Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 5: 19 & 20 "(19) The Skillful Warrior exploits the potential energy; he does not hold his men responsible. (20) He deploys his men to their best but relies on the potential energy."

Today's focus is #SunTzu 5: 20.

The more I study Master Sun, the more I dream of truly importing his wisdom into the business world where I make my own way in life. Okay, I have a severe case of military envy, and a real case of regret that I never wore the sacred uniform of our nation's service.

It's not that I would actually change the trajectory of my life, given a time-machine, though, as I know why I made the choices I did. It's more like a teenage video warfighter's fantasy of having it both ways, my life as it was AND also being a great warrior.

In business, for the most part, we simply don't deploy things. If we do, we delegate. Contemplate the difference. Feel it. Would you rather have something delegated to you, or would you rather be part of a mission's deployment? Come on, we business people should learn from this!

This decade - I'm in late 50's now - has been one of such strange learning. Learning things I've always known but never recognized again and again. Take leadership for instance. I've been serving leaders for over 30 years, but it's only now that my study has zeroed there.

The Skillful Warrior deploys his men to their best. Ha! I can add, the Lacking Leader does NOT deploy his men to their best. Would you assess a leader? Assess his men. Are they deployed to their best? The men always know, and if provided safety from censure, will always speak.

I have wonderful clients. I can honestly share that not one of them would claim to deploy his men well. We just suck at it in business. You know what we're better at? The servant/leader model. It's a good thing. A leader shows up to serve his followers. It's kind of beautiful.

But I know the men, too. I don't just serve leaders, I serve followers, and I'm here to tell you, they want to be led. Or they want to be released just to do stuff their own way. No one can tolerate bad leadership. So, rather than suffer that, just leave us alone, they opine.

But, offer them strong leadership, the real thing, the chance to be deployed to their best, and they're all in for a strong leader and vastly prefer that to blundering along on their own. The Skillful Warrior deploys his men to their best. Oh, for some Skillful Business Leaders.

I'm not a big fan of Steve Jobs. But I completely honor his capability to deploy his men to their best. It wasn't always that way for him. But as his strategy chops exploded, he built teams that created the most profitable products in history. He definitely deployed.

And Jobs definitely relied on the potential energy of the situation. When creating the Apple II, the vision was: one person, one computer. It almost seems quaint, now. Back then, only great corporations, universities and government could afford computers. Can you say revolution?

Equally so, Bill Gates knew the potential energy of placing a computer on each employee's desk. Corporate Information Technology was previously mainframe computing. Gates created the basis for it to be distributed to the men. One on each desk. Can you say revolution?

Forget the great and the mighty. You're a lowly sales manager. You have a lowly salesman. He sits at his desk with a computer and a telephone. You deploy him onto his phone, each day. But, have you trained him out to plan? Do you help him assess his efforts and learn?

Master Sun teaches us that the Skillful Warrior relies on potential energy. Have you? Have you found the potential energy in your salesman's performance of his mission, in the sizzling sparking potential of a single telephone call? Do you know what potential energy is?

Do you remember - as we've discussed before - how @realDonaldTrump's rallies were followed by a media that couldn't get enough of them, and enjoyed the ratings boost of transmitting them? Do you remember how they said, well, he can sure run a rally, but will he get votes?

@POTUS is the greatest living master of potential energy, its identification and employment. What about deployment? While I'm happier and happier as I see his team developing, he remains his own greatest battlefield tactician. He deploys himself, mostly, and who can disagree?

Of the growing cohort of men he's leading as we head into the #WarForAmerica2020, keep your eye especially on @parscale. He has been deployed. He is a great leader in his own right. Both of them read the potential energy, rely on it, and deploy their men thereby.

Once more into the breach dear reader. There is in this day great potential energy for you to rely on. What is it? How do you find it? The first step is the hunt itself. You won't find what you do not seek. Hunt it. Search for it. It is there and will reveal itself. Honest.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21.

108 verses completed, 314 to go. And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…

The local MAGA leader’s library needs three other books. The first is by my great friend, hero, and today’s greatest constitutional scholar, @shestokas. His most important work so far is:

amazon.com/Creating-Decla…

The second is available free. It is the combined Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

uscis.gov/sites/default/…

Last is my own book. I'll give you the link here, and then conclude with its ten MAGA principles:

amazon.com/America-First-…

1. Remember The Forgotten Americans
2. Rule Of Law
3. American Jobs
4. Quality Of Life For Every American
5. Heal Our Cities
6. Build The Wall
7. Make America Wealthy Again
8. Make America Strong Again
9. Make America Safe Again
10. Make America Great Again