Power, Politics & Leadership: Playing the Long Game
Leadership lessons from the Spanish Princess Netflix Series
Episode 5: Heart vs Duty
Characters:
King Henry VII
Lady Margaret Beaufort (The matriarch)
Princess Catherine of Aragon
Prince Henry
Queen Isabella displays incredible leadership acumen, despite some shortcomings. One of her strengths is control of emotions and focus on the goal. This is attribute serves her well in this trying time of her life. Banished from the court and left destitute with her aides, she is in a vulnerable position where something has to give before her situation becomes dire.
In this Episode
The Spanish Princess is invited to the court by the King, at the lobbying of Prince Henry. He has expressed his interest in marrying Princess Catherine. In a rather awkward turn of events, his father proposes to the Spanish Princess — Catherine. This places Princess Catherine in a great predicament. On its merits, this proposition allows her to fulfill her long-term goal, to be Queen of England. Yet, she has to give up Harry, who she has now grown to love. Given her circumstances, she cannot afford to make a mistake. This is a decision that tests her character to the core. She is deeply troubled. She knows that if she marries him, it will be a marriage of convenience: an arranged marriage that she has no say in. She wants to marry for love, but she is also afraid of the consequences of rejecting King Henry VII’s offer. If she refuses the King, she is no longer an attractive option for marriage and will likely be sent back to Spain. This would mean that her entire life’s work has been for nothing. Her mother would be disappointed and angry with her. She dreams of being a Queen in England, but these are definitely not the terms she has in mind.
Reflecting on Catherine’s background and thus style
Catherine was raised by her father and his advisors. She spent considerable time with advisers who taught her about politics and power struggles between other countries. Inherently, she is very intelligent but lacks experience. She is only 15 years old. She leads through inspiration as she has an idea or vision of what could be. She is not always factual or organized. This is particularly important in this decision as an immature decision can lend her in trouble. Marrying King Henry VII would mean immediate security and realization of the dream to become Queen of England. Rejecting the King can have negative consequences for her life.
She uses a distinct strength of calmness, avoiding an urge to make decisions in haste. One of the greatest strengths a leader can possess is the ability to stay in the grey until clarity surfaces. This is an important skill, especially in a pressured and hurried world that requires decisions instantaneously. It allows for meaningful contemplation. It also enables one to evaluate the implications in the long term. The Princess spends time in prayer. She also consults close allies she trusts — Lady Pole in this instance, who has known the family for a long time. It is in the conversation with Lady Pole that she crystallizes her heart’s decision aloud. She takes this risk and makes a decision to play the Long Game.
Playing the Long Game
Playing the Long Game can be a wise strategy, especially in highly toxic political environments. The adage, “All of life’s great returns come from compound interest. Whether you are compounding money, relationships, or skills, time is your greatest force multiplier,” argues Thomas Waschenfelder. The accumulation of tiny advantages can be worthwhile and makes the future easier. The reverse is of course also true. In her context, she considers the short term benefits of marrying the King, which are restoration of her dignity and an immediate return to the court. However, this may be short-lived as the King is old and may die soon. If she does not give birth to an heir, the throne goes to Prince Henry, and she lives with the consequencies of that for her remaining life. No, she would rather suffer now and sacrifice for the ideal future she wants. She concorts an absolutely brilliant reason for lobbying the King to see her side of the story.
Here are a few considerations in playing the Long Game and this is inspired by the Author of the book The Long Game: Dorrie Clark. It is a book inspired by how her life has turned out, the essence of which is, that we can accomplish the big goals of our lives even when life happens or we are turned away by the gatekeepers of life. We have to have the patience and the resilience to stick it out over the long term.
- Clarity of what you want
When you play a Long game, you have to be absolutely clear about what you want. Many variations that seem similar to what you want will present themselves. Clarity will make decisions so easy as you can identify at any point what it is you do not want. The clarity of what you want can also be crystallized over time. As long as it does not take one’s eyes away from the prize. An example here is that an offer to marry Henry VII seems fitting of Princess Catherine’s aspiration of being Queen of England. It is in this distinct moment that she acknowledges that, she wants to marry for love.
In a Corporate setting, it can be clarity on the ideal position you want to occupy and knowing the impact you would like to make. When it suddenly becomes available, but the terms are different from what you envisaged, considerations are worth making over how significant these deviations are and how they will impact your decisions. As appealing as it is to welcome the opportunity, it is worth considering the downstream implications.
- Spend time in ‘Thinking time’:
What can you do today that will make tomorrow easier? Consistent effort over time. Take time out to intentionally expand on thinking through the various scenarios with clarity. Also, consider the things that each option will require of you as sacrifices. That prepares your mind for when they surface, that you are not taken by surprise and can ride through the stormy seasons without losing your resolve.
The Producer of the Series cleverly depicts the thinking time through showing significant moments of Princess Catherine in prayer and serious contemplation. He also shows the challenges of the conflicted emotions through speech and conversations she has with her helpers.
- Scope upfront what it takes to get what you want and the process
Scoping your journey towards the goal is so that you understand the extent, the intensity, and timing that will be required in focused actions towards your goal. This will akeep you going on those tough moments because you can pre-empt them and deal with them as part of the journey rather than as a surprise. You may not know all the steps but you can always start with what you and revise as you go along.
Catherine did not expect the twists and turns towards the fulfilment of her destiny. She came to England to marry the Prince and that would have been a natural procession to Queenhood. The caveats are unexpected but she scopes the difficulty of each milestone as she journeys through it. She is strong enough to handle it.
- Prioritise or to allot our time and energy
Every task on which we choose to work now connects to a longer-term goal or desired outcome, a bigger picture. With this in mind, consider being very intentional in the allotment of your time. There are all the pressures toward short-term wins and agreeing to many meaningless commitments. It is hard to break away from them. Lift your perspective towards a longer-term horizon and choose to forfeit meaningless short-term triumphs.
Learn to say no to many things that do not serve you to focus on building networks, and activities that will propel you forward.
- Embracing Sacrifice and Delay Gratification
The daily annoyances, failures, and roadblocks that can get us down become reframed as opportunities for learning and growth. So instead of screwing it up, we are learning ways of doing it better the next time. As much as there are many ways to fail, there are also many routes to success. There is not just one secret lock.
- Watching out for the raindrop
it can feel like running a marathon on an empty road, with no cheerers, oftentimes no feedback. Persevere till you get to the other side. Sometimes it can take a long time to get to big success. Watch out for the tiny clouds and the storm that is building up. Even small progress matters. Learn to extract as much value and strength from all these experiences.
- Keep the faith
When you set a goal, there is a period of somewhat a dark tunnel where you do not receive feedback or encouragement to show you are on the right. It is at this time that you will have to dig deeper, allowing the process to define your character.
In conclusion, playing the long game allows Princess Catherine to search the deeper parts of her soul, reaching a decision that she can live with. Her initial reaction was that she has no choice in the matter. She cannot reject the King without negative consequences. She comes back with a resolute mind that her heart is with Henry. She is bold to make that decision no matter the ramification of her choice. While the King gives in to support the choice of Henry, he makes it conditional upon the Princess’ mother sending the last portion of her dowry. This decision marks the beginning of an arduous period that she patiently rides through.
