thomas Gage, the Royal Military Governor of Massachusetts and commander of His Majesty's forces in Boston, knew that military stores—especially gunpowder—were the Achilles heel of the troublesome colonial militia that opposed him. There was no powder manufactured in the colony, so if Gage controlled the available supply, the colonial militia would be unarmed and unable to fight him. In September 1774 Gage's forces seized the militia powder from Somerville, Massachusetts in a flawless, bloodless operation. Local militias were angry and embarrassed, and by the time Gage tried another raid in the spring of 1775, the colonials were better prepared and ready to thwart the British.
THE BUSINESS LESSON: The Enemy Gets a Vote, Too
It would be easy to say that Gage should have moved faster in launching a second raid after Somerville, but his real error was that he failed to anticipate the changes the colonials made as a result of the first raid. Instead, Gage acted as if the colonials were mostly passive participants in the drama. Leaders must assume that other guy is smart and is looking for ways to counter or derail your efforts. Often when we make detailed, long-range plans, we like to think that the competition is going to just sit there and take it. But, as military planners say, "The enemy gets a vote in what's going to happen, too."
- THE HISTORY LESSON: The Wrong Team
When Gage decided to mount a more ambitious raid to seize militia powder from Concord, some twenty miles outside of Boston, he chose his most elite troops for the job. The problem was that he cobbled together this force from various parts of his command. Communication suffered from the start: the men were not used to working together and the leaders did not know one another. Officers were suddenly unsure of whom they were supposed to answer to, and often did not trust those put in charge. Gage compounded the problem by placing in command of the raid Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, a seasoned veteran of sound judgment, but also a man too old and physically unfit for the mission. Smith's errors began when he chose not to supervise the first part of the move, which put the force hours behind schedule. Smith also kept the mission a secret even from his officers, which exasperated the communication problems.
THE BUSINESS LESSON: The Right Team
The flow of information is the lifeblood of any team, especially an ad hoc team created for a special purpose. Leaders must recognize that people and organizations have deep-seated habits when it comes to communication. The trick for the leader is to capitalize on existing habits to help teams create new, more useful channels. If you build a team with a group of engineers and a group of designers, recognize that those groups will have completely different languages and communications habits. The time to arrive at a common understanding is before the work starts. - THE HISTORY LESSON: No Shared Intent
By dawn on April 19th the British column of some seven hundred was approaching Lexington, en route to Concord. At the very front of the column were troops under the command of Lieutenant Jesse Adair, an inexperienced junior officer. When Adair's men reached Lexington commons, they saw a small group of colonial militia drawn up in battle formation. Adair had two choices: he could march toward and confront the militia—which might lead to shooting—or he could turn left off the green and continue to Concord, the column's ultimate destination. But thanks to Colonel Smith's decision to keep the intent of the mission a secret from his own officers, Adair didn't know if he was leading a peaceful march through the countryside or a combat patrol into hostile territory. What Adair did know was that turning left and presenting his vulnerable flank to the militia was dangerous if the colonials intended to fire on him. Because he had no clear instructions, he moved to protect his men from flanking fire by marching toward the militia. Within minutes, the shooting and killing had started.
THE BUSINESS LESSON: Shared Intent
Events often turn on decisions by junior leaders far removed from ultimate decision-makers. We invest time and effort in leader development so that those junior leaders will be well-prepared to make good calls. Adair's decision turned out badly because no one had shared with him the intent of the mission: get to Concord and seize the military supplies without getting into a fight. Had Smith shared that knowledge with his leaders, they would have had a guide for their subsequent decisions. No plan can account for every contingency, so we must equip our junior leaders with an understanding of the big picture so they can figure out how to achieve those goals in various situations.
- THE HISTORY LESSON: Know Your Enemy's Weaknesses
Later in the morning a small force of British Regulars was posted at Concord Bridge with orders to hold it against the possible advance of colonial militia located a few hundred yards away. When the militia men saw smoke rising above Concord (where the British were burning some captured stores), they assumed the invaders were burning the village and they advanced on the bridge guard. Trapped, and with the militia advancing, the British opened fire, killing at least two colonials in the first volley. When the Massachusetts men returned fire, they targeted the eight British officers, who wore distinctive scarlet coats (as opposed to the dull red coats of the private soldiers). Four of the eight British officers were hit immediately, and suddenly the Regulars were all but leaderless. They panicked, abandoned their post and ran back to town, leaving the bridge to the militia.
THE BUSINESS LESSON: Know Your Competition
"Know your competition" is an axiom of business, but because it is so obvious we sometimes forget to pay enough attention to it, or to dig deeply enough to take advantage of what we do know. The colonials, who were used to seeing British soldiers in uniform, knew that officers wore distinctive coats. They also knew that the vaunted discipline of the British Army depended, to a large extent, on the presence of officers on the field. They specifically targeted this enemy vulnerability, starting a chain reaction of mostly predictable events.
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THE HISTORY LESSON: Keep Things Simple
British forces were harassed, ambushed and attacked along their twenty-plus mile retreat back to Boston by militia companies hurrying to the fight. The Massachusetts men had no overall commander (though one militia general did issue some guidance via hard-riding messengers), yet they created a moving ambush that attached itself to the British column and—except for the late arrival of British reinforcements—might have killed or captured every Regular in Colonel Smith's command. The militia's success rested on a simple plan—attack the British column—and they did not try any complex maneuvers that were beyond the capability of their extremely decentralized force.
THE BUSINESS LESSON: Know Your Team's Capabilities
The various militia companies did not constitute a single force, and trying to create one in the midst of a fast-moving battle would have been a waste of time, so the colonial forces had no choice but to keep things simple. But business leaders sometimes overestimate the capabilities of their teams, or underestimate the impact tight time constraints will place on a team's ability to execute. It does no good to have an excellent plan that is too complex to execute. Of course it's great to have confidence in your people, and giving them stretch goals is developmental. But we often fail to think through the execution phase thoroughly enough.
"The battlefield really is a good metaphor for the business world," he says. "Both places require leaders to make the right calls amid murky, ill-defined conditions, incomplete information and high pressure. The constant feedback we get from clients is that the lessons learned here are useful in the day-to-day struggles leaders face in business."