Sun Tzu for Women

The Art of War for Winning in Business

Becky Sheetz-Runkle

• Publisher: Adams Media
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781440511783
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

For twenty-five centuries, men have used Sun Tzu's classic The Art of War as a guide to conflict. In recent years, it's been a guide to climbing the corporate ladder. But this book shows that there are more paths to winning than frontal assault. You can learn from the ancient Chinese strategist how to apply the feminine principle to the business world--and win every time.

Whether it's relying on networking skills to win allies or maneuvering to gain a decisive advantage, the author shows through dozens of case studies from prominent women in business how to overcome the odds, defeat opponents, and forge successful careers.

The tenets of Sun Tzu lend themselves to women's natural strengths in diplomacy and relationship-building. With this interpretation, you'll learn to leverage these valuable assets to trump your male colleagues every time.

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Battlefield

About The Art of War

A masterpiece of military strategy, The Art of War was written by the Chinese philosopher-general Sun Tzu around 500 b.c. It contains thirteen short chapters totaling only 7,000 words, but its impact has been much larger than its size. Its teachings have shaped Eastern military and business thinking. In the West, the book’s popularity continues to grow as managers and leaders seek to apply its principles to their business challenges.

About Sun Tzu

Very little is known about Sun Tzu. He was a great military strategist who committed a distinguished lifetime’s worth of knowledge to bamboo strips. Or he never really existed at all. The book may have been written by a collection of men. In an embodiment of his battlefield strategy, Sun Tzu is a mystery.

Until clear evidence presents itself, believe the origin you wish. The battles were settled a long time ago. The man or men who wrote the book have long since turned to dust. The lessons are what remain.

About the Translation

The English translation of The Art of War used in Sun Tzu for Women is the same one used in Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today’s Business, by Gerald A. Michaelson and Steven Michaelson (Adams Media). Alternate translations are included and noted when they offer useful interpretations of the material.

About Sun Tzu for Women

Sun Tzu for Women shows how sixteen core attributes from The Art of War can help women today achieve professional success.

This book doesn’t extract ancient Eastern concepts and attempt to force-fit them into a modern Western context. Instead, real-life lessons from women who have survived and thrived in business illustrate Sun Tzu’s timeless lessons.

Sun Tzu for Women captures the spirit of The Art of War and makes it eminently accessible, relevant, and applicable to women who live and work all over the world.

Why You Need Sun Tzu for Women

Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths.

—LOIS WYSE

Around the world, executives and managers embrace The Art of War. Male executives and managers, that is. Sun Tzu’s treatise on military strategy is rarely lauded as recommended reading for women. Maybe the harsh battlefield realities of a brilliant Chinese military strategist who lived five hundred years before Christ seem a long way from the cubicles, executive suites, and boardrooms of twenty-first-century female leaders. But following Sun Tzu’s strategies can help women get the absolute best out of their careers and themselves.

Sun Tzu for Women isn’t a black-and-white discussion of how military campaigns translate into customer acquisition or how Sun Tzu would create a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis if he were in our boardrooms today. It’s about how women can first understand, and then effectively internalize, Sun Tzu’s strategies to advance their careers and improve their businesses. The pace of our lives, our worlds, and our workdays is often so frenetic that true understanding is elusive.

The Guide to Your Journey

If you believe victory is your only option, Sun Tzu for Women is for you. It will help you define and develop the mentality and inner tenacity that you need to reach the pinnacle of your potential, no matter where you are in your career now. Sun Tzu for Women is about the journey from who you are to who you can become.

It reconciles ancient truths with modern realities. It shares memorable battlefield, boardroom, and life experiences of powerful women from antiquity to modernity, and includes examples from the author’s two decades of arduous martial arts training.

The scenarios Sun Tzu describes may be foreign to many readers. But the applications are familiar. Timeless truths, both simple and complex, never go out of style.

For Sun Tzu, victory begins well before the battle is fought. The woman who hasn’t cultivated the spirit of self-belief will be unable to carry out any of the tactics. Sun Tzu for Women will change how you see yourself, your circumstances, and your business.

