In November, I watched the 1990 Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War. I was fascinated with the military, political, and social strategies. From that series, I developed several “teaching points” gleaned from this historical time. You read the first three last month.

As promised, here is Part 2 with three more lessons from the war that you can use in building your business, accelerating your growth, and enhancing your leadership. This time, we focus on flanking attacks, emotion over logic, and the success trap.

1) Flanking Techniques — General William Tecumseh Sherman is famous for his epic march through Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean. However, the taking of Atlanta wasn’t easy. It took months of hard work and strategic flanking to overcome the Confederate army. Sherman kept up the persistent flanking of his enemy and their stronghold to eventually wear them down. He kept working on the outside; putting pressure on the edges, until finally he could march into Atlanta victorious.

Client acquisition is analogous to flanking your enemy on the field of battle. Only in this case, you don’t need any cannons or guns. The keys to acquiring clients are amicable persistence, a consistent message, and tremendous value. “Flanking” in your case involves providing value-added information on a regular basis, covering all aspects of your prospect’s needs. Just like General Sherman was persistent on surrounding his enemy, you must be persistent in surrounding your prospect with value.

Note — Your objective is not to wear your prospect out. Your objective is to have them say, “Wow. If I get this much value from Joe for free, I wonder what I would get if I paid him!”

2) Emotion Over Logic — There’s an old business catchphrase that reads, “Logic makes people think, emotion makes people buy.” The Northern states weren’t “buying” the war early on, yet the South was. For the South, this was a war of Northern invasion. The Union army was coming on to their land. They were defending their family, their land, and their way of life. It wasn’t until President Abraham Lincoln gave his Emancipation Proclamation, that the North felt like they had a purpose bigger than simply saving an 87-year old country.

Does your marketing speak with a “rebel yell” to your prospect’s emotions, or is it simply logical? Is the language you use arousing fervor in your product or service, or does it stir disinterest? People are driven by emotion to buy services and products that they think they really need.

3) The “Success Trap” — As stated in Part 1, Robert E. Lee was a brilliant General. In the end, maybe a little too brilliant. Lee found great success early in the war. He repeatedly defeated larger and better-equipped Union forces in defending the Confederate capital of Richmond. Historians will claim that this success lulled him into a false sense of invincibility. Confidence is one thing; arrogance is quite another. Lee became so enamored with his success that it cost him dearly when he moved forward on a small town in Pennsylvania named Gettysburg. He had fallen into what renowned management consultant, Alan Weiss coins, the “success trap.”

In business, success can be both good and bad. On the positive end, you gain cash flow, you increase confidence, and you enhance your brand. All things seem to go swimmingly over a period of time. The bad is that without you really knowing it’s happening, you can become complacent and fall into a false sense of security. If you’re not careful, it can catch you at the worst possible time, just like Lee in Gettysburg. Factors outside your control, be it an economic downturn, a worthy competitor, or a fire to your building, might be the flame that ignites your own misstep into the success trap. Or, it might be as simple as that one day, you are no longer relevant.

With each success, consider you are starting over on the ground floor of a next challenge. Never be satisfied with where you are. Be confident, be happy, and be positive, but never stop challenging yourself and your organization to be on the leading edge.

Educators have always held that we can learn from our own history. I maintain that we can apply it to many different areas of our lives. In the case of the Civil War, I hope these strategies from 165 years ago will help you accelerate your business.