Flybe / July 2019

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80 / Flight Time / JULY 2019
Business Focus
DAENERYS TARGARYEN
“Daenerys is passionate about people being
free from oppression. When freeing the
slaves, she empowers them and shows
them that everyone is, on some level,
equal. Here her leadership impact is
strong, she believes in people and that
makes them believe in themselves.
“She is also good at listening to others,
her trusted advisors in particular, before
making decisions. In doing this she shows
that a good leader doesn’t need to have
all the answers and that she values others’
experience and opinions, which boosts
them and builds their loyalty.
“On the negative side, you could argue
that she offered freedom but, in some
cases only if they gave up their freedom to
her. This diminishes her positive impact
as a leader as it seems she can only fully
get people’s loyalty through threats and
ultimatums. Would she have been as
powerful without her dragons? Probably
not. The dragons acted as, and were
used as, a very real threat, which enabled
Daenerys. She didn’t really allow people
freedom; her hunger for power showed
that anyone who didn’t support her had to
be disposed of. This made her look weak,
and ultimately sealed her fate.”
Mandy Flint and Elisabet Vinberg Hearn
are leadership strategists and authors of The
Leader’s Guide to Impact, published by FT
Publishing
ARYA STARK
“Looking for a new leader, you identify
someone who is a bit of a loner,
overwhelmingly driven by revenge and
surrounded by people they don’t trust.
Probably not your top candidate – and
who could blame you? But when it comes
to Arya you may want to reconsider…
when you plumb the depths of her
complex character, several positive traits
offset those negatives:
“Inner strength: From day one, Arya
had the confidence and determination
to be more than a ‘man’s wife’, defying
convention and the expectation that she
become a lady, leaving the safety of the
castle to forge her own path.
“Long-term strategic focus: From
practising with the bow and arrow, to
learning sword fighting, to spending a year
with the Faceless Man, blind and beaten,
to become an assassin, Arya demonstrated
focus, drive and commitment, investing
the time and effort necessary to develop
the skills to succeed.
“Resilience: Her year with the Faceless
Man indicates Arya’s ability to rise above
day-to-day challenges (no matter how
terrible), making sacrifices (her eyesight!),
motivated by achieving the greater goal.
“Agility: While still focused on her
long-term plan, Arya remained agile,
setting a personal vendetta aside and
shifting focus from killing the Lannisters
to killing the leader of the Whites to save
her brother and ultimately the world.
“Independent thought: She’s an
independent thinker who knows her own
mind and remains true to herself – in the
end, walking away from power, safety
and security to travel west, exploring the
unknown in search of excitement and
possibility. That’s an independent thinker!”
Claire Dale and Patricia Peyton are the
authors of new wellbeing book Physical
Intelligence, published by Simon & Schuster,
and directors of Companies in Motion.
TYWIN LANNISTER
“My chosen character didn’t make it to
the final disappointing episode. Instead,
he came to an end in a rather undignified
way, while sitting on a different kind of
throne. The despicable Tywin Lannister
has a couple of lessons for us when it
comes to getting the best ideas out of an
organisation. And with innovation being
such a focus for so many companies, great
ideas are exactly what is needed.
“The first lesson is that he had a
diverse team of people on his council.
The more diverse a group is, the broader
the knowledge, perspectives and skills it
can draw upon. The job of a great leader
is to allow and encourage a breadth
of thinking, rather than stifle it with
corporate homogeneity. So I’ll give him
credit for that.
“The second point is that he didn’t seek
the credit. His vision was bigger than his
own ego. Other people wore the crown
and got the glory when he was the one
really driving things forward.
“People who come up with ideas tend
to want to take the credit for them. In
fact, it’s one of the things that drives them.
If you want to lead a team in a way that
encourages them to keep coming up with
great ideas, you need to put the spotlight
on them. Maybe even give them credit for
your own ideas. In fact, go even further
and make a public show of their success.
This kind of recognition is worth more
than a king’s ransom. Even if the king in
question is the most repugnant little worm
you could ever imagine.”
Dave Birss is co-host of the ultimate “anti-
conference” event, the Fast Forward Forum,
due to take place in Venice from 6th to 8th
October 2019. See
“She is also good at
listening to others,
her trusted advisors in
particular, before making
decisions. In doing this
she shows that a good
leader doesn’t need to
have all the answers”