Spoiler alert!!!
Women can Lead
Oh, people… they CAN and they WILL! The whole series was a path walked by some powerful women who meant business. In a world where physical strength and male nature were important power attributes, they lead with ambition, strategy, and personal commitment.
Whichever house you stand behind, there’s something well recognizable in GoT: teamwork is the only way. Let’s browse some critical moments in the second part of GoT – The Blog Post Saga – Team and Dynamics
They had to struggle to keep their life balance, of course. It was not easy. I’m pretty sure those dragons didn’t raise themselves. And I don’t think Joffrey could avoid some therapy sessions in his childhood. But these women did it. On the other hand, Sansa and Arya worked their way out of complete despair situations, using their resources as well as they could. We have it in us. We need to share it with the world!
Different Leadership Approaches for Different Situations and People
One Person Decides it all
The white walkers army was lead by one big character, the Night King. His northern zombies team, apparently invincible, depended too much on its leader. When the leader was stabbed by Arya, the death walkers, poor things(?), were destroyed instantly. That is clearly the biggest disadvantage of this model. In the series, this strong link had some mystical connotations, but it could be a good exercise to think when this happens in an organization, because, know it, it happens. Identify the Night King in your company and deal with him!
Fear Based
This leadership style is not usually mentioned in the big management books, but it exists. A lot of times, teams see themselves moving along driven by threats, bullying or aggressiveness. Cersei was an expert in these matters. She even acted this way with Jamie, her only living love and head of her army. The thing is, it works for Cersei. She ruled this kingdom in some kind of successful way. She achieved a lot. This behavior has its results. Of course, it also has a loooot of disadvantages like people hating you and all. But did she care? No, she didn’t. This style exists because it’s fruitful for somebody. The balance can be very very tricky in this environment for the team and the leader. Pay attention and try to spot these dynamics in your company! They could be dangerous.
Inspirational
Dany was the slave’s liberator, the queen of the people, the magic mother of dragons. Her subjects follow her driven by ideology, gratitude and better world dreams. Wasn’t that the utopia? Well… It wasn´t. Nobody is always right and eventually, somebody is going to think differently from the leader. And… it is when the freedom finishes. You talk, you’re dead. It took some time for her to realize her mistakes. The blindness of the success (this we read about in the management books). “I want free people, as long as these free people choose me”. We’ve seen this hundred of times in history. What we hadn’t seen is a whole city razed by dragon fire in ten minutes, even when it surrendered. That’s a new level of war politics.
In the Shadows Influential Figures
GoT shows fantastically different people deciding the destiny of the world. The obvious ones were queens, kings, and generals. But there are other characters who have great power too, and they are not the main leader in town.
Hands of the queen or king are a better example. They rule everybody, except for their chiefs.
Doubtless, the character with the best evolution, personally and in power matters, is Tyrion. One more episode and he gets the throne. He escapes from a lot of enemies, kills his father and ended up uniting the kingdoms and achieving some peace. He is the brain behind a lot of moves. We don’t quite agree with his choice for king of the seven kingdoms, but well, his ex-misses see it better and proclaim the North to be independent.
Other great examples of mysterious puppeteers are Little Finger and Varys. They would go where the winds of power would take them. And they made it quite far. They have something very clear in mind: You don`t know who the next king or queen is going to be, so: be prepared!
Whichever house you stand behind, there’s something well recognizable in GoT: teamwork is the only way. Let’s browse some critical moments in the second part of GoT – The Blog Post Saga – Team and Dynamics
