Napoleon is hot right now. He is everywhere in the media, and that’s despite being dead for over 200 years. Not only do we have Ridley Scott’s epic new movie ‘Napoleon’, there are dozens of books recently published on the French Emperor’s life (I’ve just finished reading this one*), and any number of documentaries.
Whatever your opinion of the guy in terms of morality, ethics, etc, Napoleon was a genius, no question. He is rightly recognised as one of the three greatest military leaders of all time, along with Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar.
During his relatively short but momentous life, Napoleon made an impact not only on the battlefield but in his speeches, writings and conversation. One of his most famous quotes has stuck with me for many years:
“I’d rather have a general who was lucky than one who was good.”
That quote resonates with me because I’ve long recognised that I am lucky. My mother used to say that ‘if Stephen fell down the loo he’d come up with gold in his hand’! (Note: that premise remains unproven).
When you read Napoleon’s biography you cannot help but notice the many times he was amazingly lucky.
Here was a man who defied disaster, death and injury with aplomb. While most of those around him were killed during the course of his many campaigns — through victory and defeat — he remained standing. Until the day his luck ran out — at the battle of Waterloo. But even then he didn’t die. He just got exiled to the island of St. Helena where he passed away six years later at the age of 52.
For most people, being lucky or unlucky is pretty much decided at birth: when, where and to whom you are born. You don’t need me to list the countries where it is best not to be born, you know them yourself. It doesn’t take a genius to recognise that being born into a prosperous family in a wealthy industrialised country is likely to make one’s life easier than being born into a poverty-stricken family in the Horn of Africa.
Lucky in Life
But putting the key variable of ‘place of birth’ aside, what makes some people lucky and others not? How is it that some individuals seem to float over life’s vicissitudes, mostly avoiding the great sufferings, while others have suffering heaped upon them, and it would appear, unfairly.
This question has long been on my mind as I’ve tried to make sense of my own life, my own good fortune, not least because I’d like it to continue! Whatever I am doing right, then great. But then that is the question — what is it that is ‘right’?
I believe I got closer to the answer after I became a Buddhist, over twenty years ago. I started to understand the concept of karma, how actions today bring consequences tomorrow. And how good actions are more likely to bring good consequences and vice versa. Realistically, how can a person be bad, constantly act in a bad way towards others, and expect their life to be full of joy and good fortune? Sure, we can all identify individuals who act badly and seem to get away with it, but as I’ve looked more closely at such people, and at my own experiences, I’ve noted one thing to be true — no one ‘gets away’ with anything in the end. Eventually, luck will run out. Karma is all.
Apparently, Napoleon went into his final battle (Waterloo) fearing his luck had run out.
He sensed it. And he was right.
It all went badly for him on that fateful Sunday in June 1815. His own karma finally caught up with him. Napoleon could have stayed in relatively prosperous exile on Elba and enjoy a long and comfortable life into old age. Instead, he chose to push his luck a little further. Bad decision.
Lucky Leader Lesson Number 1: Don’t push your luck otherwise it will turn on you eventually. Always be prepared for the unexpected and never assume the gods of fortune will protect you come what may.
Lucky Leader Lesson Number 2: Good karma has to be respected and earned. What goes around, comes around. As soon as you take it all for granted, indulge in hubris, start behaving badly, so the wheels come off.
From Eisenhower to Clough
Another famous leader who, like Napoleon, believed in the concept of the ‘lucky leader’, was Dwight D. Eisenhower. Not only was he one of the most successful generals during WW2, he subsequently retired from the military and became 34th President of the USA in 1953. He too is quoted as saying: “I would rather have a lucky general that a smart general. They win battles and make me lucky.”
Living in Thailand, I see a lot of Thai’s who also believe in luck, and in karma. Seems to me that the regular trips to the local temple, to pray and pay merit to the monks and gods, has, however, more to do with superstition than with being the best one can be. For what is prayer and making merit if not an act of insurance against the worst that can happen, not just in the next life but especially in this one?
Indeed, is this not the belief that underpins all religions?
I don’t know if Eisenhower was a religious man but he was superstitious. Lucky leader that he was, Eisenhower always carried in his pocket seven old coins, including a gold five-guinea piece. He was a notable general, but that didn’t stop him believing in something much less real and pragmatic than military power — the magic of a few old coins.
I doubt Eisenhower ever played football but he had something in common with one of England’s best-ever football managers — Brian Clough. Clough was a legendary leader of trophy-winning football teams during the 1970s and 1980s and a recognised expert at man-management. But those skills didn’t stop him always wearing his ‘lucky blue suit’ on match days.
Lucky Leader Lesson Number 3: It doesn’t cost anything to hedge your bets against the gods of misfortune. Even the best and brightest of us can be superstitious. Just don’t rely on it.
Over the decades I have met not just lucky leaders from all walks of life, I have met leaders who have been born with the silver spoon of luck in their mouth yet still seem to be dogged by misfortune.
One example that comes to my mind is a person born into a wealthy family, went to all the right schools and university, and following graduation immediately went into the family business. What a life. All they had to do was continue smoothly and amicably along the path set out for them. But what happens? Well, in this case the person firstly marries badly. Two children later and its divorce. Secondly, they fall out with their parents and siblings. So, the family gets split and that split never heals. Thirdly, and most important to my mind, they believe they are better leaders than they actually are. They fail to recognise how luck has played a vital part in their life so far. Instead, they believe they are masters (or mistresses) of their destiny. They don’t take advice, they are not professional, they constantly make the wrong decisions in business and inevitably, their problems pile up. One day it is all over — goodbye to the business.
I can feel sympathy for such (un)lucky leaders not least because destiny has put them in this situation, at least to some degree. They are leaders not out of merit and effort but out of the circumstances of their birth. But when I see such leaders fail I can spot the reason — inflated but unjustified ego combined with a massive sense of entitlement. Napoleon had an enormous ego — but then so would you if you’d had his success. The leader with the inflated ego but no track record of success to justify it is doomed to disaster.
Lucky Leader Lesson Number 4: Every leader needs an ego, just make sure it is an ego earned from effort and success, not pumped up solely by inappropriate self-regard and a belief that one is entitled to be forever lucky.
Luck or Destiny?
From Winston Churchill to Queen Elizabeth 1, Genghis Khan to Catherine the Great, Henry Ford to Elon Musk, one theme stands out, and it is not just the sense of luck. It is the sense of timing.
And for timing read destiny.
Maybe it’s a man thing (because most of these are guys) but read any biography of a famous leader and you’ll spot that key word keep cropping up during their life — destiny. The lucky leader has an inordinate belief in their destiny, their ability to achieve, to overcome, to win no matter the odds against them. They arrive on the stage of history at just the right moment, in the right era, with the doors of fortune if not open before them then at least ready to be pushed. And so they push — hard.
But you don’t have to be one of history’s all-time great leaders to feel that push of destiny. There have been times when I’ve felt it in my life. Moments when I was at a vital crossroads, not clear which direct to take, unsure, insecure but still determined. Despite feeling myself to be lucky I don’t believe I have ever been reckless. I’ve worked out the odds, calculated the options, understood the risks as best I could, and tried to prepare for the worst. And only then did I act. Those close to me during such times may well have thought me crazy. But I wasn’t. Because I too had the sense of following a path already set out for me. Perhaps I was, still am, delusional. Fair point. But what I wasn’t delusional about, and neither is any lucky leader, was timing. Timing is everything. Get the timing wrong, even when making the right decision but at the wrong time, and it all comes crashing down.
Lucky Leader Lesson Number 5: The real luck is in the timing. But don’t rely on any clocks for this. You can only sense when the timing is right. The lucky leader senses when to act, take those big decisions, and when not to. Only you really know when the right opportunity has landed or not. Only you know when these moments arrive in your life. Don’t rely on others to tell you.
