O servo do diabo

On June 10, 2010, no Impacto da liderança, por Neculai Fantanaru

The pacifists' principle says that you should never harm other people. But the devil doesn't take into account morals and ethics, which humans are so fond of. He judges people by some very rigorous criteria, which only he knows, and he treats people by his own interest.

Even beyond death, his influence was still strong

General Yang always hoped to bring back to life emperor Han, the only one who could reinstall order in the chaos in his country and, then, he could become his right hand. And he succeeded. Awaking the sleeping one, his dream became true. All he had to do was to prove his absolute loyalty to HIM.

If you watched the movie "The Mummy – Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor", you can surely remember that short dialogue between Emperor Han and general Yang:

- Why did you bring me back to life? Asked the emperor with a voice cold as ice, but spiritless, which almost sounded like coming from hell.

General Yang, looking at the emperor with an attention proving his appreciation for him, answered with a grave attitude of inferiority:

- I love my country. Only you can give back its mightiness.

Dominated by a strange and unsettling feeling, despaired by a reasonable doubt, because he trusted nobody, the emperor asked general Yang:

- And what's in it for you?

- I want to serve you, answered the general bowing his head.

Strong leaders measure well the people they surround themselves with

A leader becomes strong only if he succeeds in guiding people's lives, to influence their decisions, control them and determine them in every instant to act by his own will. That is why a strong leader always makes sure to measure very carefully everything the people around them do and say, in order to conceive, as accurately as possible, everything they think, because it is very possible that, by fully relying on somebody, blindly trusting in one or more people, the leader could suffer.

The emperor suddenly turned to the general. His eyes, black like ash, his forehead, crisp by a frown which showed his direful malevolence, proved his extraordinary hatred he had towards people. He said nervously:

- My last trustworthy general betrayed me!

General Yang, without having the power to look into the emperor's eyes, told him determinedly:

- I will not make the same mistake.

Many are called, but few are chosen

The devil will never be able to fulfill his plan without the help of some loyal servants. Even he needs support. But the hardest thing in the world is to find his perfect servant, who will devote himself body and soul, day and night to his ideal. The perfect servant must be fit for everything. Imperfection, doubt, mistake are considered to be weaknesses.

His old general, general Ming, had betrayed him, that is why emperor Han had some difficulties in trusting in the one pretending again to such a high position. However, he accepted that Yang be his general because he had resurrected him from the dead. That proved his loyalty. Such a man doesn't need a resume, he mustn't be tested, evaluated, monitored, go through trials and receive grades any more. With no doubt, he is the fit man, he is decisive, has the mind of an explorer and proves confidence in himself.

The importance of a commander is measured by the mission he takes

The hatred in a faithful heart cannot be hidden forever. Emperor Han, who had the sole objective of becoming the ruler of the world, could never have quenched his hate towards his enemies, all the people who would never have wanted and who would never have accepted to obey him.

Just like a character of Alexandre Dumas, who, for 14 years, stayed closed in a prison and whose sole thought that kept him alive was his desire to take revenge, emperor Han, brought back to life after 2000 years, could not forget his old thought of conquering the world, but on the contrary, he was even more determined to reach his goal, especially that both him and his army were condemned to suffer a torturing death.

By the fact that not even after his death, emperor Han never abandoned the mission he himself had assumed, he became a fearful leader.

Whoever follows his leader devotedly, shares the same fate as him

Whoever serves the devil cannot break free of him. This is also the case of general Yang. It's madness. It's grim, but there was a sort of relationship between them, a mysterious relationship and I cannot give it a name. But under no circumstance can it be called friendship, because the devil never has friends, he only has servants.

His immense ambition to serve his master and his confidence that he would win, added to the confidence in his own strength, gave general Yang a powerful impetus, a courage relating only to madness or genius, but which lead him to damnation. He was very ambitious, but in his rush to succeed in everything that he had set forth, he judged superficially. And paid for his mistake. He should have thought better before rushing into such an adventure together with the devil.

Think twice before you chose your leader

Just like a leader must have the ability to evaluate his people, just as well the people choosing a leader must carefully evaluate him. Not rarely does it happen for a leader to have other intentions than the ones declared to his team or to lead it to a terminus point, other the initial one, and even failure.