Asakura Clan House Code - Law #2 | Part 2 of 17 Article Series

ORIGINAL TEXT:

Do not give a command post or an administrative position to anyone who lacks ability, even if his family has served the Asakura family for generations.

MODERN INTERPRETATION:

In assigning positions of leadership, while loyalty to the group is of great importance, of even greater importance is the ABILITY TO LEAD EXCELLENTLY.

EMPATHY: Put yourself in the Shoes of a Samurai

Imagine for a moment that your life depends on a person you KNOW is untrustworthy.

All of your future hopes and dreams, depending on a person with none of the right skills, but with all the “right” connections.

Nepotism at its worst, this person slithered their way into a position of leadership despite lacking the necessary qualities to lead.

Imagine then, your whole community under siege, people left, right, and center getting shot with arrows, burned, slaughtered, tortured, with all manners of “deterrence” to NEVER rise up again.

All because your community’s leadership was clueless.

Samurai MUST Win

A wise Samurai leader would never accept this outcome. The Clan MUST survive and thrive! To a leader, there would be no other alternative.  Therefore, great effort was put into developing future leaders.  Great efforts in military training, strategy, education, and so on was thrust upon children from a young age, with hopes of turning them into valiant, powerful, capable warriors, “unmatched in the Way of the Warrior.”

One MUST Understand What “IS,” and work WITH it

Always being grounded in reality and truth and was critical for the survival of any Samurai Clan.  Promoting a certain individual into a position of power was a carefully considered undertaking which required much deliberation beforehand.  One had to balance filial piety and respect for one’s parents, loyalty and honor, support for Clan goals, and compassion for those that served you both in the past and the present.

Leaders MUST Lead Excellently!

The 2nd law of the House of Asakura is to refuse to promote into leadership positions those who, despite great loyalty, don’t actually have the ability to LEAD - and lead excellently.

Leaders must actually be great LEADERS!  If not, the “kingdom will fall.”

The Burden of Leadership and Promotions to Leadership Roles

Have you ever experienced or observed the following?  A person is working a position in a company for years, and gets refused for a promotion (despite having good leadership potential).  The person’s manager says, “sorry, but you don’t have the skills for the job.”

It can be a frustrating feeling.  It’s an even worse feeling if your manager ends up hiring someone that everyone thinks is an idiot and doesn’t deserve the job!  And that person ends up being lazy, slacking off, avoiding work, and the team suffers as a result.

When an organization truly cares deeply for its own thriving, the burden of the leadership is to place the right people in the right roles.  This is the weight on the true leader’s shoulders.  If the right person is chosen, the organization thrives.  But if the leader selects the wrong person, the organization suffers.  

For a Samurai, the wrong leadership would bring shame, dishonour, and even death.

Select Leaders Carefully, and Give a Fair Chance

When organizational leadership is disciplined to follow the 2nd rule of the House Code of the Asakura, ONLY good leaders become leaders, and then get developed even further.  

Ideally, there should be a basic, established, and objectively measured process for evaluating ability, skills, and essential qualities of potential leadership candidates to ensure only the right people truly “get the job.” 

Loyalty is Essential, but ABILITY is Key

In modern business, the practice of promoting one’s family and friends, lackeys and “yes-men” into positions of power despite lacking required abilities is still unfortunately common.  One may argue the loyalty factor here - that family and friends will be more loyal.  While perhaps this may be true, the 2nd law of the Asakura Clan elaborates that ABILITY is MORE important than LOYALTY in choosing a leader.  

A command post, where one is responsible for the lives of many soldiers, and an administrative position where one has responsibility for the effective operation of the House, were considered of critical importance to keeping the Asakura family in a position of power.  Choosing the wrong person here, without the required skills / knowledge / strengths / talents / abilities, could result, literally, in the entire clan being slaughtered and decimated.

Loyalty, though important, is not enough.  People in positions of power must be effective and excellent in their roles.  Leaders must actually be able to LEAD, and LEAD WELL.

NEXT LAW IN THE SERIES : A PREVIEW

The next article, Law #3, is regarding constant connection, sensitivity, and work to ensure success, even when there is no external threat.