How do you define success? The path chosen to succeed defines the character of a leader and not just by the ends they have achieved. This difference separates the missionary from a mercenary.
The world is filled with leadership examples from the past and the present. Gandhi liberated India from the British Autocracy and Hitler conquered countries through the abuse of power. Both are leaders no doubt, but one took the path of a missionary and the other a mercenary.
For a mercenary, the end justifies the means. The consequences of the actions on the future do not matter. For a missionary, the means take primal importance. That is the only thing that is important to the missionary. The journey takes precedence over the destination.
In the corporate world today, we may not see a brutal approach of a mercenary as in medieval times, but the cult does exist in different forms. Two decades ago, corporate CEOs such as Jack Welsch brought out the significance of leaders and their leadership styles that we are aware of the same to create an empowering leadership model of functioning. Till such time, the meaning of leadership in layman’s terms was about giving directions for others to follow, period. Today’s CEOs are game-changers.
The Tale of a Successor
The CEO of a global corporate was about to retire. He wanted to choose a worthy successor and called five of his best people on the board. He gave each of them a seed and asked them to meet him one year later and show him the plant.
The group did what each of them was told to and Ben was one of them. Ben went home and shared the news with his wife of his prospective growth in his career possibly after one year. His wife was excited and both of them bought a new pot, and good soil and planted the seed and watered it every day.
Each week Ben’s colleagues would share how much their saplings have grown. And Ben had nothing to share as there was no shoot in sight even after 6 weeks. After 6 months Ben and his wife were sad as the seed was not growing but they still did not stop watering the pot. They did what needs to be done every single day. Just keep watering the seed.
A year passed and all 5 of the prospective CEOs were called for a meeting to exhibit their saplings. Except for Ben, everyone displayed their saplings now budding with flowers. Ben was embarrassed but he decided to show only the empty pot for what it is.
The CEO called for Ben and asked him what happened. Ben explained that he kept watering the seed every single day, but nothing grew.
And then the CEO announced: Welcome our next CEO, Ben!!!
To the surprise of Ben and everyone, the CEO said he has given boiled seeds to them, and nothing could have grown. The other 4 of them replaced the seeds given so as not to lose. Ben stood his ground to follow with integrity.
Ben was a missionary. The end he wanted to achieve was not at the cost of his principles. Authenticity, patience, and persistence are virtues that are invaluable. The other 4 of them are mercenaries. For them, the end was more important than the means to achieve it.
The Value of a Mercenary
The middle management in any organization is filled with mercenaries. They are the go-getters who thrive in this environment. The hustle and bustle of tasks exist in the teams that work under the supervision of the middle-level managers. In essence, they are the engine that runs the results of the organization. The manager and their teams both are mercenaries to each other. The mercenary is an asset to the organization.
A missionary leader often needs a mercenary leader to accomplish projects. A missionary leads the way without deviation from the path of values which is important to the organization. And a mercenary leads the way to accomplishment under the supervision of a missionary. This is a good combination.
Modern Entrepreneurs
Capitalists are driven by a mercenary approach. The more successful is an entrepreneur the more they tend to lean toward a missionary approach despite being a capitalist at heart. Let us consider Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs is known to be ruthless in his approach to getting things done. He is a mercenary who did not care about the means. But he is a missionary who had a love for innovation for mankind and he loved his products as an extension of the human body and mind. He pushed the human race forward. The world presented more such leaders who are a combination of a mercenary and a missionary and the notable ones being Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Sam Walton, Bill Gates, and many more.
The challenge is to find the balance between being a mercenary and a missionary. Or handling mercenaries while being a missionary. Great leadership comes with being a combination of both. A mercenary is a phenomenal asset while being led by a missionary.
How to identify Missionaries and Mercenaries in your organization?
A missionary has the personality trait of being open to suggestions. He or she is open to being confronted on issues and challenged on their decisions. In the mind of a missionary, they tend to think and express the value that can be generated for other people through their actions. They are focused on meeting long-term objectives and the planning for the present is based on that.
A mercenary has a personality trait of being rigid to their planned actions. They are close-minded and have a set pattern of working that may or may not yield definite results. But they still go ahead and fetch results even if that doesn’t meet their values. To the mind of a mercenary, they want to get the job done. Period. And they would be willing to do whatever it takes to be a winner. For a mercenary, the feeling of accomplishment is primary than the value that comes to others.
Finding the right balance in leveraging the efficiency of a mercenary and the effectiveness of a missionary is the key to running a successful team or an organization. So, what kind of a leader are you?