The WAY to WOW Shows
Command and Consequence
November 18, 2025
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[0:00] Who are you? And where [music] are you going? What do you want? Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from the Military. I'm your host, Kevin Bemel, and I'm here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military history, doctrine, and the practices of great military leaders from which I distill lessons that we can apply to our businesses and professional

[0:36] practices. So, for the last uh week or week and a half, something like that, I've been uh watching um a a great course presentation. And I'm going to digress here for just a minute and and give a a free plug. The Great Courses is an organization. They get some of the greatest teachers in the world and they do audio and video courses on their subjects. And so I'm watching one called The Other Side of History: Everyday Life in the Ancient World. and it's talking

[1:12] about what it was like to be just kind of an everyday person in places like Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome. I'm at the uh sort of late Roman period now. And it's it's quite fascinating to see to understand a little bit about how people 2,000 plus years ago live their lives as compared to contemporary times. So, I've been on quite a on a bit of a sort of ancient history jag here. And and today's episode kind of follows

[1:48] in that that trend in that I'm going to be talking about this is this is a work of of fiction. It's an epic poem by Homer. And I'm actually going to be talking about the first one, the Iliad. It's not uncommon to have volumes that have both the Iliad and the Odyssey in them. They're both attributed to Homer. Homer was one of the greatest writers of of the ancient world. There is some doubt as to whether Homer actually wrote these. That's a whole another thing. Uh

[2:23] this this is a a beautiful volume. You can see the the print here is large. And the Iliad makes up a little over half of the the length of this book. Um, so I'm going to be talking about uh the Iliad and the Iliad describes historical events, albeit um in the form of epic poetry and then and then I'm going to talk about some lessons we can learn from this um truly great work of of the Western

[2:58] cannon. So, for those of you who watch my show, Jiggers's Place, uh, this is going to sound a little bit reminiscent, except for we're not going to have a cocktail because it's 10 in the morning. Here on the East Coast, it's only 1:00 a.m. on the I mean, here on the West Coast, it's 10:00 a.m. On the East Coast, it's it's still only 100 p.m. It's a little bit early. Uh, you know, as my father would say, the sun's maybe just, you know, crossing over the yard arm in in New York and and environs. Um but uh you know none nonetheless I I think that

[3:34] one of the mistakes we make in contemporary times is thinking that literature i.e. fiction has nothing to teach us and I disagree with that philosophy. Um fiction has a tremendous amount to teach us. Uh and and historical fiction uh is is one of those um one of those types where there is some historicity to what's going on. Um even as certain events are are fictionalized in order to to make u to

[4:12] to bring to bring forth ideas that otherwise might be um not within the range of discussion. if we stick with a straight um listing of historical events. So um the uh the Iliad was composed around the end 8th century before the common era. Uh and it it narrates a a brief but critical period in the Trojan War which was a conflict between um the Greek hero uh Achilles, the Greek commander Agame Agame

[4:49] Agamemnon, a little bit hard to say. uh and um and the Trojan commander uh Hector um and and sort of the resulting consequences for for both armies. And as I mentioned before, it is one of the foundational uh works in in Western culture. Um it it it talks about the battle of course, which is largely on on what we're going to focus. Um but it also um touches on um sort of Greek religion, how the gods got in or

[5:26] how the Greeks believe that the gods got involved with their lives. Of course, the the Greeks were um polytheistic as opposed to uh most of us these days who are monotheistic. So um the the the uh and and by the way, as someone who went to USC and we're known as the Trojans, right? I you can probably guess on which side [laughter] I'm I'm rooting uh you know fight on for okay so uh there there you go right I'm I'm going to be upfront with my bias um

[6:03] so the the um the Iliad um begins in the 10th year of the Trojan War and it centers on Achilles who was the greatest Greek warrior of that time. He was renowned for his absolutely unmatched uh combat abil ability uh but also have for having a very volatile temper. Uh and in and part of the theme that drives the work is um this this mix of of

[6:40] Achilles where he's just this this sort of um this this anger that grips him is is a destructive force um that seemingly gets away from him and is not uh channeled productively into the defeat of of the Trojans. And it's it's sort of ignited by a clash with the Greek commander [snorts] um and king of um My Agamem Agamemnon,

