REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

180 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

with which he apparently made his pronouncements suggest he might

have done.

Family life was fundamentally changed by Shaka ’ s military innova-

tions. Personal attachments had to give way to loyalty to the crown

and that loyalty was rigorously tested: people were asked, for example,

to execute close family members to honor the king — and to sing the

king ’ s praises while doing so. No important decision could be taken

without Shaka ’ s approval. The right to marry became part of his elabo-

rate reward structure. His social manipulation meant that the demands

of the regiments took priority over family life. Defi ning the ‘ evil ’ outside

gave him and his followers a sense of purpose. As students of groups

have observed, demonizing others can bring satisfaction and play an

important role in identity formation (Volean, 1988 ). When they experi-

ence a sense of superiority over others, people begin to feel better about

themselves.

Shaka had no trouble identifying targets, and he showed no reluc-

tance in dispatching them. He created a very dangerous world — one

in which any sign of independent thought could (and more often than

not did) lead to death. Tremendous conscious and unconscious self -

censorship evolved as a result. Blind, unthinking obedience to authority

(supported by the patriarchal structure of Zulu society and by the

cultural scapegoating of evildoers) became the distinguishing feature

of Shaka ’ s regime. To be good was to obey; to be bad was to be

disobedient — and rewards and punishments were expected to ensue

accordingly. The overall culture of terror laid the foundation for those

tactics. Knowing that Shaka needed to feed his aggression with victims,

people were sorely and frequently tempted to offer up others to save

themselves.

Divide - and - Conquer Leadership

Like many despots, Shaka knew the value of information, and manipu-

lated it astutely. He was adept at playing people against each other, using

a divide - and - conquer policy to prevent his inner circle from uniting

against him. For example, he often gave his senior people assignments

with incomplete or overlapping authority, creating intense competition.

They soon learned that one way they could garner more authority was

by betraying each other. As a result, Shaka had an elaborate espionage

network of private and public information sources. Unfortunately, what

he thought they should have said, or what he had expected them to say,

was generally more important than what they really said.