ENDEAVOR

At this time of the year, in over 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas, a new set of leaders are preparing to take on the helm of responsibility. I had the opportunity to lead a training seminar for presidents-elect of clubs in Metro Manila and Palawan last weekend. It was run like a corporate boot camp that featured a simulation of physical fitness exercises and games designed to build and enhance team spirit. Then they imbibed principles of leadership that they could apply in guiding their organizations toward achieving desired goals. I opted to share leadership lessons from Hannibal, who is widely recognized as one of the greatest military commanders in history. In circa 219 BC, he led the armed forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic in what has become known as the Second Punic War. What he did was legendary. He led an army from the Iberian Peninsula over the Pyrenees and Alps mountains into northern Italy and is credited with having defeated the largest army ever assembled by Rome. After declaring total war on Rome to ensure Carthaginian hegemony, he was stalled by the insufficient sup-port extended by his government that sent only meager reinforcements and supplies. In contrast, Rome mobilized and armed all of its able-bodied citizens; moreover, the veteran who survived the previous battles declined getting any compensation, thus exemplifying the spirit of sacrifice to their new recruits. Hannibal assessed that even with a 40,000-strong army, he did not have what was required to capture Rome. Hence for the next decade and a half, he contented himself with launching only sporadic, small-scale forays on minor targets that offered token resistance. Scipio Africanus engineered a successful Roman assault that defeated Hannibal and his depleted army. Carthage surrendered to Rome. Ironically, Hannibal was betrayed by his own followers and in his despondency, he committed suicide. Andreas Kluth, author of Hannibal and Me, analyzed the tragedy and disaster that befell Hannibal by adapting a framework based on Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem *lf*: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same…” Just like triumph and disaster, Kluth points out, success and failure are not always what they appear to be. People’s lives are replete with stories that describe encounters with either triumph or disaster, success or failure. This has given rise to binary thinking: that these are the two sets of options, choice, or outcomes. Every person’s life journey is marked by milestones – “ang istorya ng buhay natin” (the story of our lives). Kluth emphasizes that stories “are not linear or logical facts” but are made up of selective memories with magnified turning points. In Kluth’s analytical framework, Hannibal personifies the impostor Triumph; he was lulled by the heady toxic of a big battlefield victory that still left him short of claiming total victory. Hence, he plodded on, dissipated his strength, ended up being marginalized and defeated. His adversaries in the battlefield may then be likened to the impostor Disaster. They met their worst fears and endured these with acceptance. Then they regrouped, regained their strength and eventually triumphed over Hannibal. Kluth’s counsel: When set back, pause, reflect, bounce back, start anew, and reinvent oneself, then wage battle anew, and persevere until ultimate victory is attained. Eight leadership lessons and insights from Hannibal stand out: “1 – Stay balanced when others lose their balance. 2 – Never confuse means with ends, tactics with strategy. 3 – Have “young” ideas while you’re young, and while you’re old. 4 – Start maintaining an “old” self-discipline even when you’re young 5 – When disaster strikes, pause, gather fresh strength, then bounce back. 6 – Part of success is adjusting your idea of what it is. 7 – See the best in people, but protect yourself against the worst of them. 8 – Success means being a self-actualizing person. “ Based on my own experience, I would synthesize the foregoing eight lessons into this principle: Do your du-ty with equanimity, to the best of your ability. Do all things well:  big or small, every action done well generates goodwill and positive energy, fulfilling your purpose in life. It does not make sense to agonize about apparent success or failure. Just do what you must do as best as you possibly can. Robert Barth, Rotary International President in 1993-1994 stated this well: “Do what you believe in. Believe in what you do.” On further reflection, this could be reframed into this prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can – and the wisdom to know the difference.”