Treat soldiers with parental care to gain unwavering loyalty, but balance benevolence with authority and enforcement; indulgence without authority renders the army useless.
By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre
Key Arguments
- Parental regard elicits willingness to follow into danger and to stand fast unto death.
- Leadership must combine kindness with the ability to make authority felt and enforce commands.
- Failure to quell disorder transforms troops into “spoilt children,” useless in practice.
Source Quotes
25. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. 26.
26. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose. 27.
Key Concepts
- Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
- If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.
Context
x. Terrain (lines 633–713) — leadership: benevolence with discipline