7 Leadership lessons from Lord Voldemort

Voldemort, the cruel and widely-hated antagonist of the Harry Potter series, is one of the most badass fictional villains ever. The psychopath He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might be a believer in muggle genocide and have an imperfect and disturbed personality, but no one will disagree that his leadership and management skills are top notch.

If we ignore the questionable motivations and evil actions of this ‘Voldy’ guy, there are a lot of management lessons which CEOs and management professionals can learn from him. Just overlook the business he is in, that is, of killing people.

Let’s discuss 7 of the many management tips he has to offer. Isn’t 7 is the most powerfully magical number of all?

1. Effective Branding

Voldemort never did an MBA, but the genius leader very well knew the importance of effective branding.

Brand Name
In his teenage, he reinvented his personal image, changing his name to Lord Voldemort, signifying his transition from a half blood child to a future CEO. His group of followers (analogous to company) were called Death Eaters. The name itself represents the business of the company, of killing people, and is very unique and memorable brand identity.

Brand Icon
They have created a brand logo, the Dark Mark, that is a recurring symbol of their company. This symbol is marketed in a lot of creative ways, tattooed on the hands of employees, and sometimes even projected in the night sky on international events like Quiddich World Cup. Such actions resulted in a brand recall of 100% in the wizarding world.

2. Proactive Strategic Alliances

Voldemort was a visionary leader, who understood the importance of fostering Strategic Alliances to the growth and sustenance of the company.

He sought alliances with a number of magical creatures, but only after carefully analysing them. He chose only those partners who shared the mission and vision of his company, that is, killing people. Some of his allies were-

Giants, the merciless and dumb killers;
Nagini and Basilisk, giant loyal snakes who are servile to him and are deadly poisonous;
Dementors, the dark creatures who depress people and suck life out of them;
Werewolves, who kill and infect innocent people.

3. Diligence and Persistence

Ambitious and hard-working, Voldemort was persistent in his deeds. He failed to preempt his competition, a boy-who-lived called Harry Potter, not once but a number of times, but never lost faith in himself.

He tried again and again, while keeping in sight his main goal of market (wizarding world) domination.

When his company was dismantled after his competition (Harry Potter) defeated him, it did not quench his dreams, and with his persistence and creativity, he built his empire again from scratch.

4. Resourcefulness and Networking

Tom Riddle did not inherit any wealth, nor did he have a big family to rely on in difficult times. Even then, he emerges as the most resourceful character in the whole series.

• He grew and nurtured a vast network, which he utilised time and again effectively.
• He established good working relationships with eminent and talented experts, like Professor Slughorn.
• He stayed up to date with the latest magic (analogous to technology for leaders), and was an expert in the field himself.
• He was selectively honest and a perfect diplomat. Remember when he flattered Slughorn to ask about Horcruxes? The right amount of praise, flattery, sincerity and cleverness made his pitch convincing.

5. Human Resource Management

Voldemort was a master in managing the Human Resources in his team.

He carefully identified and recruited people who shared his vision and temperaments. He sought out qualities like resourcefulness (Lucius Malfoy), intellect (Pius Thicknesse), unique skillset (Bellatrix), dependability (Snape), and most importantly, loyalty (ALL*).

*Although, being the quintessential villain that he was, he made some grave errors like relying on Snape, who was secretly disloyal to him, and Narcissa, who had contradictory priorities.

6. Long Term Planning and Risk Management

From his childhood only, Tom Riddle had started to plan about an organisation that would rule the market (in this case, the whole wizarding world). Throughout the series, Voldemort had multiple back up plans to mitigate contingencies.

From the limited information extracted from Bertha Jorkins, Voldemort planned the whole series of actions in the Triwizard Tournament, culminating in his revival and capture of Harry Potter.

He had other ways to replenish and nurture his body in case the plan didn’t work out, such as Sorcerer’s stone, Unicorn blood and sharing Quirrell’s head.

His idea of making seven Horcruxes is the mother of all risk management plans, having not one but seven back-ups to make himself immortal.

7. Effective Communication

Voldemort had a charismatic personality, which when combined with expert knowledge and talent, attracted people towards him.

His speech at the Battle of Hogwarts is an example of what a formidable public speaker he was.

“Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.” “Give me Harry Potter,” said Voldemort’s voice, “and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded.” “You have until midnight.”

• He knew the audience well, and directly addressed to their motivations, desires and emotions.
• He used crisp one-liners to ensure clear understanding and retention.
• He repeated the key idea again and again, in a poetic way, to ensure its retention in the minds of people.
• His ideas were clearly structured and worded.
• He used pauses effectively.

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Only if the freakishly genius Voldemort had high emotional intelligence, his startup would not have collapsed in the end. Rather, he would have dominated the world for many decades, or rather, centuries.

So, the Eighth lesson, just like the eighth unwanted Horcrux Harry, is-

• Work on your Emotional Intelligence, and create a Culture of Ethics.
• Treat every employee with trust, dignity and respect. The disrespect of Snape proved a turning point in the life of Voldemort.
• Be open to new ideas and beliefs.