[7:18] right? um and and who was very prideful um and and very authoritative. Okay, now he was the commander and he was um he was a king uh but you know again looking at sort of the the the tragic traits of Agamemnon. Um you know pride pride cometh before the fall as they say and uh one can see throughout uh military history

[7:55] situations where uh the pride of the commander um basically led him into failure. While a certain amount of pride is certainly necessary because it it drives a commander to succeed and and a certain amount of of the the wielding of authority uh drives the the commander to succeed. When these two character traits um uh take over an individual um they can lead

[8:30] to to his destruction to to his downfall and the destruction of his army. So um what we see is um um a plague uh dem um devastates uh the Greeks after Agamemnon um refuses to release um I I believe it's pronounced Chrysus um his captive uh who is the daughter of a priest of Apollo. Apollo is the god of of plague and and archery. Uh who sends a a punishment um on Agamem Agamemnon

[9:09] um for basically refusing to release his daughter. So um in the end um Agamemnon uh agrees to return uh Chrysus um but only if he can if he can seize Brace Brieus who is uh Achilles war prize um a woman that he captured um who I think you know Achilles has quite an for for whom Achilles has quite an affinity uh and and he views it as a a

[9:48] an affront to his honor that Agamemnon um agrees to release his Agamemnon's captive but only by taking uh Achilles captive right so well you know this is and this this fuels this dispute between the two of them and when you think about it a good commander would not uh force his one of his warriors to sacrifice uh something uh you know I mean

[10:23] really if a Agamemnon um in this case uh basically coming up against the gods he should have just released his captive and and have been done with it right um but but he doesn't do that instead he creates this affront to Achilles honor. So Achilles enraged by uh what he's forced to do uh he withdraws and he appeals to his mother uh Fesus. She's a a sea goddess who is

[10:59] fiercely protective of him and she asks Zeus uh who is the king of the gods basically to turn the tide uh against the Greeks. So, hey, that, you know, chalk up one for uh the Trojans. Uh but but notice that this turning of the war against the Greeks is caused by an internal conflict to the Greeks themselves. It's it's a conflict between Agamemnon, the commander, and Achilles,

[11:34] his greatest warrior. So, the Trojans in effect have done nothing. And yet uh Zeus turns the the the you know the tide of the battle um against them. So um in the meantime while Achilles is absent um you know you know dealing with his mother um the Trojans advance under Hector uh Troy's greatest warrior and prince. He's famed for his courage and his duty to family and and and city. So

[12:09] uh you know what the Greeks you know find themselves essentially under imminent attack by the Trojans while all this chaos is going within going on within their own ranks. So um indeed um the Greeks uh suffer um pretty uh significant losses um despite the efforts of of Ajax who's this sort of massive uh warrior who's known for his uh physical strength and his steadfast um defense of you know of of the Greek

[12:44] army. So the the the Trojans press upon them uh you know despite this great defender um Damedes um one of the uh youngest Greek heroes um he is empowered by Athena uh the goddess of war and he excels early in the battle um but but he too is not able to uh turn the tide of the battles. So you see that, you know, you can have great warriors, but if the the gods are

[13:21] against you, in this case Zeus, um it's it's it's it's not going to to to work out well. So um Odysius, um who's known for his intelligence and his uh his diplomacy, even his cunning. So um he joins a delegation um delivering um Agamemnon's apology and rich gifts to Achilles trying to um bring harmony back to um to these

[13:59] these two Greeks who are so important to the victory of of the Greek uh army. Um, for his part, Achilles rejects the embassy. That's what a delegation of this type was called. We think of an embassy as a place where one country maintains its presence in another for foreign diplomatic relations. An embassy in in ancient times was typically a sort of like a diplomatic group that was also an embassy. So uh so Achilles uh like I said he rejects

[14:34] uh Agamemnon's uh sort of olive branch. This deepens the crisis among the Greeks and it leaves their lines vulnerable to to Trojan uh assault. So he Hector moves on. He leads the Trojan in breaching the Greek fortifications and presses on towards uh their ships, basically threatening the army's destruction because without the ships the the army would would not be uh a able to escape.

