I watched an
interesting documentary not so long ago about leadership techniques. Not
specific tactics as such but the actual 'getting people to follow you'.
Got me thinking about how it might to the series.
The main points I
picked out that they mentioned as useful traits were...
1) Willingness
to innovate and try new ideas
2) Ability to
inspire your followers (the importance of image)
3) Willingness
to trust, rely on, and listen to your subordinates (especially when they tell
you 'no--that's a bad idea).
They also talked a
lot about the principle of 'mission command'.
The main points being...
a) The goal is
more important than the method and improvising and adjusting your plans
depending on the changing circumstances is important.
b) If
it all goes pear-shaped and you lose the guy in charge then someone else is
capable of taking over, and if something happens to him then the next person
takes over and so on.
Obviously a lot of that relates back to the general points - trusting the people under you to do their jobs right and be able to cope with rapid changes of plans if need be.
Yes, reasonably so.
Although his tactics are generally of the 'try to blow up strategic
points rather than have a big battle' type typical of a smaller force against a
larger power, he does go for things like attacking Central Control and
looking for Star One--both thing which were supposed to be impossible.
I don't know if they
were exactly inspired but they do all stick with him despite their various
objections so he must have been doing something right.
The Federation clearly thought he was a threat as a figurehead and when
Avon admits he's looking for him that's the reason he gives.
I think
Blake prefers to be in there doing things himself but he doesn't
interfere too much in the crew's particular expertise.
He repeatedly
stresses that he trusts and relies on them all.
Even Avon who doesn't give the impression of being all that trustworthy, and Vila who doesn't give the
impression of being all that
reliable.
He's not great at
accepting a 'no' though. Even
though he has people who will argue the merits of the various plans with him,
point out all the flaws and dangers, he usually pushes ahead anway, and things
quite frequently do go wrong as predicted.
On occasion he negotiates along the lines of 'all right - if it seems too
dangerous we'll pull out'.
I think it's mostly stubbornness that makes him hang on when things all go wrong. He's more likely to try and carry on with the original plan in spite of the problems than rethink it.
He pretty much
carries on with the same tactics Blake was using. His negotiations in Warlord to try and get some sort of
cooperation established between the various factions was probably the biggest
diversion from that.
I think people had
more of a tendency to shut up and do what they were told from force of
personality and a certain level of intimidation than anything else.
Interpersonal skills are not exactly Avon's strong point.
I think he does trust
the crew, however reluctantly, at least until towards the end.
But trust isn't really something he's used to or particularly good at.
He's not really very
good at being told 'no' either. Which
is ironic enough as he goes from being the one saying 'no that's stupidly risky'
to the being one trying to defend his plans from the others telling him 'no
that's too risky'
When he sends groups
of the others to do something he does let them get on with it for the most part.
He's happy to leave Tarrant or even Vila in control of the ship when he's
down on the various planets.
I can't put a finger
on an example, but the impression I get is that he's more willing than Blake to
adjust or drop a plan if it's going wrong.