Another key message which one gets from studying the lives of famous leaders is how their confidence, determination and self-belief coalesce into a powerful sense of self-love. Napoleon loved himself, for sure. And so too did all these egotistical and successful leaders. Not that they wouldn’t be prepared to sacrifice themselves for their ideals, but they each fervently believe themselves to be worthy of success. Maybe their luck stems from this unswerving desire for self-actualisation — to achieve something great during their lives and feel the pull of destiny to do so.
Which leads me to the final lesson:
Lucky leader Lesson Number Six: Self-love* must be at the core of the successful leader. But self-love combined with realism and pragmatic leadership skills. Without self-love you are not going to make it to the top. Why? Because to get to the top you must believe in your innate value as a human being, indeed as a unique and very special human being.
Luck can run out; everything changes; only rely on yourself; don’t be reckless; don’t be greedy; don’t be entitled; do good rather than bad; don’t rely on superstition; what goes around comes around; always believe in yourself, and never give up — until it is time to give up.
OK, a bunch of clichés but who would deny their veracity? Not me.
You want to be a lucky leader? Then start by believing yourself to be a lucky leader, use and deploy all your intelligences at the right time — but don’t forget to keep your fingers crossed.
*Andrew Roberts (2016) ‘Napoleon the Great’, London: Penguin.
** Van Thanh Binh and Stephen Whitehead (2024) ‘Women and Self-Love’, London: AH Stockwell.
ACADEMIC ARTICLES BY STEPHEN
Refereed Journal Articles
Whitehead, S. (1997)
‘Men/Managers and the Shifting Discourses of Post-Compulsory Education’. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 1:2.
Whitehead, S. (1998)
‘Disrupted Selves: Resistance and Identity Work in the Managerial Arena’. Gender and Education, 10:2.
Kerfoot, D. and Whitehead, S. (1998)
‘’Boys Own’ Stuff: Masculinity and the Management of Further Education’. The Sociological Review, 46:3.
Whitehead, S. (1999)
‘From Paternalism to Entrepreneuralism: The Experience of Men Managers in UK Postcompulsory Education’. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 20:1.
Kerfoot, D. and Whitehead, S. (2000)
‘Keeping All the Balls In the Air: FE and the Masculine/Managerial Subject’. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 24:2.
Goddard-Patel, P. and Whitehead, S. (2000))
‘Examining the Crisis of Further Education: An analysis of “failing” colleges and failing policies’. Policy Studies, 21:3.
Whitehead, S. (2001)
‘Woman as Manager: A Seductive Ontology’. Gender, Work and Organization, 8:1.
Whitehead, S. (2001)
‘The Invisible Gendered Subject: Men in Education Management’. Journal of Gender Studies, 10:1.
Goddard-Patel, P. and Whitehead, S. (2002) ‘The Mechanics of ‘Failure’ in Further Education: The Case of Bilston Community College’. Policy Studies, 22:3/4.
Whitehead, S. (2005) ‘Performativity Culture and the Further Education Professional’. International Journal of Management in Education, 19:3.
Whitehead, S. (2008) ‘Metrosexuality! Cameron, Brown and the politics of ‘new masculinity’, Public Policy Research, 14:4.
Sanderson, R and Whitehead, S (2015) ‘The Gendered International School: Barriers to women managers’ progression’. Journal Education + Training.
Review Articles
Whitehead, S. (1997)
‘Class Inequality Revisited’. Reviewing Sociology, 10:2.
Whitehead, S. (1999)
‘Hegemonic Masculinity Revisited’. Gender, Work and Organization, 6:1.
Whitehead, S. (2000)
‘Masculinity: Shutting Out the Nasty Bits’ Gender, Work and Organization. 7:2.
Whitehead, S. (2000)
‘Postmodernism in Education Theory’, British Journal of Educational Studies. 48:3.
Whitehead, S. (2000)
‘Masculinities, Race and Nationhood – Critical Connections’. Gender and History. 12:2
Guest Editing (Journal Special Issues)
Kerfoot, D., Prichard, C. and Whitehead, S. (2000)
‘(En)Gendering Management: Work, Organisation and Further Education’. Journal of Further and Higher Education. 24:2.
