Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1541985
42 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2025 Today's politicians are no different. A shutdown creates urgency, dominates the news cycle, forces opponents into difficult positions, and energizes base voters who see their representatives "fighting" for principles. The chaos isn't a bug in the system; it's a feature that savvy politicians exploit. The Incentive Problem: Who Feels the Pain? Here's where history offers not just a diagnosis, but a prescription. Genghis Khan instituted a revo- lutionary leadership principle that modern Wash- ington desperately needs: His officers didn't eat until their soldiers ate. Leaders shared the hard- ship. They felt the consequences of their decisions first, not last. Contrast that with Congress during a shutdown. Federal workers, from TSA agents to park rangers and air traffic controllers, go without paychecks, with many forced to continue working and driving Ubers to pay the bills after their day job ends. Meanwhile, members of Congress continue to receive their healthy six-figure salaries without interruption. Fix the incentives, and you fix the problem. Make it the law: During government shutdowns, congres- sional salaries should be the first to stop. No back pay. No exceptions. Watch how quickly "principled stands" become negotiated solutions when politi- cians face the same financial pressure as the work- ers they're supposed to serve. The Sun Tzu Solution: Strategic Pressure Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War that supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resis- tance without fighting. Applied to shutdowns, this means creating consequences severe enough to prevent the tactic from being deployed in the first place. What if those consequences extended beyond paychecks to automatic triggers that freeze campaign fundraising, provisions that delay federal contracts to districts of representatives who vote against funding bills, or mechanisms that make the political cost of shutdowns exceed their strategic value? The goal isn't punishment, but the realign- ment of incentives. Make crisis manipulation more costly than collaboration. Al Capone's Lesson: Follow the Money Al Capone understood that people respond to incentives, and the most powerful incentive is money. He built an empire, ensuring everyone in his organization benefited from cooperation and suffered from betrayal. Apply this ruthlessly simple principle to Wash- ington: Politicians should benefit from a functional government and suffer from dysfunction. Instead, we've created a system where a crisis creates fund- raising opportunities, media attention, and base mobilization. Instead, demand the same account- ability of our elected officials as we do of our busi- nesses. The Uncomfortable Truth History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. Catherine the Great's tactics in 18th-century Russia work just as effectively in 21st-century America because human nature doesn't change. Leaders still crave power, fear still motivates, and crises still create opportuni- ties to exploit. The question isn't whether politicians will stop using these tactics, but whether Americans will demand a system where such tactics become self-defeating. Genghis Khan's officers didn't eat until their soldiers did. It's time Congress lived by the same principle. Are we ready for that conversation? PCB007 Steve Williams is president of The Right Approach Consult- ing. He is also an independent certified coach, trainer, and speaker with the John Maxwell team. To read past columns, click here. " " Make it the law: During government shutdowns, congressional salaries should be the first to stop. No back pay. No exceptions. T H E R I G H T A PPROAC H