The game of the generals

MANILA, November 23, 2004 (STAR) By Wilson Lee Flores (Soldiers
usually win the battles and generals get the credit for them. - Napoleon
Bonaparte, French general and emperor)

(It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those
who are willing to endure pain with patience. - Julius Caesar, great
Roman general and Latin writer)

(There is nothing impossible to him who will try. - Alexander the
Great, Macedonian general and emperor)

(Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are
skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus, the wise win before they
fight, while the ignorant fight to win. - Zhuge Liang, great Chinese
general, 3rd century A.D.)

One of this writer's favorite pastimes is studying the exploits and
aggressive leadership styles of the greatest generals who shaped world
history - Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. Zhuge Liang, Gen. Yue Fei
(whose fealty to the nation and to his mother is taught to kids all over
Asia and China), Genghis Khan and others.

It is distressing to read the headline-grabbing foibles of some
military and police generals due to alleged jueteng, smuggling,
kidnap-for-ransom crimes, reselling of arms to rebels and skullduggery.
We shouldn't generalize that all generals are corrupt, inept and craven,
in the same way it is unfair to condemn all our politicians as hopeless.

Lessons From The Generals

In the recent arraignment of AFP Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia for corruption
charges, the Philippine STAR was invited by Integrated Bar of the
Philippines (IBP) officers led by national president Joel Cadiz to join
in the front-row seats reserved for the IBP Monitoring Team. The military
officers we informally surveyed inside the court martial hall said that
the best Filipino generals for them were Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, his slain
political rival Gen. Antonio Luna, Gen. Gregorio del Pilar (the youngest
general in the country's history), West Point graduate and Japanese
military victim Gen. Vicente Lim, Katipunero Gen. Macario Sakay, and
former President, Gen. Fidel V. Ramos.

Despite the controversies raised by his political foes like Sen. Miriam
Defensor Santiago, Ramos worked hard and inspired investor confidence.
Thus, becoming the most effective Philippine President in the post-Marcos
era. In Asia, some outstanding generals who had presided over "economic
miracles" in their respective nations were Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek
of Taiwan and Gen. Park Chung Hee of South Korea. Gen. Pervez Musharaff
seems to be a much better leader than the many political riffraffs who
had earlier misruled Pakistan. Retired US Gen. Collin Powell also served
with distinction as Secretary of State and his name is being mentioned as
a future Republican presidentiable.

In contrast, the despot Indonesian General Suharto was one of the
world's most corrupt political leaders. Nowadays, the generals who rule
Myanmar are accused of corruption, but they have maintained political
stability in a multi-ethnic nation wracked by incessant conflicts.
Former generals Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae Woo became South Korean
presidents mired in non-stop corruption scandals, and were publicly
prosecuted and punished. These two Korean generals publicly expressed
contrition and even voluntarily secluded themselves in a Buddhist
monastery.

Unfortunately, in our fiscal crisis republic, the generals accused of
corruption are often shamelessly belligerent, bellicose, self-righteous
and even publicly lash out at media or congressional critics. It is
infuriating to hear tales of underpaid foot soldiers risking their lives
to help our democracy obliterate such pests like the Abu Sayyaf bandits,
MILF insurgents or communist terrorists, while their pension funds were
allegedly emptied or their supplies compromised by sordid deals.

Why don't our generals learn a lesson or two from their Korean peers?
Come out with the truth, confess to allegations by disgruntled young
officers and the prosecutors, turn over their ill-gotten wealth to the
so-called Bayanihan Fund, and voluntarily cloister themselves in some
Catholic monastery in Tawi Tawi or the boondocks.

A top general told this writer: "I agree with your criticisms, but do
not forget that we are now holding this court martial trial of General
Garcia just two months after your newspaper started this scandal with
your reports. Look at our civilian political leaders and the courts. It
has been years but there's still no trial date for ex-President Estrada.
How is this so?"

A General VS. An Emperor

In China's Sichuan province, an ancient temple stands in honor of
General Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD), also known as Kong Ming. He was a
legendary military strategist in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD)
and the hero of the classic novel San-Guo Yan-Yi (Romance of the Three
Kingdoms), which is well-loved throughout Asia. Zhuge Liang was 26 when
he pledged loyal service to Liu Pei and later to his son, distant
descendants of the Han imperial house.

