Your Political Guru

There are three types of people:

Those who make it happen

Those who watch it happen

Those who say “what happened”

Otto von Bismarck was defiantly one of the people who made things happen.

Bismarck may have been one of history’s greatest tactical geniuses.  He was a notorious over planner.  In military fights, he had his “Plan A” if things didn’t work out the way the plan was supposed to, he would reach into his bag and pull out “Plan B,” based on the current conditions.

His biggest coup may have been when he was 35 and in the Prussian Parliament (1850).  The issue on the table was the reunification of Germany which had been divided by wars and feuds.  The Prince was in favor of war to force reunification, however the King opposed it.

Now keep in mind, Bismarck was a “hawk’s hawk.”  He dreamed of German reunification under Prussian leadership.  He wanted to wipe his perceived smirk off of Austria’s collective face.  He had given a stirring speech saying “The great questions of our time will not be decided by speeches and resolutions but by iron and blood.”

But at the height of Prussian war fever in 1850, Bismarck made a speech in Parliament where he said “Woe to the politician who would make war without a reason that will still be valid when the war is over.  Will you have the courage to look at the widow contemplating the ashes of her farm, to the man who has been crippled, to the father who has lost his children?”

In this unexpected turn of events, Bismarck seemed to go against everything he had ever stood for in his public life.  His stern opposition changed several votes, the King prevailed, and war was averted.

The King in his gratitude made Bismarck a Cabinet Minister.  In a few years Bismarck was in charge of the government and led his peace loving King to make war on Austria and reunify Germany with Prussia as its head.

So what was happening in Bismarck’s head in 1850?  Bismarck knew the King wanted peace and Bismarck wanted power.  He was also sure that the Prussian military had not kept up with the rest of Europe and would probably lose a war with Austria right then.  If he supported war, and Prussia lost, he knew he would never have a chance to try again.

So Bismarck fooled the entire country with one speech.  It moved him into a position to where he had power.  He used his power to build the military and reunified Germany.

Now if he had tried to go to the King and say “Hey I’ll oppose the war if you give me a Cabinet position,” the King would have made sure that such a duplicitous person would never be made head of the government.  Bismarck made a calculated risk that lead to the fulfillment of his ambitions.

No, Bismarck was completely insincere and sent misleading signals, concealed his purpose and got what he wanted.

What can you learn from this?

There is power in concealing you true intentions.  There is no rule that says you have to tell everyone what your game plan is.

Beware – not everyone is telling you what their real goal is.

Do you have hopes and dreams powerful enough to plan for and realize you may not be able to accomplish them now, but you have to create some strategic losses to get into a position to win later?