[15:09] So uh Petrokus uh Achilles uh closest companion and basically his emotional anchor [clears throat] so he persuades um Petrokus persuades Achilles to let him enter the battle wearing uh Achilles's armor um to help the Greeks. So um in in the event uh Petrous is able to uh push back the Trojans and he he kills Sarpedon an important Trojan ally and

[15:45] the son of Zeus um whose whose death van um increases the god's involvement in in this war. Now remember that Zeus was already on behalf of Achilles's mother basically causing um you know the Greeks to not not necessarily lose but but but you know not do well um in this battle. And so now uh his his um uh his his Sarpedon his

[16:21] son um who is um uh an ally of the Trojans is is killed uh by the Greeks giving Zeus uh you know another another reason to um act against the Greeks. So um um so uh basically pushing too far. Petrokus is weakened by Apollo who is uh actively supporting the Trojans. Um and then he's killed by Hector and this of

[16:58] course enrages Achilles because um Petro Petrous uh Petroles is a close uh friend and ally and emotional support uh for Achilles. So you can see how all these things are swirling around. Notice by the way that the two most important factors are the uh personal feelings if you will about the various individuals and what we today would call fate. What

[17:35] of course the Greeks would call the intervention of the gods. Right? Only one of those is within the the individual's control. That is their own behavior. The fates or what the gods are doing are not really in their control. However, how they behave has an impact on what the on how the gods decide to intervene. And there's an I think

[18:10] there's an interesting lesson there for us that I'll I'll talk about when when I talk about the lessons that come out of this this this epic battle. So um so Achilles who is shattered by Petroas's death he reconciles with Agamemnon um and he vows vengeance on the Trojans um reasserting his central place uh his central role in the war. So um uh Thesus another warrior he obtains new armor

[18:46] from Achilles I mean for Achilles I mean from um he heasus um the god of metal work um who crafts who crafts weapons and armor with kind of a divine power. remember um that Petroas had borrowed Achilles armor um and had thereby uh lost it. Um and so now Achilles um girded and armed with this um you know with with this uh with these weapons and armor that have divine

[19:22] power. he uh re-enters the battle um and with overwhelming fury he slaughters the Trojans indiscriminately turning the battle in favor of the Greeks. So, uh, with Athena's aid, Athena being the goddess of wisdom and and and a Greek patron, Achilles confronts Hector, um, and Athena [clears throat] deceives Hector uh, by appearing as his ally uh, to ensure that Achilles is able

[20:01] to kill Hector. And in the event, um, not only does Achilles kill Hector, but he desecrates his body by dragging it behind his chariot. Um while um Andrew Makis or Andro M um Hector's devoted wife um she you know seeing the desecration desecration of her husband she basically comes to embody the human tragedy of Troy's suffering. um and in

[20:37] sort of wrapping up uh the Iliad um Pum Hector's aged and and um dignified uh king and the father of Hector um he enters the Greek camp uh to beg Achilles uh for uh his son's body. Um and uh now moved by Priam's grief, um Hector uh does return Hector's body to his father. And this produces kind of a moment of shared humanity as as this epic poem, the Iliad, ends. So you can see that

[21:15] there's a tremendous amount of drama. Um, and it's I think you know the Iliad [clears throat] the Iliad really is a a source or a foundation for this idea of the drama of combat of the drama of warfare. Uh we see this as a theme really throughout the West until fairly recent times. Um, and and probably until maybe World War I

[21:50] where the the sort of drama of of of war is is extinguished in the just absolutely devastating uh nature of that war and of future wars. But but prior to that even for wars like like the American Civil War uh the War of 1812 you know I've talked about battles from these wars there is a a a sense of the galant uh of of the dramatic to to the leaders and even the rank and file soldiers and sailors

[22:26] involved. Um the the attribution of of various famous lines. Um, Farragut's Farragut's line at the Battle of New Orleans, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Uh, John Paul Jones's um, uh, reply uh, to the, um, British commander of the Sarapis uh, uh, when he's when the when the British commander demands his surrender. I have not yet begun to fight. Right? These sort of dramatic moments, I think, were in some ways sought after.

[23:02] Commanders sought to create them to inspire uh their men. And you can see this dating back all the way to the 8th century BCE. So, you know, we're going back 2800 years ago that that aspect of of warfare existed. So, let's take a a sponsor break and we'll and then we'll I'll talk about some lessons. [clears throat and snorts] Probate and Trust TV, your curated source for the most useful and

[23:38] insightful content on estate planning and trust and probate administration featuring standout professionals like Bill Gross, Paul Bralet, James Cunningham, and yours truly. Whether you're a lawyer, accountant, real estate professional, or working on your own succession plan, [clears throat] this channel helps you quickly find the clearest, most practical content YouTube has to offer. Subscribe now to Probate and Trust TV. Spend more time learning, less time searching.

[24:13] So, this is Business Lessons from the Military, and I'm your host, Kevin Bemel. I'm talking about the the great epic poem uh the Iliad which detailed uh what what happened um in in during the Trojan War in the 10th year of the Trojan War. I just gave you kind of a summary of of what happened during this short period that the Iliad covers. So I'm going to talk about some lessons that we can learn from this battle. So number one and and and we see this right from the beginning of the Iliad, the

[24:50] conflict between Agamemnon, the Greek commander and chief basically and Achilles, his greatest warrior, um really u puts the Greek army in a in a very bad position. a position where they could have lost the war, right? So to have that kind of internal conflict going on is just a tremendously negative force certainly when you're fighting a war.

[25:26] But the same thing is true of the business world. So when there are conflicts going on especially between leaders in a business uh even if one of the people is not necessarily um or doesn't carry the a title of leadership. Okay. But to see conflict going on between two people who other people who work for the organization perceive as having leadership roles is

[26:03] demoralizing to say the least. Okay. It also can cause a situation where other people in the organization start choosing sides. Okay. And so the productivity, the mission focus of the business is sacrificed as two groups emerge, one supporting one leader and the other supporting the other leader. And so now the business is no longer about accomplishing its goals. It's

[26:40] focused primarily on this fight between these two leaders and that obviously is a rep is a recipe for disaster. So So what what do businesses do? Are are we supposed to then uh uh uh you know take the position that leaders of a business can never uh can never be in conflict that they can never have disagreements. Clearly that is not the case. Okay. Leaders of a business are inevitably going to have well I I

[27:17] should shouldn't even say inevitably. Leaders of a business should have different perspectives. They should have disagreements. If the if the leaders of a business are in such lock step that there's never any conflict almost for sure the business is missing something. Okay. So we want leaders who have different perspectives and who will advocate for their perspectives. Okay, that's fine. In fact, that's not only fine, that's beneficial to the business.

[27:53] But for leaders to get into open conflict, especially open conflict of a personal nature, this is completely counterproductive. it is corrosive to the running of the business to even the survival of the business and uh without getting into the specifics because you know some of them uh may watch this show. So I I've dealt with situations over the last couple of years especially where leaders of businesses have been in

[28:31] conflict and oftentimes the conflicts are get quite personal. Now look, it's hard not to take insults personally. It's hard not to feel betrayed. Uh but but in a business context, even if you believe that a betrayal is personal, it was meant to harm you to respond on that basis is it's it's wrong. Okay, we have to look beyond our our own egos because

[29:07] there are other people involved. There are other people working for the organization. There are clients and customers about whom to be concerned. Okay. So we have to rise above the personal slits and we have to engage in disagreements within limits. Okay. And if we have someone in our organization who takes a no holdsbar attitude toward dealing with conflict within the organization. So I think that has to be examined by

[29:44] senior leadership and do they really want someone like that to be part of the organization or does that person need to be told it's time for you to move on? Now, it can be difficult, right? This person could be one of the rain makers of the organization and they may think that because they're a rain maker, they can behave however they want since they're essentially so central to the business, they're not going to get uh fired or they're not going to be told to leave or whatever.

[30:21] And and at that point uh the leaders of the business, the the true leaders of the business, what they've done is they've given up their authority, their leadership to this person. And is that really correct for the business? I would argue no. Okay. Now if a business has someone in it who uh you know without without whom the business will will collapse. So that the the leaders of that business have really put

[30:56] themselves in a very dire position and what they need to do is is as quickly as possible find people who can take over uh for the person who needs to go in order to sustain the business. Um but what leaders can't do is allow inter internal conflict to continue because in the end that's going to destroy the business as well. Okay. So leadership conflict it undermines mission

[31:32] readiness. It undermines the ability of an organization to achieve its goals. And we saw that the Greeks came very close to losing the war because of the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles. And the same thing is true of a business today. So that's number one. Okay. Number two, um the the kind of flip side of what I was just saying is that high value talent must be managed but not taken for granted. So if you have a rain maker in in your company, someone who is

[32:10] very important to the business, that person needs to be carefully managed. They can't be allowed to let their ego run away from them. They can't be allowed to essentially take over the business uh for their own for their sole benefit. At the same time, they should not be taken for granted, which is we see this when Agamemnon uh um when he decides that he's going to give back his war captive and take away

