Otto von BismarckvsAbraham Lincoln
I'm on a board where there are other members still trying to undermine me. My instinct is to push them out, make it clear that opposition has consequences. My wife, who's watched me through years of my time with this company, says I'm becoming someone she doesn't recognize. One thing she said that sticks in my mind, "What happened to the guy who wanted to build something, not just fight everybody?" I could try to win them over. Make concessions. Build a team of rivals. But that feels naive—my read is they'd rather see me fail than the company succeed. I used to be decisive, but my emotional connection with some of these people has me in a quandary. Is there wisdom in magnanimity, or is that just a recipe for getting stabbed in the back?
"Consolidate power when you have advantage—mercy to enemies is cruelty to yourself"
Your friend speaks wisely. I unified Germany not by persuading my opponents but by defeating them so thoroughly they had no choice but to cooperate. You won the battle; now win the war. Those four board members will interpret magnanimity as weakness. Give them nothing to exploit. Replace them, promote loyalists, and build from strength. Your wife wants the man you were; Germany needed the man I became.
"Even your enemies deserve empathy—you may need them as allies tomorrow"
I put men in my cabinet who called me a backwoods fool and schemed for my job. Seward, Chase, Stanton—rivals all. But I needed their talents more than I needed their submission. Your opponents may be obstructive, but they won the confidence of nearly half the board for reasons worth understanding. A house divided against itself cannot stand, but a house that crushes its dissidents is not worth standing in.
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