There are two ways to lead people and drive impact.
By dividing people. Create a mutual enemy and lead a crusade to conquer it. Turn it into a life or death situation — the sense of urge unleashes unconditional support. Conquering, winning at-any-cost, is all that matters.
By uniting people. Create a shared ambition and inspire people to build it with you. Turn it into a life quest — the journey to build something bigger than themselves unites people. The desire to leave a legacy is why people join a mission.
Leaders have two choices — to unite or divide.
The Divide & Conquer Approach
The Latin phrase “Divide et impera” is as old as politics and war.
The divide your enemy so you can reign approach is attributed to Julius Cesar — he successfully applied it to conquer Gaul twenty two centuries ago (no typo). But he wasn’t the first one, nor the last one, to implement it.
Nicholas Machiavelli famously said: “Politics have no relations to moral.” The Italian poli…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Demystify Culture to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.