shares
Having served as an infantry officer before founding Montpellier PR, I’ve seen firsthand how military principles map onto business leadership.
In 2025—a world reshaped by post‑pandemic restructuring, geopolitical friction, and accelerating tech disruption—these lessons matter more than ever.
The first (most important) two are:
1. Selection and Maintenance of the Aim
Unity of effort and unity of purpose are provided when all understand what they are to achieve and why. Deciding what to do, why to do it and keeping it in view relentlessly as events unfold is the so called ‘Master Principle of War’. It’s a process and an outcome: clarity of aim optimises both.
2. Maintenance of Morale
Morale is the bellwether of confidence and motivation. Strong teams have high morale; weak teams lack it. It is the glue that binds them, leading to peak performance and resilience.
Here are others, which I’ve distilled into commercial lingo:
- Offensive Action
Seek advantage, which demands boldness in the face of competition.
- Security
Protecting revenue, staff, assets and intellectual property, crucial to sustainability and freedom of action.
- Surprise
Seize the initiative through innovation.
- Concentration of Force/effort
Focusing effort in time and space to gain advantage.
- Economy of Effort
Deploy minimum, optimal resources.
- Flexibility
Plans, leaders and people.
- Sustainability
Physical, financial and moral sustainability underpin the plan’s ultimate success.
