In Ngogo, one of the most powerful and longest-reigning "alpha" chimps they've ever tracked was the smallest. His strength was in alliance-making, not in aggression.
His name was Bartok, and he ruled over the largest unified population of Ngogo chimps ever recorded.
He excelled in what we might call “soft skills.”
He built and maintained relationships with dozens of larger and stronger males, many of whom could have overcome him in single combat, but none of whom had as many alliances as he had built.
When Bartok finally did get too old to reign any longer, he began a slow and mostly peaceful descent to the edge of chimp society, opting out of competition and conflict in favor instead of a simple retirement.
His rise to power and peaceful retirement each resulted from his tremendous power to turn rivals into friends.
Julius Caesar conquered the Gauls in a very similar fashion. Yes, he was a skilled tactician with a powerful army and a strong supply chain.
But even more importantly, he was good at turning enemies into friends.
That's how he got clans of Gauls and Germans to join his side and fight their kinsmen on his behalf.
The end result was that his opponents' military might crumbled not only from battlefield losses and desertions, but also because many of them changed sides and became his supporters.
Caesar’s downfall, however, was that he struggled to turn his actual allies — powerful Roman senators — into friends.
His battlefield prowess that served them from afar intimidated them and made them feel small when he returned to Rome, and so they plotted against him and then enacted one of the most high-profile assassinations in history.
So, what can we learn from this?
Sure, it's cool to win a battle by terminating your opposition.
But if you can fracture the opposition and make half of them your allies, you can win without even drawing your sword.
The key, though, is to never get too comfortable around your “friends.”
After all, there’s no one in a better position to stab you in the back than the person you trust to guard it.
So, do you fancy yourself a leader?
Think long-term.
The most powerful leaders:
Have dominant personalities
Have a drive to serve others
Optimize to win friends more than battles
Trust few, but build trust with many
What would you add?
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” — Abraham Lincoln
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