[32:48] Achilles's war captive. Not the way to do it. So to insist that uh that that you know a a highly valued u member of an organization have to make a sacrifice so that leadership doesn't lose out that is a complete slap in the face to this high valued individued individual. So sacrifice needs to be shared in in a business. If you're going to ask one of your key people to

[33:23] sacrifice, leadership has to sacrifice too. And in fact, all people in the organization may have to make some sacrifices [snorts] in order to demonstrate to this important individual that their contribution, their huge contribution is valued at the level of that that contribution warrants. Okay. Now, this this is oftentimes a very difficult balancing act. Okay. And and this is why leadership being a leader in an organization can be so difficult. Now, by the way,

[33:59] if you have a highly valued person, that person may decide that they're not being treated well and that they're going to leave. And now what is what is the, you know, organization going to do now? And and by the way, I I've I've done that myself. So I I was I'm in I was involved in being nominated as the administrator for an estate where there two sets of heirs had sort of devolved into waring camps and there was the one camp that

[34:35] wanted me to administrate the estate and there was the other one not only did they not want me to administrate the estate but they were just heinous in their treatment of me. And [snorts] finally, I I I I just said, you know what? [laughter] I'm going to withdraw. I I I don't I don't need this. I know what my abilities are. I know what I bring to the table in terms of my skills, and I I don't I don't need to take abuse, right? Um, and it was at that point where I was willing to withdraw that in in essence the waring

[35:10] factions sort of backed off and said, "No, no, we we don't want to have to start all over again. You know, we we we we know you. On the one hand, we know and like you on the other hand, you're sort of the devil we know. Uh, we're gonna back off and and and let this continue right now. You know, I didn't mean that as a power play, by the way. Um, I was sincere in my desire to withdraw. Okay. Now, um, you know, I I I work to

[35:46] remain open to re-evaluation and since the circumstances changed, uh, I decided to change my decision. Okay. Uh but that that won't always be the case with a high value uh person. Um you know once their ego is is peaked um they may refuse to change their mind and so you know now what do you do right so it's a balancing act in dealing with high value individuals in a business. I would say

[36:22] that one of the things leadership needs to be very attentive to is that um going back to the first point that they don't get themselves in a situation where they have one high value individual who really pardon me is the business. Okay. So, you know, they have to be if if we're talking about, you know, salespeople, you can't have one salesperson who's responsible for bringing in all the business. Okay? If you find yourself in

[36:59] that situation, you quickly need to find people who can help diversify your sources of of business. Okay? So, that's that doesn't mean you're taking a highly valued person for granted. It means you're protecting the viability of the business. Okay, so that's that's number two. Um, highvalued people must be ba managed um but not taken for granted. Uh let's see. Number three. So um yeah, so this this this also this

[37:36] is a good one. I I don't think we've really um I don't think I've this this issue has come up or this idea has come up in previous episodes. So operational momentum often depends on rapid conflict resolution. Right? So the Greek leaders um um delay in sending an embassy. Agamemnon's delay in sending Odysius Odysius in his embassy to try and reconcile with Achilles. Okay, meant

[38:14] that the Greeks lost crucial time in resolving this internal conflict. Okay, that had at least two adverse consequences. One is the longer a conflict continues, the harder it is typically to resolve. And so, you know, as as the egos of each individual uh get more and more engaged in the conflict itself, it becomes

[38:49] harder for them to resolve the conflict. And so when Odysius shows up uh and and and tries to uh talk with Achilles, he rejects them. He refuses essentially to uh meet with the embassy. And so the conflict continues. So that's that's one problem. And [snorts] the second problem is um and this I mentioned uh before the longer a conflict uh rages um the more likely that people within

[39:24] the organization will choose sides. Okay, which further inflames the conflict but also degrades the ability of of the organization to pursue its mission to pursue its goals. Okay. So in order to maintain operational momentum okay conflict needs to re be resolved quickly efficiently. Okay. Now hopefully conflict among leadership especially

[39:59] senior leadership does not sort of break out into the open and become well well known among the other uh members of the organization. So especially deep conflict needs to be kept behind closed doors until it's resolved. Okay. that that disagreement is is is a different matter. If if two leaders are disagreeing and then that's it's perfectly fine to go out to other people in the organization to get their thoughts on

