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100 years ago, the real-life Lawrence of Arabia authored a leadership pamphlet full of insights that are still useful today

T.E. Lawrence's "27 Articles" were written for a WWI campaign, but reflect a nuanced understanding of how to lead anyone.

T. E. Lawrence, forever known to history as "Lawrence of Arabia" and immortalized in film, surpassed the expectations of both his superiors and allies by helping the British and Arabs defeat the Ottomans in World War I.

Lawrence may have been much younger and less experienced than other British officers working with Arab forces, but Lawrence's respect for and understanding of his allies' culture proved crucial to his success.

He also demonstrated a natural propensity for leadership.

In 1917, he was commissioned by the British military to write a pamphlet about his insights on working alongside Bedouin forces. Lawrence notes that the resulting principles, named "27 Articles" and recently republished for their 100th anniversary, "apply only to the Bedu," but among these guidelines are universal truths about effective leadership.

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These insights may have been born from a military alliance for a specific period of history, but below, we have summarized and adapted the eight points that are applicable to leaders of any kind — even today.

  • Do not aggressively implement your plans as soon as you are put in charge.
  • Learn about your team members as individuals.
  • Lead your people to favorable decisions rather than demanding them.
  • Maintain a constant dialogue instead of confining check-ins to infrequent, structured meetings.
  • Have a healthy relationship with your team members without growing too close to them.
  • Keep your profile as low as you can.
  • Maintain control of your emotions, even when chastising team members.
  • Do as little of your team's work as possible.

In the introduction to the new edition of "27 Articles," foreign policy expert John Hulsman noted that Lawrence achieved what his superiors could not because he realized that effective leadership does not come from heavy-handedness, and that the best way to influence others is to earn their respect rather than demand it.

Lawrence, Hulsman said, realized that "this restrained, secondary role for himself is the key to exercising power."

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