Labor / Employment, On The Job

Leadership Lessons From Westeros (Part III)

Who would you rather work for: Robert Baratheon or Tyrion Lannister:?

By Evan Gibbs and Emily Reber  
on

(Photo by C Flanigan/Getty Images)

Please welcome Emily Reber, a labor and employment associate in our firm’s Portland office. Emily’s an avid Game of Thrones fan and agreed to co-author this article with me. Thanks, Emily!

In Parts I and II of this series, I discussed how organizational leadership and different management styles impact workplace culture. Workplace culture is incredibly important from an employment law risk management perspective because bad workplace cultures create fertile ground for employment litigation. Disaffected and demoralized employees are more likely to sue their organization than those who are fulfilled and happy with the workplace culture.

In the first two parts, I also discussed how certain leadership qualities bring out the best and worst in subordinates and peers. I used Cersei Lannister and her son, Tommen Baratheon, from the HBO television series Game of Thrones as examples of different leadership styles.

In this third and final installment in this series, Emily and I are going to talk about two other leadership styles as demonstrated by the characters Robert Baratheon and Tyrion Lannister: The Delegator and The Exemplar.

The Delegator

Delegation is a necessary skill for any successful leader. But is there such a thing as too much delegating? Yes, yes, there is. Robert Baratheon knows a bit about too much of a good thing — too much drinking, too much eating, and way too much delegation.

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Ned Stark’s BFF took a very hands-off approach to ruling the Seven Kingdoms. Season One Spoiler Alert: This did not end well for him. What leadership lessons can we learn from King Robert?

In his prime, Robert was a fearsome warrior and succeeded in taking the iron throne through conquest. However, Robert grew complacent and idle after he took power, and preferred to rest on his laurels and shift all the real work to those around him.

For 17 years, Jon Arryn effectively ruled the Realm, while King Robert lavished in drinking, hunting, and patronizing Littlefinger’s brothels. After Jon Arryn’s death, Robert fell back on the alliances of his youth, selecting Ned Stark to take over as his Hand even though the two have not seen one another in years.

Robert openly admitted that he needed someone who could run the kingdom for him and that he did not have trust in his own court. Indeed, as Ned soon learns, Robert is surrounded by enemies in Kings Landing — even within his own family.

King Robert had charisma enough, and even Cersei herself admitted that he was once a formidable man. However, all the charisma in the world couldn’t make up for Robert’s bad habits and devil-may-care attitude about all things Iron Throne. Maybe Robert’s problem was that he really never wanted to be King, so he decided to simply let those around him do the job for him.

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And honestly, he could have done worse — the Realm was at peace for 17 years under Robert, which is nothing to scoff at, relatively speaking. However, Robert’s leadership style was ultimately unsustainable and in the end Robert could not secure his own safety or a smooth succession of power. This is where his delegation failed.

Delegating is a crucial skill for any effective leader; however, King Robert shows us the dangers of delegating too much. A good leader does not sit back and indulge while those around him do all of the work: he is willing to roll up his sleeves and work alongside them. Inevitably, delegators become out of touch with those around them, and even when their subordinates are loyal to them, they rarely succeed in their endeavors with a fragmented team.

If you work for a Delegator like Robert, you might be able to relate to Ned Stark’s frustration upon arriving at King’s Landing. Too much delegation can lead to a lack of oversight and can end up causing problems of its own in the workplace.

In Westeros, it was treasonous Lannisters and obscene amounts of debt. If you work for a Delegator in a more conventional work environment, you might be faced with confusion amongst subordinates as to who is actually running the show — and you might be expected to take on responsibilities and make decisions way above your pay grade.

Laissez-fair leadership like King Robert’s has a tendency to lead to low productivity amongst employees. While you might appreciate increased independence and decision-making, you might also run into a lot of confusion about what role you and your peers are actually supposed to be playing. A good delegator still tries to motivate his team and gives team members the tools and information they need for success.

Don’t get us wrong, delegating is a key skill for any effective leader. But subordinates still have to understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. Ned Stark would have been much better off had he known that he was walking into a lion’s den (excuse the pun) when taking the job in King’s Landing. If you work for an extreme delegator, don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions and seek out more information to be sure that you know what you’re getting into and understand how to be successful.

The Exemplar

Tyrion Lannister spent most of his life drinking and carousing, avoiding responsibility as though it were a plague. This seems to be because from a young age, he felt like he didn’t measure up to his family’s (especially his father’s) expectations. He, small of stature and short on looks, was always outshined by his brother, Jaime. Tyrion’s sister hated him and blamed him for their mother’s death because she died giving birth to Tyrion.

Tyrion never seemed do to anything right, and, when he did, it went largely unnoticed. Disincentivized from putting forth any effort, he sunk into a cycle of drunken non-responsibility for many years. He was the subject of much scorn and derision from those who knew him.

And then, almost out of the clear blue sky, Tyrion found himself ruling the Seven Kingdoms in all but name. Tyrion often seemed as surprised as everyone else at this turn of events. Most commentary among the court and elsewhere was that Tyrion would ruin the kingdom and destroy his family’s legacy. Tyrion didn’t seem to necessarily disagree with them.

Nevertheless, Tyrion matured quickly and rose to the occasion. He put aside his distaste for his family and those who plotted against him and went to work. He selflessly focused on the greater good of the kingdom. He worked to restore peace and avoid further escalation of conflicts that began before his watch.

He did all of this with no gratitude, almost no recognition, and no long-term benefit to himself personally. In fact, Tyrion suffered greatly in many ways as a result of having taken on the burden of rulership.

Tyrion’s leadership qualities are relatively rare. It’s not often we find leaders within an organization who are selfless and focus on what’s good for others and the organization as whole. It’s not often we find leaders who are good communicators and genuinely interested in the success of their subordinates and peers and who will do whatever they can to help them achieve that.

More frequently, leaders are focused on staying in their own lane and minding their own affairs. And this usually isn’t intentional — many times it’s simply from years of being a subordinate themselves and not having to think about others’ success or looking at things on a “big picture” level. They were good at their original job and then they got promoted to a leadership role. A promotion to a leadership position generally doesn’t suddenly imbue one with leadership skills or an interest in developing those skills.

If you’ve had the pleasure of working for a Tyrion Lannister you’ll know that employee morale stays high, people know their place in the organization, and that they feel supported and valued. When all of these things are present, productivity and employee satisfaction is unparalleled.

And so, despite Tyrion’s own misgivings, he exemplifies many of the best and most important leadership qualities we can ever hope to have in a leader in the workplace.

evan-gibbsEvan Gibbs is an attorney at Troutman Sanders, where he primarily litigates employment cases and handles traditional labor matters. Connect with him on LinkedIn here, or e-mail him here. (The views expressed in this column are his own.)

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