[40:36] the the differences of opinions and and use that information to resolve the difference of opinions. Okay, that's a good thing because now other people in the organization can feel more invested in whatever solution is eventually adopted. But when it's conflict, especially when the conflict is personal, so now people are challenged to take sides and and and and so now it's going

[41:12] to be take even more time to resolve the conflict because not only does it have to be resolved between the two principles, it needs to be resolved among the people who have chosen one or the other side. Okay? And and sometimes more junior members of the firm they they feel that they have to they feel that they can show their loyalty to a particular leader by in essence maintaining the conflict among other

[41:48] people at their level as a show of loyalty. Right? And so now it becomes even more difficult to solve the conflict. It can it could go on and on and on and it may have to res and it may result with people having to leave the firm. Okay. So the more quickly conflict can be resolved, the better operational momentum can be maintained. And for most businesses that's crucial, right? the pace of business very very fast these

[42:24] days to lo it's it's it can be difficult to get momentum once you have that momentum you don't want to lose it you want to keep it going [snorts] okay uh let's see [clears throat] got I want one or two more okay so um I I want to talk about two more so negotiation and reconciliation are strategic ic tools. So, Pri's successful retrieval of his son Hector's body shows that even adversarial parties

[43:02] can achieve objection objectives uh through disciplined negotiation. Okay. And and this this is a a primary lesson not only for resolving conflict to you know for the good of an organization but also for resolving disputes between a company and its clients and customers and for maintaining long-term operational stability of the of the of the

[43:38] organization of the company. Now, that can be difficult sometimes. So, I'm I dealt with a situation last year where the this is one of the estates that that I uh administrate and one of the assets in the estate was a company and there were several clients of that company who were enraged. At least it this is what it seemed like at the beginning. They were enraged by the fact that because the owner of the company had died, all of

[44:14] their money, it was a property management company, their money was tied up because there was no one who had the authority to transact in the bank accounts. Okay. Now, on some level, I I could understand that it's frustrating to have your money tied up and, you know, you may need the money for this or that um especially if you're tied on cash flow. So it it's it's one thing to be upset about that, but the fact of the matter was there was nothing that could be done. Okay, there was there were there was no preparation on the part of the

[44:50] deedent for such an eventuality and me coming in I had no I couldn't the banks were not going to accept my word that hey look I'm going to do everything well and you don't have to worry and eventually the court will you know will bless everything that I do. There's no way a bank is going to accept that. Okay, we had to wait for the court process to work its way through. It took several months. Uh and and again, frustration, understandable, but getting enraged, non understandable. Okay. And there were several clients of the firm.

[45:27] They were frustrated, but but we kept in communication with them. We kept them up to date. they knew what was going on and and we worked through it essentially together as best we could. There are others who took to calling the company screaming at the the women who worked there who were absolutely powerless to do anything that they that they were that the these clients were demanding be done. Okay? And we worked at uh at at at negotiating with them. We we we worked

[46:03] to try and resolve the disputes as best we could within the the reality that the courts had to the court process had to work its way. And in the end, nothing satisfied them. And so I ended up firing a couple of those clients. Okay. One notable one that we we uh just they were absolutely abusive. Okay. So, so I think the you know the the lesson from uh Prium and uh um and Achilles's interaction that these

[46:40] you know the the the Hector's father the the fierce Trojan warrior and Achilles the the fierce Greek warrior that that these two men could find common ground at least after Achilles uh rage Achilles's rage was was spent. We would like to think that that can always happen but but it won't. It it sometimes there is no resolution where there there is no reconciliation I should say and so resolution does mean a

[47:16] parting of the ways in business that is a difference right between business and warfare. uh in warfare kind of each party going their separate way often times that's just a temporary solution but but eventually the parties end up back in combat again but in business we can part ways and sometimes that is the correct decision. Sometimes the best thing that a business can do is fire a client. Okay. And so while we

[47:51] would like to think that the lesson we should take from the ending of the Iliad is is to is that reconciliation is always achievable. I think the real lesson is that uh negotiation and reconciliation are tools that hopefully will lead to reconciliation. But if they don't, then a parting of the ways is appropriate. That's that's the next lesson. So that's lesson number four. I'm going to do one more. And I

