You might want to go read chapter 8 at Sonshi real quick. Sun Tzu lists 5 character flaws that can be exploited in a general:
He who is reckless can be killed.
Undue bravery and risk taking is the flaw of placing your personal desires for credit or excitement above the objective of victory or success. It can also indicate an inability to delegate.
He who is cowardly can be captured.
In our time, someone who is afraid of being fired can become a prisoner of their job. Excessive indebtedness can heighten this fear and tempt you to keep your job at almost any cost. Desperation is not admirable and will not help you advance.
He who is quick tempered can be insulted.
Taking things personally - whether it is rejection, disappointment or criticism can distract, drain and diminish you in the eyes of others. Once people know you have a chip on your shoulder, you are easily baited and manipulated.
He who is moral can be shamed.
This is not about being immoral, but about fearing the appearance of immorality and how that fear is leverage. If too much of your self concept or credibility is wrapped up in appearing moral, you are vulnerable to subtle (and overt) forms of blackmail,
extortion and defamation.
He who is fond of the people can be worried.
Sometimes sacrifices must be made. Military examples abound but in business, you may have to layoff 20% of your staff to avoid a total shut down and if you are unable to prioritize the survival of the enterprise and the jobs of the many over the jobs of the few, your lack of foresight may result in total loss.
At first glance, most of these flaws have little to do with modern life. What is interesting to us is the underlying principle of vision and character. These flaws are rooted in an inability to place long term success over short term adherence to personal ideals.
There are times when it might be likely to be killed in battle. I hope by now you have seen the movie "300" or you are at least familiar with the story. The Spartans goal was not to die for their country although they knew that was certain. Their goal was to "attack the plan" of King Xerxes so that that Athens could be warned of the impending Persian onslaught. The distinction here is that the death of the Spartan defenders was not the means or the goal of King Leonidas, but rather a consequence of his principled strategy.
These five faults are related to one of the central concepts of Art of War which is "formlessness". This concept is intentionally left vague and is the subject of much debate and discussion. My take - at least in relation to the five faults is that it is dangerous to assume a permanent and unbending stance.
It is easy to see how this can happen if you are familiar with Marcus Buckingham's concept of talent and personal strengths. Early in life, we all develop different preferred patterns for interacting with others, making sense of our world and motivating ourself to do something. Whether we orient towards a more competitive vs. cooperative style or perceive the world in concrete or abstract terms. Our preferred patterns of thinking are self reinforcing so the more we utilize our talent for including others or looking toward the future, the more we enjoy them and stronger they become.
The danger is that we use our own internal standard of what feels good and comes easily to order our values without considering the long term consequences. This may well be a modern twist on the first flaw:
When I was younger, I could argue with the wrong people (like my boss), about the wrong things and do it at the wrong times (in front of other people) to the wrong degree. I did it because I was good at it and I liked to show off, look smart and challenge the status quo. What I did not appreciate was that other people did not enjoy argument as sport and that short term joy of "winning" could have longer term consequences that impacted some of my other, more important values (like career advancement).
These days, I still like to discuss and debate, but I keep it on a leash. I consider the setting, what is at stake and if I do engage, my goal is to persuade and win others over for the purpose of realizing important, long term objectives. Being conscious of our tendencies and automatic behaviors is one of the most important aspects of knowing yourself.