At the end of the western Jin Dynasty (265-316 AD), the original temple
was built by a certain King Li Xiong in Shaocheng of Chengdu City. The
temple to Zhuge Liang was transferred in 1368 during the Ming Dynasty to
another part of the city and combined with the temple to the Emperor Liu
Pei, which was also his burial place. Why did they move the temple of a
famous general to that of an emperor? One account goes this way:
Centuries later and under the Ming Dynasty, scandalized by the fact that
Zhuge Liang's temple has more visitors than Emperor Liu Pei's, a member
decided to demolish the statesman's temple and move him into the
Emperor's temple. The people, however, didn't like this, so they not only
built a special hall for Zhuge Liang, they also called the new combined
temple as Zhuge Liang's Temple instead of Liu Pei's Temple.

Zhuge Liang's legacy was just awe-inspiring and the people genuinely
loved him. In 1672, an additional Hall of Zhuge Liang was built. The
current site contains statues of Zhuge Liang, as well as those of his son
and grandson. This temple of Zhuge Liang also has many tablets with
poems and accounts of the inspiring life of the legendary general. No
amount of multimillion dollar Swiss bank deposits or New York real
estate properties can equal the unblemished public service record of an
honorable general in history!

Try to ask media-shy billionaire Lucio Tan or any other taipans in East
Asia about Zhuge Liang, and they would enthusiastically spend hours
recounting his chivalry, fearless exploits and superb tactics. Even
China's revolutionary supremo Mao Zedong loved the novel Romance of the
Three Kingdoms. A former Vietnamese ambassador told this writer that when
the TV drama series on the Three Kingdoms and Zhuge Liang was shown in
his country, almost all the streets were deserted due to public
enthusiasm for this military hero's exploits.

Leadership Secrets Of Alexander The Great

It would be tragic if moviegoers will watch director Oliver Stone's
forthcoming movie Alexander just to see Irish actor Colin Farrell,
Angelina Jolie, Sir Anthony Hopkins or the battle scenes. An admirer of
Alexander the Great since his G.I. days in the Vietnam War, Oliver Stone
recently outflanked rival filmmakers and finished this project first.
Another big epic film on Alexander the Great now being made stars
Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman as his mother. Let us study this
Greek general's incredible career of discipline and excellence. Let us
learn his leadership lessons.

Then in his 20s, Alexander the Great was a youth of phenomenal
intellect and courage, and was out to conquer the world - from Macedonia,
Europe, Persia, Egypt to the mountains of India. He was so great that he
even believed that he was a god. If we study his life and works, all
business executives, professionals or even politicians can immeasurably
profit from strategy secrets of Alexander the Great for robust
competitive edge in the tough business arena.

Alexander the Great was the last military leader to successfully
conquer Afghanistan nearly 2,500 years ago. The cities and cultures he
built still exist today, and places where he had passed still have
legends about him. Considered by the West as the greatest military
strategist, tactician, and ruler in western history, Alexander the Great
has inspired countless international business, military and political
leaders for thousands of years. CNN founder Ted Turner keeps a bust of
him in his office. US General Norman Schwarzkopf said Alexander's superb
tactical strategies directly inspired his troops' attacks in the Desert
Storm in Iraq, including the "Hail Mary" flanking move that inflicted the
final defeat on Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army.

Three centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ, the leadership and
war strategies of Alexander the Great provided us lessons ideal for
business or other fields - how to build a successful organization, the
requisites of visionary and inspirational leadership, the importance of
creating a winning philosophy, how to motivate your generals and foot
soldiers, how to overcome seemingly impossible odds, how to master the
element of surprise, how to prepare for the unexpected, how to leverage
your inherent strengths to gain the advantage, learning when to advance
and when to retreat.

To all generals, to all our datus in politics, all the captains of
business and industry - emulate the inspirational leadership of Alexander
the Great. Although he died at the young age of 33, he lived life to the
fullest and with unerring devotion to excellence. He was admired. He
showed us the importance of leaving behind a legacy of lasting value.

* * *

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wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or wilson_lee_flores@newyork.com or P.O.
Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila.

From: lquesada@newsflash.org