Modern business is nothing short of warfare. The Japanese have a saying that “Business is War”, and I have found that saying to be 100% true.
I have spent quality time to research about various “Business Giants” in the 19th century, people like Ted Turner III, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Thomas Edison. The more I read about their journeys, conquests, acquisitions and mergers; the more I get reminded of how Robert Greene described wars in his own book also. It is the same thing.
Business in the New Economy is a civilized version of war. It is companies, not countries that are the new battlefield rivals. And so, businesses wrestle and wage war for control of the consumer purchasing power, we wrestle for control of the consumer’s time and attention. Whoever controls the consumer controls the gold and has conquered the land.
All these revelations made me to deduce that “If Business is war, then only soldiers should enlist!” It is only people that are trained military-style that can be fit for serious business.
The most successful entrepreneurs in the world have military style training, discipline and focus. They are not usually described as nice and caring people. They are more commonly regarded as been ruthless, crazy, purpose-minded, and mission driven. Great entrepreneurs including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Donald Trump all show these traits. These habits formed out of years of trainings. You may not like them or even agree with their methods, but ignoring them together is quite impossible.
Business is war, so what do we do?
We have to learn to execute business as a form of war. We must not slack or go about business in a lazy manner. We must submit to military-style training and become fit to run a real business.
The bible says in Exodus 15:3 (KJV) “The LORD is a man of war, the LORD is His name” If the LORD we serve and call on is described as a man of WAR, then don’t you think that he would only work with people fit for war? God is always ready to prove himself as a man of War once the right soldiers show up. And the same goes for business, when a set of correctly trained business men shows up, God can then commit something serious into their hands.
To move into the next levels of our lives, we need to become the person that can handle that position effectively. Most of us will remember the “Oga at the top” story. The key lesson to be learnt from that incidence is that if you enter into any office you do not have the capacity to maintain, you will crash and burn!
The bible says in Matthew 9:17 (MSG) “You don’t pour wine in cracked bottles”. Obviously, you need to amend or replace the bottle before it can store the wine properly. So also, we need to make a decision to get the training needed to start living a life that is fit for real business.
Only people trained military-style can be fit for business. Business is war!
(c) 2013 Ademola Morebise
