I try to read one biography or autobiography a year and I just finished reading the War Commentaries of Caesar, translated by Rex Warner. This book is the autobiographical account of Roman proconsul and general Julius Caesar, who has left us a first person account in great detail of his various military campaigns. The book is divided into two parts: 1) The Gallic Wars (58-50 BC) and 2) The Civil Wars (49-48 BC). Here’s a quick summary of the book: Caesar was able to take Gaul (present day France) and Britanni (present day U.K.) after much struggle, and was lauded as a hero back in Rome at the conclusion of the Gallic Wars. However disagreements with the Roman Senate and his once friend Pompey resulted in a bloody civil war where Romans were fighting other Romans around present day southern France, Spain, and North Africa. Pompey et al. subsequently lost the civil wars and Caesar appointed himself dictator, administered elections as a dictator, and thus changed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Lesson learned: as much as people are lauded for their strengths and achievements, they also inevitably have weaknesses too.

War is brutal and this was definitely a hard read (mostly because of trying to pronounce ethnic Gallic names). However, this book had some gems if one was patient enough to sift through the book and pay careful attention. There were so many life lessons and truths in the book that I want to highlight the seven quotes I loved the most. These quotes offer wisdom about life and how to be a good leader. Maybe it will help you too!

Here We Go

1. “In my own case you can look at my whole life for evidence of my integrity and you can recall the Helvetian campaign for evidence of my fortune in war.”

Here Caesar makes an astonding point: our fortunes often tie back in the end to our integrity. The number one key to being a good leader is integrity. If you don’t have integrity then you have no chance of being a good leader. Integrity means doing what you say you will and adhering to the belief that: “If I say something, then other people are depending on me, and therefore I must deliver results.” Putting good energy into the world will often reverberant and get back to you in auspicious ways.

2. “Our men showed the most remarkable courage and energy, but were confronted by all sorts of contrivances on the part of the Gauls, who are indeed a most ingenious race, wonderful imitators, and very good at making practical use of ideas suggested to them by others.”

Here Caesar acknowledges and respects the strengths of his enemies. In life, one must always be practical. Ideas and theories are useless unless they’re put into practice in the real world. Having new ideas is important, but ideas mean nothing unless one were to execute and deliver a solution. Being practical is really just the ability to solve problems quickly with precision and quality.

3. “Vertiscus was almost too old to ride a horse at all, but, with true Gallic spirit, he would not make age an excuse for refusing the command and wanted to be present personally whenever there was any fighting (youth is a mindset).”

Caesar talks about an old Gallic warrior (Vertiscus) who was older, but still thought of himself as a young person. He subsequently went into the fight with spirit and energy. This one hit home with me because as we get older, we tend to “feel old” and let that slowly immobilize us mentally. But youth is a mindset. As long as a person is striving and going for whatever it is that he or she does, then that person is truly a young person.

4. “As soon as I found this out, not wanting to let slip any opportunity for action, I ordered my men to fall in and to have scaling ladders ready.”

Conjoined to being practical, it’s always about action and not words. Don’t tell people what you are going to do, make a plan and just do it! Don’t think too much. Just start and figure it out along the way. This has been a struggle for me at times, but I need to get better at this (especially for things that I’m uncomfortable with). Don’t substitute an auxiliary activity for the task at hand; always take action that directly solves a problem!

5. “The chief safeguards of good discipline are a sense of honor and fear, neither of which operate well by night.”

Discipline = honor + fear. This is a totally new idea that I have never heard of before and it’s magical. Such a simple, yet beautiful definition of what true discipline is. Honor means you want to do good for others and yourself. Fear means you don’t want to disappoint those closest to you or yourself. This potent combination is what creates an incredible drive and self-discipline.

6. “I reminded them of how I had always and invariably thought of the interests of my men (service).”

Next to integrity, a leader should always care about serving others as paramount. A leader should always look out for the interests of his or her direct reports, more so than him or herself. Otherwise, the leader is really just a self-serving person adding value to no one else, which begs the question: are they really a leader? It’s a bit more nuanced than that when you are serving ungrateful or self-serving people who just keep taking. In that situation, it’s probably better to recognize the situation for what it is and keep it moving.

7. “I told them to stand up and, in order to reassure them and to calm their fears, spoke a few words in which I pointed out that it was my nature to be merciful. I spared them all and asked my troops not to harm any of them and to see that their property was not confiscated.”

It’s important to fight hard and to always strive to win, but also be merciful if you are victorious. You never know, because the situation may reverse next time. The people who don’t show mercy will also not be shown mercy. Be mindful of when to strive to win and when to dial it back. A leader is tough, fair, and merciful all at the same time. He or she knows how to read other people and knows what tactics to apply astutely! This is something that I’m trying to develop and get better at. I’ll keep trying!