Lessons from Game of Thrones and how to Apply them to your Business

Welcome back to the last part of a series of blogs on Lessons from Game of Thrones and how to apply them to your business. The gritty realism created by George R.R. Martin is not only entertaining to read and watch, but also creates some exciting situations that have a great deal of relevance and lessons to be learned whatever your business.

If you missed them then you can find the first four parts here:

Part 1 - Robb Stark

Part 2 - Tywin Lannister

Part 3 - Danaerys Targaryen

Part 4 - Arya Stark

In this final part I will talk about the leadership success and failings of Stannis Baratheon

It is widely believed that, following the death of King Robert Baratheon, Stannis is the true King but Renly Baratheon is the peoples King. Stannis isn't necessarily the most popular man, he's regarded as stonehearted, cruel and in the words of Renly he "has the personality of a lobster".

Indeed, in terms of leadership none of his actions are worthy of note, but he does demonstrate a variety of styles that you can employ at the correct moments.

Stannis is a man of morals, and his treatment of Ser Davos Seaworth is testament to that. For his crimes of being a smuggler Stannis took four of his finger tips, but then also made him a Knight, and created one of his fiercest allies throughout his campaign to become King of Westeros.

What we can learn is that people do make mistakes, but to strike them out for good could cost us some of our greatest assets. Now I wouldn't recommend taking the finger tips of any of your employees, but always give them the opportunity to learn, make mistakes and develop.

Stannis finds himself twice losing troops he hoped would be loyal; the first instance is when he makes his original play to be King, and the Tyrell's throw their support behind Renly instead. The second time is when his army begins to falter on the Battle of Blackwater, as men threw down their arms to save their own lives rather than fight for the man they should have regarded as the True King.

It's no coincidence, Stannis does little to encourage love from his troops, and does little to inspire them as to why they should fight for him. We must all show to other people warmth and affection, if we are to rally the support of our employees, colleagues and connections, or people will have no qualms about laying down their sword.

You have to ask the question as to what reasons you are providing to your staff to work hard for you, are you inspiring them to innovate and are you giving them the platform that they wish to develop there career. If you are not, then like Stannis, you may find those whose you wished were loyal, are now looking elsewhere.

Thanks for reading my Lessons from Game of Thrones, I hope you've enjoyed the series. I’m Thomas Szczepanski, Master Accountant.

Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming talk in Wakefield: ‘Growing Strong - how Game of Thrones can transform your business thinking’