World Monitor Magazine, Economy WM_April 2019 web version (2) | Page 70

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Bontempo points out that we often approach a persuasion
challenge as if it were a truth winssituation: where we have
a demonstrably correct answer based on facts. If the facts
are completely on our side, then persuasion isn’t necessary.
Instead, the listener has a eureka moment, in which the
validity of the new insight is suddenly apparent.
But we don’t always have eureka moments at our disposal.
We rely upon persuasion when an objective, inarguable truth
isn’t available, when the facts can be interpreted in different
ways and judgment is required. Then the persuader, instead
of arguing to prove a truth, must enable the listener to
accept a mere possibility – to accept the idea that another
explanation might be viable and begin to consider it.
For the wildlings who live on the other side of the wall,
Jon Snow’s argument produces that eureka moment. That’s
why Tormund Giantsbane is ready to negotiate: He has seen
the horror of the White Walkers himself. It is a truth wins
situation for the wildlings because they have no wall to
protect them.
In confronting his brothers on the Night’s Watch, Jon Snow
similarly believes that the truth will win. He is wrong. He
faces a communication situation in which the answer
depends on the judgment of his subordinates. To be sure,
many of them agree with him, but a sizable minority,
including some of the senior leaders — Jon’s direct reports
— are not convinced. They understand the White Walkers
are real, but they don’t believe the wildlings can be trusted,
and they think the wall, which has held for thousands of
years, will withstand any threat. Let the wildlings and White
Walkers wipe each other out on the other side. Why should
the Night’s Watch care?
Jon stumbles in this critical leadership moment because he
underestimates the potential backlash of resistance on his
team. His truth is not their truth. They are stuck in what
Bontempo calls the “latitude of rejection.” They have fought
themselves in bloody battles against the wildlings, and
have seen their friends killed. One boy, Olly, saw his parents
murdered by marauding wildlings.
“The lord commander must pardon my bluntness,” says
Night’s Watch steward Bowen Marsh, “but I have no softer
way to say this. What you propose is nothing less than
treason.”
Jon responds that their mutual purpose should be the
defense of humanity. “I am the shield that guards the
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realms of men. Those are the words [of our oath]. So tell
me, my lord — what are the wildlings, if not men?” When
Bowen Marsh remains unconvinced, Jon stops trying and
wheels his horse away; he allows Marsh to stay locked
in his bias. He then issues the command to execute his
strategy and let the wildlings enter, assuming that his
angry team members will resign themselves to following
his orders.
Instead, a few days later, they lure him into a trap and
surround him. He believes they are his sworn allies, but
they pull out their knives and unexpectedly stab him. Olly
knifes him in the heart.
Had Jon Snow engaged in more deliberate conversation,
he could have talked openly about the level of anger
and rebellion triggered by his leadership decision. He
could have chosen to imprison or constrain his potential
assassins. Or he might have persuaded them by explaining
his judgment more fully, supported by a real discussion
of the risks. He could have reminded them of the terrors
they had seen from the wights, including two who had
come to life inside the castle. “Would an army of wight
wildlings be an issue?” This question would have acted as
a useful grain of sand and could have supported his effort
to defend humanity against a terrible threat.
Later in the series, Jon Snow is brought back to life
through sorcery — a painful process. He reflects on his
failure: “I did what I thought was right. And I got murdered
for it.” We all need to remember that when we move into
new territory as leaders, even after we achieve success,
we may still stumble. If our followers are anchored in the
latitude of rejection, we have to find time to communicate
— to place the grain of sand into the oyster. Jon Snow
could have taken the time to let his more experienced
members of the Night’s Watch, such as Bowen Marsh,
think through the options and join him in evaluating them.
Jon fell into the trap of believing he was limited by time.
He did face time constraints, but what limited Jon even
more, and seemingly cost him his life, was his inability, as
a leader, to practice the art of persuasion under pressure.
Leaders in fiction and reality
Ned Stark and Jon Snow, as any reader or viewer of the
series knows, are just two of many Game of Thrones
characters who wrestle with the demands of leadership.
The list includes quite a few largely unsympathetic
characters, focused on accumulating power and its
rewards, such as Petyr Baelish, Joffrey Baratheon, Ramsey