Brush up your Shakespearian Management

If Cole Porter’s advice to "Brush up your Shakespeare" adds the romantic value alleged, it is equally sound advice for anyone bearing executive responsibility. For a shrewd insight into human nature must lie at the heart of all effective management. And whilst nobody might ‘Bond’ better than 007, there has never been anyone with a more profoundly poetic insight into the infinite variety of the human condition than William Shakespeare, writes Nicholas Dobson.

Tough at the Top

Whilst many may aspire to high office, as many a fallen executive would attest, it can be tough at the top. Henry IV certainly thought so when (in Part 2 and kept awake by cares of office) he bemoaned the fact that whilst thousands of his poorest subjects were sound asleep, for him: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" (Act 3 Sc 1). Like father, like son so they say. So it was with Henry V when, echoing his father, on the night before the famous victory at Agincourt (of which more below), he reflected on the downsides of high office:

"What infinite heart’s ease

Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!"

And not all the trappings of power:

"....laid in bed majestical

Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave,

Who, with a body fill’d, and vacant mind

Gets him to rest, cramm’d with distressful bread...." (Act 4 Sc 1).

Loneliness of the Long Distance Manager

But an equally firm part of senior territory is giving up just being one of the lads/laddettes when you join management. Prince Hal (on his way to becoming Henry V) was a case in point. Because whilst his riotous lifestyle had been the despair of his father who had seen "riot and dishonour stain the brow/Of my young Harry" (Henry IV (1) Act 1, Sc 1), Hal in fact had had a clear game plan. For he was merely biding his time and looked forward to when: "....like bright metal on a sullen ground/My reformation, glittering o’er my fault/Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes/That that which hath no foil to set it off" (Act I Sc 2). And when he did eventually come good, sadly it was not without brutality to Falstaff, his erstwhile companion in debauchery: "I know thee not, old man: fall to thy prayers;/How ill white hairs become a fool and jester!" (Henry IV (2) Act 5 Sc 5).

However, those contemplating a similar reformatory route should remember that Prince Hal did have the advantage of knowing he was to succeed to the crown. In modern meritocratic job competitions, doing a Prince Hal on Facebook is less likely to smooth your path to top table.

Trust me – I’m a Manager

Trust and integrity is of course essential in a good manager and great way of destroying this amongst those whom you are managing is to behave hypocritically. Angelo in Measure for Measure was pretty hot on this. For when the Duke appeared to be away in Poland, Angelo (apparently "a man of stricture and firm abstinence" "whose blood/Is very snow-broth" - Act 1 Scenes 4 and 5) was left in full charge of the Duke’s Viennese territory: "In our remove, be thou at full ourself; Mortality and mercy in Vienna/Live in thy tongue and heart" (Act 1 Sc 1). So given that, in Angelo’s view, there was rather too much in Vienna of what was once coyly known as ‘how’s your father’, he began to enforce strictly a Draconian law which had fallen into disuse and accordingly was to execute Claudio for getting his fiancée pregnant.

The hypocrisy arose when Isabella, Claudio’s saintly sister, pleaded for his life which Angelo then treacherously claimed he would save if Isabella would surrender her virtue to him. As the Duke (who was privy to events disguised as a friar) observed: "Shame for him whose cruel striking/Kills for faults of his own liking"! (Act 3 Sc 2). Happily, all’s well that ends well, as it did, although unfortunately not through Angelo’s good offices. But even he managed to avoid ‘the block’ that was in store for him thanks to the pleading of the virtuous Isabella.

Fair dos

Which may remind managers conducting disciplinary proceedings and otherwise always to act properly, fairly and proportionately. Portia in The Merchant of Venice points out (when, apparently as a lawyer, making submissions on behalf of Antonio who was facing the contractual penalty of losing a "pound of flesh to be....cut off/Nearest the...heart"), that: "....earthly power doth . . . show likest God’s/When mercy seasons justice" (Act IV Sc I).

Stakeholder Engagement

But public sector managers need to remember whom they are serving and at whose expense - namely the public. And this was something that Coriolanus was distinctly light on. His view of the ordinary people of Rome (whose vote he needed to be appointed Consul following his feats of martial bravery) was less than flattering and his public communication undiplomatic, to say the least. "What’s the matter"? he asks, addressing the citizentry as "you dissentious rogues/That, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion/Make yourself scabs?". And as for placing trust in the electorate: "Trust ye? With every minute you do change a mind/And call him noble that was now your hate..." (Act 1 Sc 1).

And later, facing serious charges of tyrannical treachery, his submissions are no more measured: "You common cry of curs! Whose breath I hate/As reek o’ the rotten fens, whose loves I prize/As the dead carcasses of unburied men." (Act 3 Sc 3). Well, as they say, pride comes before a fall. And in the end Coriolanus did indeed fall, treacherously in fact, to the sword of his enemy. Not a man who it seems was much in touch with his feminine side.

Eye on the ball

As a manager, though, you clearly do not exist just to maintain yourself in post. You need to keep your eye constantly on the ball or others will certainly do so for you and may well end up knocking you off your perch. Richard II, who governed during turbulent times, lost his throne (not to say his life) to Henry IV by being somewhat too self-indulgent and self-obsessed so that (as John of Gaunt pointed out (Act II Sc I) "That England, that was wont to conquer others/Hath made a shameful conquest of itself". Unfortunately for Richard, the rest is history.

Professional foul

But in the public sector if you want to rise to the top you will probably need to move around to different public authorities. However, killing your boss (as Macbeth did, enthusiastically egged on by ‘’er indoors’, Lady Macbeth) is certainly not to be recommended. Indeed achieving high office by any sort of skullduggery may well rebound. Certainly achieving the crown brought no happiness at all for Macbeth nor for his wife who went insane and died, prompting Macbeth to his famous nihilistic comment:

"Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing." (Act 5 Sc 5).

Inspiring the troops

But, on a brighter note, Prince Hal, when he eventually became Henry V, did come up trumps and win a famous victory over the French at Agincourt and showed himself to be an inspirational leader for his times:

"The game's afoot:

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!" (Act 3 Sc 1).

Different situations of course require different types of leadership. Managers therefore will generally need to find appropriate contextual ways of inspiring and motivating their people other than lending their eyes ‘a terrible aspect’ and leading their teams into fierce and bloody battle. And, like all effective managers, Henry V was equally good on the soft skills. For the night before battle, as a disguised ‘mystery shopper’ he does a motivational and inspirational round of his troops:

"For forth he goes, and visits all his host,

Bids them good-morrow with a modest smile,

And calls them brothers, friends and countrymen.

Upon his royal face there is no note,

How dread an army hath enrounded him:

Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour

Unto the weary and all-watched night:

But freshly looks and overbears attaint

With cheerful semblance, and sweet majesty:

That every wretch, pining and pale before,

Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks" (Act 4, Chorus).

What’s it all for?

However, whilst these qualities (together with a fair measure of drive, ambition and resilience) are necessary, positive and healthy, it is equally important to keep a sense of proportion and give proper attention to those things that are of enduring importance in your life. For, no matter how successful you might become, as Prospero in The Tempest pointed out:

"The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind."

For it is after all worth remembering (albeit probably not when in the throes of advising Cabinet) that:

"We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep." (Act IV Sc I).

Sleep well then – but do wake up; suitably invigorated for the next day’s continuing fray!

©  Nicholas Dobson

Dr Nicholas Dobson is a lawyer specialising in local and public law. He is also Communications Officer for the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors.