I just listened to the latest podcast of Tim Ferriss(better known as Tim Tim Talk Talk) with Ben Horowitz of Horowitz-Andreesen or a16z. Ben is a fun character and clearly extremely knowledgable, his books are on my to-do list!
But the most interesting point he made, while talking about company culture was about Haiti. Yep, that island nation that is mostly in the news for hunger and poverty. Well, apparently Haiti was the first and only nation that gained independence after a slave revolt. That has never ever happened before or since! In fact, it was the first independent nation in the whole of Latin America and the 2nd, only after the USA in both Americas!
That revolt was led by a slave and it was against France of Napoleon.
Toussaint, he only had one name, was a slave that for most of his life didn’t know how to write, but instead, he learned how to observe and learn from others. This way he became a free man and this quality to observe and connect with people meant that despite his army’s rather worse equipment and training, he was able to receive a lot of help from the local and women in particular. He banned rape by forbidding his soldiers from cheating on their wives, they had to behave properly and treat with respect other women. This made them very much likable compared to the French soldiers who were raping… and thus normal people were willing to collaborate with them, help them. This proved a key decision in defeating the French army. Effectively, Napoleon Bonaparte, the most feared leader in all of Europe got defeated by an uneducated slave.
Being kind and respectful even to your enemies delivered for Toussaint astonishing results. Also, as someone who learned by observing others, he was a very crafty politician capable of predicting other people’s actions. Clearly, he had put for good use his enduring times as a slave and had developed a sense of empathy and justice that was uncommon for those times. Mind you, stealing and raping remained a prominent part of combat even in WWII! Toussaint ordered his troops to do the unthinkable back in those days and reaped far bigger gains than stolen sexual pleasure or jewelry…
Ivan On Racing 