[48:26] mentioned this when when I was talking about the the storyline of the Iliad, the idea that um the the the Greek the gods, the Greek gods represented what we might today call fate. Okay. So uh I believe it was uh Zigg Ziggler who used to talk about uh temp like tempting uh the fates in this case I think he means God

[49:02] uh to sort of be on our side and and and this is sort of the intangible of being well it's the intangible of course of of being in a war, right? Both sides want to believe that God is on their side. Okay? Bringing this into a business context though, how we run our business, okay, we can sort of uh it can bring the the the sort of emotional spiritual

[49:38] uh nature of of human endeavor on our side or it can repulse that. Okay. And it's it's I think that human there's there's there's a spirit to human endeavor. Okay? Because human beings are at our most fundamental nature spiritual beings. Okay? And there's lots of ways that this manifests itself. I'm not going to get into those details. That's a Jiggers's Place conversation. Maybe maybe I'll I'll put that um on on the on

[50:14] the schedule for a future show. But if we deny the emotional and spiritual component of human existence uh while when we're operating in the business world, I think we put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage. Okay. just like the Greeks by by their infighting and and and and their uh the the killing of uh u uh Zeus's I'm sorry

[50:49] I think it was I believe it was Apollo's son. This puts this puts the fates at odds this put the fates at odds with Greece. Okay, we can do the same thing. Not with the gods, of course, we're, you know, but we can align ourselves with the highest principles of human conduct within our businesses. Okay? We can insist for example that all people connected to the business, those who work for the business, our clients,

[51:25] our customers, that everybody be treated with decency. Right? We can insist that's the case because to allow people to be treated indeently creates an atmosphere that is not conducive to the success and growth of the business. [snorts] Okay. In essence, we tempt the fates or we tempt the gods, right, to operate against our business. when we operate our business in an indecent way.

[52:01] Okay. And and this this is is again I don't I don't don't think I've really addressed this before in any of the episodes of Business Lessons from the Military, but you know, we're we're we're heading into we're in the last two months of the calendar year. Thanksgiving is next month. We're heading into the Christmas season. And as we do so, we we we go to parties, we have more social events. I think it's it's this is a good time of year to think about this aspect of of running a

[52:37] business, of running a prof professional practice. How h how how how do we bring our values into play in running a business in dealing with our colleagues in working with our clients and customers our suppliers okay the public in general okay do we take an attitude you know caveat empor caveat vendor right let the buyer beware let the seller beware do we take an attitude of we have no

[53:13] other obligation than to maximize the profit of our business at all costs. Even if it means the degradation of the the the the quality of life of our colleagues, even though it comes at a big cost to our communities, I think not. And and those of you who know me, you I'm I'm not some I'm not a socialist or anything like that. But what what I'm what I'm suggesting here

[53:49] is that we need to bring our values to our businesses. Okay? And in doing so, we'll tempt the fates will tempt God to look on us generously. uh to look to look on us mercifully if we're going through a hard time in our business. And in so doing, we will make ourselves will create the atmosphere uh in in an atmosphere in which we can be more successful. And so perhaps that's one of the most profound perhaps that's the

[54:26] most profound lesson we can learn from uh Homer's Iliad and and a good lesson I hope it is for for this time of year. So I thank you very much for joining me today. If you have any questions, comments, thoughts, um all the links to uh social media uh will be in the show notes after this episode posts on YouTube. I invite them. My email address will be there as well. Feel free to if you want to send me a kind of a more personal uh comment or question or

[55:01] criticism that you don't want to post publicly, happy to to read that as well. Um I haven't mentioned this for a while. Um, if you're not a subscriber to the Way to Wow shows, I hope you'll uh consider subscribing. Just go to the YouTube channel and you'll see there's a a subscribe button right there on top. Or if you're a subscriber and and you know someone, a family member, a friend, a colleague that you think might enjoy the shows, might benefit from watching or listening to them, again, I would certainly I would really appreciate having the opportunity to gain them as a viewer and subscriber. Uh, so, uh,

[55:39] tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. is my show People Making Money. And then on Wednesday, I'm sorry, on Thursday at 5:00 p.m., these are all Pacific time, of course, is my show Jiggers's Place, where we'll have a cocktail and a smoo as we head to the end of the week. So, I thank you very much for joining me uh especially my live viewers and wish you a wonderful rest of the day and signing off as I always do. Marie darling, you are my bell. Courage at all times, my friends.