What Pirates Can Teach Us About Leadership - Harvard Business School

^{( July 27, 2021; Harvard Business School )}

1. Everyone has an equal voice
2. A sense of ownership is powerful
3. What matters is skills and commitment, not background

In the deep heat of an 18th-century summer, a crew of pirates was sailing off the Virginia coast when a lookout spotted a merchant ship to the south. Springing into action, the pirates launched an attack, rocking the merchant ship with a cascade of musket balls and grenades. The helmsman of the merchant ship abandoned the wheel, and the vessel swung around, allowing the pirates to board, brandishing their axes and cutlasses. Behind them, through the smoky haze, came the captain. Sashes holding daggers and pistols crisscrossed his large chest. Black ribbons flapped in his braided beard. The most feared pirate of his era, notorious English raider Blackbeard, had taken another ship.

We usually associate pirates with violence, theft, and mayhem—all indisputably true. What we may not think about, however, is how someone like Blackbeard was so effective at inspiring and commanding his crews. Pirates, it turns out, were forward-thinking in a number of surprising—and instructive—ways. Here are the three that stand out to me as raising interesting implications for our leadership.

Read the rest from Harvard Business School: What Pirates Can Teach Us About Leadership

Reminds me of the TED talk in this Steem Links post, from May, The case for co-ops, the invisible giant of the economy - TED. Also reminds me of a discussion post from last year, [Discussion Post] Did Blackbeard the Pirate Intentionally Sink the Queen Anne's Revenge?.