Your Competitive Advantage

Women need to study The Art of War because their male counterparts do. For years, businessmen have used its strategies to become more effective leaders and implementers. Women who make the mistake of seeing this battlefield classic as too military or too masculine will lose out on the benefits their colleagues are realizing.

Sharing Common Pitfalls

Collectively, women in business experience many of the same obstacles. Maybe you:

• Seek to avoid conflict

• Are unsure of which battles to fight and when to fight them

• Desire to stay in your comfort zone and keep the peace

• Experience confusion about being true to yourself or adopting traits characteristic of male leadership models

• Don’t ask for what you want

• Allow timidity to prevent you from achieving big

• Fear the way boldness will be perceived by others

• Are prone to distraction from outside the office

Sun Tzu for Women explores what Sun Tzu himself says about such challenges. You’ll learn how Carly Fiorina, Geraldine Laybourne, Meg Whitman, Drew Gilpin Faust, Condoleezza Rice, and many women like them overcame external obstacles to succeed.

Their stories, plus the latest research, will show you how to break through barriers — including those within yourself — to win battles, create opportunities, and expand your horizons.

Women Share Similar Success Attributes

In addition to facing similar obstacles, women also share similar attributes that lead to success, such as:

• Intuition

• Sensitivity

• Collaboration

• Passion

• Independence

• Team building

The challenge, however, is fully utilizing these strengths. Sun Tzu for Women will show you how.

Chapter 2

Indomitable Spirit

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

— ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

THE BATTLE: Insecurity will keep you from overcoming challenges. If you expect yourself to fall short, you’ll be destined for failure. Character isn’t about what happens to you, but how you respond to it.

THE CHAMPION: If you’re a winner, you have a spirit of victory in each battle. You know that with each challenge, you grow smarter, stronger, more resilient, and more capable of being who you’re destined to be.

Indomitable spirit — the courage within that keeps you from defeat — is the soul of Sun Tzu’s battlefield strategy. It must also be at the core of your business strategy. It makes or breaks armies and will do the same for you on a personal level. Victory is a state of mind forged in your experiences.

Indomitable isn’t a word used very often in our culture. But it’s a familiar concept if you strive for excellence. It’s refusing to be conquered or overcome. You’ll often have to find unconventional ways to defeat a larger, stronger, better-funded, or more-established enemy. No matter what, with an indomitable sprit, you resolve to win. There are no other options.

People who exhibit this kind of courage have had their spirits forged in adversity. Through their triumphs, they’ve developed the mindset that victory, ultimately, will always be theirs. But success has to be defined on your terms, not on anyone else’s. Sometimes winning is simply about survival and going on to fight another day.

Sun Tzu says this about how to battle when the odds are against you: If less in number, be capable of defending yourself. And if in all respects unfavorable, be capable of eluding him. Hence, a weak force will eventually fall captive to a strong one if it simply holds ground and conducts a desperate defense.

There’s a difference between being able to defend yourself, your team, or your organization, and desperately trying to survive. The first is a spirit of refusing to be overcome. The second is a spirit of chaos and confusion that leads to destruction.

Beginning by Winning

For Sun Tzu, victory is to be achieved before the battle is initiated. This is the embodiment of an unconquerable spirit: A wise commander always ensures that his forces are put in an invincible position, and at the same time will be sure to miss no opportunity to defeat the enemy. It follows that a triumphant army will not fight with the enemy until the victory is assured, while an army destined to defeat will always fight with the opponent first, in the hope that it may win by sheer good luck.

This scenario illustrates the concept of beginning by winning:

Two athletes have trained hard for a difficult r...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Chapter 1: Introduction to the Battlefield
• Chapter 2: Indomitable Spirit
• Chapter 3: The Quest for Excellence
• Chapter 4: Technique-Your Advantage
• Chapter 5: Self-Confidence
• Chapter 6: Focus
• Chapter 7: Conquering Fear
• Chapter 8: Innovation
• Chapter 9: Duty
• Chapter 10: Authenticity
• Chapter 11: Harness Deception to Shape Perception
• Chapter 12: Preparedness
• Chapter 13: Understand Yourself
• Chapter 14: Understanding and Leveraging Others
• Chapter 15: Practice the Basics
• Chapter 16: Battlefield Wisdom
• Chapter 17: Continuous Learning
• Bibliography