The Art of War is the military classic written by the Chinese philosopher-general and military strategist, Sun Tzu, around 500 B.C. It’s shaped military and business thinking all over the world. In the West, the popularity of The Art of War continues to grow as managers and leaders apply its principles to their business challenges, and a plethora of Sun Tzu books and training tools continue to emerge.

Many men know this classic well and have used it to be more effective strategists, leaders and implementers. But for women, the story has been different. Women have a great deal to learn from Sun Tzu because, generally speaking, women haven’t read Sun Tzu. This is bad news because these women are missing out. After all, men have been profiting from Sun Tzu’s wisdom for millennia. But there’s good news in all this! There’s tremendous potential for current and aspiring business leaders to apply Sun Tzu’s lessons—without sacrificing uniquely feminine leadership styles.

Women and War?

While war as a metaphor for business may be unexpected territory for women, Sun Tzu has a lot to teach that will help guide our careers and our businesses. Women who don’t have an affinity for war can read Sun Tzu without concluding the need to adopt militaristic methods to get ahead. Surprisingly, Sun Tzu advises that often conflict is not the solution: “He who knows when to fight and when not to fight will win.” He also directs that victory is often found in taking “unexpected routes.” For women, studying The Art of War for business is just the sort of unexpected path Sun Tzu would advise.

Here are just some of the philosopher-general’s lessons, as highlighted in Sun Tzu for Women: The Art of War for Winning in Business.

Begin by Knowing Yourself

Sun Tzu advises that a successful general must know himself and his army. On a personal level, you must profoundly understand yourself. This is absolutely essential to developing a winning competitive advantage. While a basic concept, the ability to identify attributes, trust them, and put them to work for you requires conscious and ongoing effort. When speaking to women’s groups, I challenge them to understand their unique competitive advantages. I challenge them to look at these through authentic eyes, not from those of a corporate culture that may not fully value them.

While they certainly don’t apply to everyone, these success attributes common to many women are a convenient jumping off point in assessing your relative strengths:

• Intuition
• Collaboration and team building
• Sensitivity
• Perception
• Communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Lack of ego in motivation
• Passion
• Independence

Understand Your Business’s Culture

This brings us to a second—and very controversial—series of question. Are you having a difficult time excelling in your business’s corporate culture? Are you in an environment where you can succeed? In other words, can your unique success attributes come through?

I recently spoke on, “Using The Art of War to Find Your Competitive Advantage.” The focus was on how women can leverage their feminine attributes for optimal success, and how to avoid trying to lead, follow or manage like “a man.” After the presentation a woman asked me privately what to do when your culture doesn’t value your feminine attributes.

My response was simple. If you can’t change the culture and they won’t appreciate and value your real strengths, then your talent is being squandered. It doesn’t sound like it’s the right fit for you.

She said something she either was realizing for the first time, or had just come to terms with: “I think that sums up my entire career.”

She’s not alone. Not only must you know your strengths (and weaknesses), but they must be on a battlefield where they can be utilized. Sun Tzu put it like this: “Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.”

Sun Tzu on Strength

Succeeding among bigger, better funded and more established competitors is particularly relevant for the many women who are starting businesses today. For the past three decades, women have been starting businesses at twice the rate of men. The growth and employment rates of these businesses have outpaced the economy. And since female-fronted businesses get only five percent of venture capital, from the very beginning, these enterprises have had to approach problems creatively to survive and thrive.

The common pitfalls many women face, as explored in Sun Tzu for Women, include:

• Threats to authenticity
• Not asking for what we want
• Not knowing when to “fight”
• Avoiding conflict/ staying in the “comfort zone”
• Fearing how boldness will be perceived
• Dwelling on mistakes

The topic of authenticity is one that I’m often asked about in presentations and media interviews. Consider the phenomenon of the “Imposter Syndrome.” For many women, including highly successful achievers, their career journey is filled with self-doubt, fear, and insecurity. In researching what is now known as Impostor Syndrome, Clance and Imes studied 150 highly successful professional women. They found that even very accomplished women carry high levels of self-doubt. While both men and women can be Imposter Syndrome victims, it’s most often discussed in relation to women. For them, each new achievement, rather than affirming their status, actually exacerbates the fear of being discovered as a fake.

