Do you have the strength to lead like the Way of The Warrior and the Bushido Code?
I believe the Bushido Code of the famous Samurai Warriors, has the potential to turn some executives into exceptional people leaders, ones that become respected, trusted, admired and willingly followed by employees.
How did I get to think this way and why might you too?
A few days ago, it was pouring with rain outside so my wife and I took a look through Netflix to see if we could find anything of interest and the storyline of the ‘Last of the Samurai’ staring Tom Cruise, grabbed my attention.
I’m not normally one for sitting still for 3 minutes let alone nearly 3 hours but sit still I did because whilst the story and acting was good, it was the deeper messages of psychological resilience that resonated with me and held my attention all the way through.
Those who know me well, know that I love psychology, our internal psychology in terms of how we manage ourselves and the outer psychology that impacts on how we influence and inspire others to greater strength or in the case of some leaders, weaken performance by demotivating those around them.
It’s with this in mind that I decided to look deeper into the history of the Samurai Warriors and I came across the code by which they lived, the Bushido Code.
The code struck me as having the kind of strong guiding principles and virtues that are as relevant today as they ever were and we can learn much from the Samurai history.
In fact, having seen Human to Human (H2H) communications deteriorating and the quality of management practices decline over the last few years in particular, I’d go as far to say that the code is needed more today than it ever has been.
If more executives applied these virtues and also made sure that aspiring managers and future leaders adhered to them, we would have better employee engagement, less absenteeism, less stress, higher productivity, less staff leaving and ultimately I believe, far better long-term profitability within certain business too.
I was surprised to find that emotionally intelligent management played a major part in the Samurai way of life but also felt that I understood why, i.e. executives who master the correct use of such skills actually become stronger leaders (warriors) and not weaker ones, a fact that many ‘hard nosed’ business executives would do well to grasp.
In fact, I believe the code is so relevant to becoming an outstanding people leader that I will probably add it to the online Personal Leadership Psychology course I launched recently, which you can take a peak at HERE.
In the meantime, here are the principles of the Bushido Code:
Eight virtues of Bushido (Edited): A Japanese collective term for the many codes of honour and ideals that dictated the samurai way of life. Wikipedia
INTEGRITY
Be acutely honest in your dealings with all people at all times. Adhere to justice and fairness, not just from other people, but also from yourself. To the true warrior, all points of view are deeply considered regarding honesty, fairness and integrity. Warriors make a full commitment to their decisions and will carry themselves with the highest ethics and morals in doing what is right, in this respect — they will never risk their credibility by doing something that is beneficial for themselves but detrimental for others. They do the right thing regardless and never waver in this commitment; they stand upright mentally as well as physically.
RESPECT
True warriors find no reason to be cruel or unkind to anyone. They don’t need to prove their strength through such acts. Warriors are not only respected for their strength in battle, but also by their dealings with others, they treat everyone with due respect and decency as human beings. They extend courtesy, politeness, care, concern or consideration to everyone they meet and aim to give value to others wherever they can. The true strength of a warrior is earned and becomes more apparent during difficult times.
COURAGE
Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all, courage is living life completely, fully and wonderfully. You will therefore, never see these warriors waver in the face of pain, grief or fear. A true warrior demonstrates real courage by holding fast to principles of what’s the right thing to do and will stand up for these, especially in the face of challenging people or situations. Heroic courage is intelligent and strong from the inside; it’s dealing with the enemy within and avoiding temptation that may compromise the code.
HONOUR
Warriors have only one judge of honour and character, and this is being true to themselves by living the principles. Decisions they make and how these decisions are carried out are a reflection of who they truly are. They know that you can never hide from yourself. They are therefore fully transparent in their dealings with others, regardless of power, position, status or authority. They show on the outside how they abide by the code from the inside, with valour, chivalry, honesty, and compassion
BENEVOLENCE
Through an intense desire to do good, the true warrior shows dignity, personal worth, mercy, compassion and forgiveness wherever it’s needed. They develop a charitable conscience that must be used for good and try to help their fellow humans at every opportunity. If an opportunity doesn’t arise, they will go out of their way to find one rather than ‘turtle’ themselves away by hiding behind their own cares or worries.
HONESTY
When true warriors say that they will perform an action, it’s as good as done, nothing will stop them from trying to complete the task they say they will do. They do not have to ‘give their word’, they do not have to ‘promise’, they take the necessary actions to achieve the committed outcomes. They follow the premise that there are those who talk and those who do, come the day, which are you and they form part of the latter action group.
LOYALTY
Warriors are responsible for everything they’ve done, everything they’ve said and all of the consequences that follow. They are immensely loyal to all of those in their care. To everyone that they are responsible for, they remain fiercely true, family, friends, colleagues, employees as well as an allegiance to society, law and order. They demonstrate their loyalty by following all principles within the code in their dealings with others. A warrior knows their duty to others and will sacrifice personal gain in favour of loyalty to others they’ve made commitments to and those to whom they are indebted.
SELF CONTROL
Self-control is one of the most important but difficult virtues for warriors to master and is critical in keeping all the other virtues in check. A warrior therefore ensures they stay awake, alert, and aware mentally of anything that endangers the principles or risks breaking the code of conduct. They keep emotions in control and avoid impulsive actions that could compromise the high moral and ethical standards of the code. The Samurai Warrior will always choose compassion over confrontation, right over wrong, good over bad and demonstrate qualities of strength in attitude that few today seem to muster.
As you will no doubt have gathered already, many of these virtues overlap, they are effectively intertwined to form part of a complete attitude held deeply within the warrior but also, outwardly towards others.
Over a long career, I’ve worked for the good, the bad and the ugly but those individuals who stood out as the very top leaders had these kinds of principles in bucket loads. They were winners in every sense and I wouldn’t just have gone into battle behind or alongside them, I would have gone into battle in front of them because they were that good and I trusted them implicitly.
For me, the lessons I’ve found within this timeless code could not be more relevant to the kind of moral and ethical leadership standards that society is crying out for and my sincere hope is that more aspiring leaders take note and become respected, trusted and admired leaders by taking on a code of conduct like Bushido and the ‘Way of The Warrior’.
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Best,
Reece
Author & Creator of Strong Minds online personal & professional leadership self-coaching courses and podcast for + change
https://reecepye.com/online-course
Originally published at reecepye.com.
