World Monitor Magazine, Economy WM_April 2019 web version (2) | Page 69

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about the wildlings. His commitment to empathy is
noticeable in his insistence on recognizing the basic
humanity among people who have been ridiculed or
feared, including his friend Samwell Tarly and the
wildlings in general. Jon’s commitment to his community
is the result of always being cast as a bastard son, and
thus an outsider in House Stark. He understands the
importance of being inclusive.
But most of all, he is driven by truth. He has grown
up without knowing who his true parents were, and he
has repeatedly made sacrifices on behalf of a deeper
understanding of the realities around him. As an
outsider since childhood, thrust into the role of leader,
he understands that truth isn’t just a talking point. The
reality of the Night’s Watch — in this case, the existential
threat they face and the humanity they share with the
wildlings — can’t be spun or adjusted to suit a particular
leadership agenda.
and the kingdoms it protects — will fall. Further, the dead
men of the Night’s Watch could rise themselves as wight
soldiers.
This type of challenge calls for strategy and persuasion:
skills that can’t be taken for granted, no matter what rank a
leader may hold. “Leadership does not depend on position,”
write scholars Robert E. Quinn and Ryan W. Quinn in their
book Lift: The Fundamental State of Leadership. They
describe leadership as a social process, often triggered
“when people choose to follow someone who deviates from
at least one accepted cultural norm or social convention.”
In Game of Thrones, when Jon Snow makes his decision,
he must persuade his colleagues of the Night’s Watch to
join him. His persuasion skills reflect his values: truth, then
community, then empathy, then courage. Taken in reverse
order: He exemplifies courage every day, both as a warrior
and in confronting his Night’s Watch brothers’ attitudes
Jon thus uses his authority as the new lord commander
to invite all the free folk to cross into Westeros and find
new safe homes in the seven kingdoms. In exchange, the
wildlings will promise to abandon their nomadic warrior
practices of rape, reave, and murder. They will give up any
items they own that can be sold for food. They will also
allow their children to be placed into Westerosi homes
as wards. This is a sort of hostage situation to ensure
the wildlings won’t go rogue and start slaughtering their
new allies. Some of the wildlings will even join the Night’s
Watch and take the oath to protect civilization from the
emerging threat to humanity. Jon’s free-folk counterpart,
Tormund Giantsbane, agrees to all these harsh demands;
he too is a realist.
But getting the support of the Night’s Watch members is
more difficult. Jon doesn’t believe he has much time to do
this. He expects the truth of the situation to be sufficient
persuasion in itself. This is where his leadership skills fail
him.
Bob Bontempo, who leads a session on persuasion in the
executive education department of the Columbia Business
School, says that persuasion is a discipline that takes
time. He uses the analogy of planting a grain of sand in an
oyster to create a pearl. The grain of sand is an invitation
to consider the possibility of an idea. Intelligent adults
aren’t convinced by argument. They are convinced by
themselves, when they take time to reflect on a question
and make an eventual, considered decision.
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