These women believe they’re making it, not because of talent and skill, but because of their contacts or simple luck. Imposter Syndrome robs them of confidence and keeps them from recognizing their achievements.

Crises of confidence are crippling. For women to not only achieve big in their careers, but also enjoy and reconcile those triumphs, they must believe in themselves and be true to themselves. Here is an excerpt from Sun Tzu for Women that illustrates this kind of authenticity.

Show Authentic Strength

Let’s look at an example from a chapter in American diplomatic history. This episode, recounted in Mary Beth Brown’s biography of Condoleezza Rice, Condi: The Life of a Steel Magnolia, occurs in 1989, late in the Cold War. Rice was thirty-four years old and working at the National Security Council in the White House. At the time, President George H. W. Bush wanted to encourage Boris Yeltsin’s growing democratic movement in what was then the Soviet Union. But the president had to be careful not to offend his ally, the Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

The United States conceived a plan to bring Yeltsin into the White House through the west basement to meet with National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. This would avoid media attention. President Bush would then drop in for an unofficial, impromptu meeting. Everyone would be happy.

The Russian leader arrived at the entrance. He was met by Rice, who was supposed to escort him to Scowcroft’s office. But the plan wasn’t agreeable to Yeltsin. He was used to getting what he wanted. He demanded a meeting with the president and wouldn’t settle for anything less. About meeting with Scowcroft, Yeltsin said, “I’ve never heard of General Scowcroft. He’s not important enough to meet with me.” He demanded to meet with the president and told Rice that he wouldn’t leave until she guaranteed him that he would.

According to Rice’s biographer, the standoff and stare-down lasted about five minutes, with Yeltsin “infuriated” and Rice “resolute.” That’s a long time to be staring down a Russian leader during the Cold War. Rice ultimately began to turn away and advised that he return to his hotel. She’d let Scowcroft know there wouldn’t be a meeting today.

“Then,” writes Brown, “Yeltsin blinked. The duel was over. Yeltsin conceded, agreeing to meet with Scowcroft.” Rice then escorted him to Scowcroft’s office, President Bush dropped by for a few minutes, and Yeltsin was pleased. Rice was calm, controlled, and confident throughout the entire encounter.

This incident made an impression on White House aides and others. President Bush remarked later, “Condi was brilliant, but she never tried to flaunt it while in meetings with foreign leaders. . . . Her temperament was such that she had an amazing way of getting along with people, of making a strong point without being disagreeable to those who differed.. . . She has a manner and presence that disarms the biggest of big shots. Why? Because they know she knows what she is talking about.”

That’s how she was known for dealing with even the most difficult foreign leaders. She didn’t puff herself up or put on a display of false strength. She didn’t need to feed her ego or pander to gain the favor of others. Rather, Rice was respected and achieved victories like this one because she understood the challenges she faced and knew she was equipped to meet them.

This is what Sun Tzu means in the passage that began this section. Boris Yeltsin didn’t walk into that confrontation with a high regard for the brilliance, wisdom, and valor of the adversary he would face. He didn’t know who or what he was up against. Rice’s team, on the other hand, had calculated their plan well—and just as important, executed well.

Knowing yourself and identifying your strengths are essential to finding your competitive advantage. But just as important is application. Even the best concepts can fall apart at execution. In one of my favorite observations from Sun Tzu, he recognizes the inability to follow through as worse than a miscalculation: “Now, to win battles and capture lands and cities but to fail to consolidate these achievements is ominous and may be described as a waste of resources and time.”

There’s no place for self-doubt for Sun Tzu, or for you if you’re going to be successful in your career. By studying The Art of War, and specifically Sun Tzu for Women, readers will gain a deeper understanding of their competitive advantages and how to triumphantly put them into practice. Ultimately, it’s about performance: “It is a doctrine of war that we must not rely on the likelihood of the enemy not coming, but on our own readiness to meet him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but on the fact that we have made our position invincible.”

Becky Sheetz-Runkle (photo, above) is the author of Sun Tzu for Women: The Art of War for Winning in Business, from Adams Media, www.suntzuforwomen.com. She writes and speaks about issues relevant to women in business and Sun Tzu. She holds the rank of Grand Master in Sho Bushido Ryu Jujitsu. Contact her at bsheetz@suntzuforwomen.com.