300. The 300 Leadership Lessons

Leadership lessons from ancient warriors - minus the spears, the togas and the awkward man-skirts.

Jeff Matlow

Dec 02, 2024

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Can you believe I’ve already written 300 of these damn articles?!
Yay me.

It’s a big milestone because 300 is a big and important number.

[Editors Note: no it isn’t, but keep going, I’m listening]

It started with the Spartans.

Maybe you know the story. Maybe you saw the movie. Maybe you read the graphic novel.

Here’s the basic gist.

It was 480 BC. Confucius just croaked, Pythagoras was producing theorems and the Persians were a bunch of jerks trying to take over the world. The Spartans would have none of it and, oh, they happened to be the most feared fighters in the land.

Don’t f&%@ with the Spartans.

So when the Persians set their sights on sacking Sparta, 300 badass Spartan warriors were sent to the front lines to fight for freedom against the massive Persian army.

Three hundred against thousands.
I’d say the odds weren’t so much in their favor.

Sure, those 300 Spartans got decimated in the end, but that’s not my point. Those 300 warriors fought like the badass Mofos they were and held off the thousands of Persian fighters for two days straight.

That epic battle of the 300 has come to symbolize bravery, sacrifice and standing up for what’s right, despite the overwhelming odds against you.

That’s the meaning of 300.

And that, my dear friend, is where we transition right into our little leadership lessons.

The Bravery of Leadership

Leading people is hard. And confusing. And sometimes really frustrating. Every once in a while you kinda just want to punch some people in the face, amirite?

But your job as a leader isn’t to abuse your team, it’s to make decisions.
Lots of decisions are easy to make, you don’t even think twice about them. But those aren’t the ones I’m talking about.

The real challenge of your leadership is how you handle the harder decisions - the ones that sit in the grey zone.

Imagine you’re driving. It’s late at night, you’re tired and you’re trying to navigate the car on a heavily twisting road in a heavier fog with no way to see a darn thing beyond the limited glow of your headlights. You know there is danger all around, you just don’t know where.

Those are the types of decisions that are hard - the ones where you don’t have any insight into what’s right or wrong. Those moments can easily lead leaders to lean on the brakes and stop moving forward.

Let’s face facts - it’s scary.

What if you make the wrong decision? What if you fail? What if you take the proverbial car down the wrong proverbial path and over a proverbial cliff?

People could get hurt and it would be your fault.

Sometimes it feels easier to just avoid the challenging conversations.
It’s easier to just ignore the hard decisions.

Your rug is big enough, you can sweep it all underneath.

But that’s not leadership.

It takes courage to move forward despite the fog.
It takes bravery to lead even when there’s fear of the unknown.

But it also takes sacrifice.

The Sacrifice of Leadership

You can’t always be right. You shouldn’t always be right.
The best leaders are never always right. They know that always being right is not their job.

Your job isn’t about you being right, it’s about helping your team learn what’s right.

Your job is to empower your team; to protect your team. Your job is to teach them how to be brave in times of fear.

To do this, you sometimes have to sacrifice your pride. When others are attacking your people, when they want to tear your team apart, you need to jump in front of the bullets in order to protect your posse.

In my executive coaching practice, I come across lots of leaders who don’t understand the importance of sacrificing themselves for their team.

Let me be clear: it’s super important.
Your team will work harder and be more innovative when they know you’ve got their back.

300 Spartans were willing to sacrifice everything they had for their people. You need to be like them, but maybe we limit your sacrificial ceiling to your job for now.

Be the selfless leader your team is proud to support. When push comes to shove, you need to stand up for what’s right.

Standing Up For What’s Right

Assuming you have morals, you will, at some point in your life, encounter a moral dilemma or two.

That’s the way life works. You decide what you think is right, and then life throws all sorts of tests your way to see if what you say and what you do are aligned.

The tests aren’t always loud lion roar moments. Sometimes it’s just the squeak of a mouse. It’s so silent that you may not even realize you’re being tested.

Do you speak up when it’s easier to stay silent? Do you do the hard thing when nobody is watching? Do you tend to someone in need, or do you look the other way as you walk on by?

It’s in these moments that your leadership - and your humanity - is defined. Because being a leader isn’t just about making decisions—it’s about standing up for what’s right, even when what’s right is uncomfortable, unpopular, or downright risky.

But here’s the good news:

You are brave.
You are willing to sacrifice yourself for your team.
Those are the two tools you need to stand up for what is right.

After all, if you’re not going to stand up for what’s right, right now, who is, and when will they?

The 300 in You - A Leadership Lesson

Every leader has their own battles. Every leader faces those moments when bravery is daunting, sacrifice feels scary, and doing what’s right feels like you’re floating deeper into the darkness of outer space.

Remember, you don’t want to avoid the battles. It’s the actual battle that’s the important part. It’s about being there for your team, even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.

The bravery and sacrifice in the battle of the 300 inspired their people to fight for something bigger than themselves. That was the ultimate lesson in leadership.

You can inspire that same kind of loyalty in your team. I know you can. And you don’t have to be a martyr or wear a kilt to do it.

It’s all about embracing bravery, sacrifice and standing up for what’s right.

So, here’s my challenge to you: