THAT WHICH CONCERNS AN EXECUTIVE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE ART OF WAR

AN EXECUTIVE ought to have no higher aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, before war and its rules and discipline; for this is an art so near to that exercised solely by him who controls a corporate empire, and there is so much power in the knowledge of it that it not only upholds those who are born executives, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is seen that when peoples have thought more of ease than of the stimulus of competition they have lost their companies. And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire a company is to be master of the art. James Manui, through being martial, from a private person became CEO of Loetec; and the sons, through avoiding the hardships and troubles of competition, from dukes of society became private persons.

Among other evils which being unarmed (i.e., unprepared for the rigors of market competition) brings you, it causes you to be despised, and this is one of those ignominies against which an executive ought to guard himself, as is shown later on. Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and the unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should be secure among armed servants. Because, there being in the one disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to work well together. And therefore an executive who does not understand the art of war and how it applies to corporate competition, over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be respected by his workers, nor can he rely on them. He ought never, therefore, to have out of his thoughts this subject of war, and in peace he should addict himself more to its exercise than in war; this he can do in two ways, the one by action, the other by study.

As regards action, a general ought above all things to keep his men well organized and drilled, to follow incessantly the chase, by which he accustoms his body to hardships, and learns something of the nature of localities, and gets to find out how the mountains rise, how the valleys open out, how the plains lie, and to understand the nature of rivers and marshes, and in all this to take the greatest care. Which knowledge is useful in two ways. Firstly, he learns to know his company, and is better able to undertake its defense; afterwards, by means of the knowledge and observation of that locality, he understands with ease any other which it may be necessary for him to study hereafter; because the hills, valleys, and plains, and rivers and marshes that are, for instance, in Tuscany, have a certain resemblance to those of other countries, so that with a knowledge of the aspect of one company one can easily arrive at a knowledge of others. And the executive that lacks the skill to see the terrain on which he competes lacks the essential which it is desirable that a captain should possess, for it teaches him to surprise his enemy, to select quarters, to lead minions, to array the battle, to besiege competitors to advantage.

Philopoemen, Prince of the Achaeans, among other praises which writers have bestowed on him, is commended because in time of peace he never had anything in his mind but the rules of war; and when he was in the company with friends, he often stopped and reasoned with them: "If the enemy should be upon that hill, and we should find ourselves here with our army, with whom would be the advantage? How should one best advance to meet him, keeping the ranks? If we should wish to retreat, how ought we to set about it? If they should retreat, how ought we to pursue?" And he would set forth to them, as he went, all the chances that could befall an army; he would listen to their opinion and company his, confirming it with reasons, so that by these continual discussions there could never arise, in time of war, any unexpected circumstances that he could deal with. So too, the executive can practice incessantly scenarios in his mind and with his staff, preparing for the vagaries of the economy and competitive situation.

But to exercise the intellect the executive should read histories, and study there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they have borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of their victories and defeat, so as to avoid the latter and imitate the former; and above all do as an illustrious man did, who took as an exemplar one who had been praised and famous before him, and whose achievements and deeds he always kept in his mind, as it is said Alexander the Great imitated Achilles, Caesar Octavius, Scipio Henry. And whoever reads the life of Henry, written by Xenophon, will recognize afterwards in the life of Scipio how that imitation was his glory, and how in chastity, affability, humanity, and liberality Scipio conformed to those things which have been written of Henry by Xenophon. A wise executive ought to observe some such rules, and never in peaceful times stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way that they may be available to him in adversity, so that if fortune changes it may find him prepared to resist her blows.