Brush up your Shakespeare

By Alison Arnot
Illustration: Seth

If only the folks at Enron and WorldCom had paid attention in literature class. That's the crux of several courses and training programs that use the works of William Shakespeare to teach management skills.

For instance, professor Jim Fisher includes examples from Henry V in his leadership classes at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. Arlington, Va.-based executive trainers Movers and Shakespeares have taken to the stage south of the border to provide interactive programs for conferences or professional retreats. Even Richard Olivier, the son of famed Shakespearean actor Laurence Olivier, offers Shakespeare-based corporate leadership programs in London, England.

Can analogies be drawn between the corporate climate of the early 21st century and the world depicted by a 16th century playwright?

Raj Kothari, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto, thinks so. He and a group of PwC senior managers and partners, with the help of Kingston, Ont.-based Janus Global Consulting, looked to the works of Shakespeare to improve their leadership and management skills. By focusing on the themes of ethics, motivation, teamwork and indecision, the group learned, for example, how Henry V shows that the right kind of inspiration can draw people to a cause. Meanwhile, Richard III illustrates how improper ethics results in bad leadership, bringing the whole company down.

So should corporate leaders mirror the qualities shown by Henry V and not Richard III? Well, Henry's army was victorious, defying incredible odds, while Richard, seeing defeat close at hand, was left screaming, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"