Course material

1. 1. What connections can you make between the article and Macbeth...
1. What connections can you make between the article and Macbeth after reading the article
about ego and ambition?
2. Agree or disagree: 'Ambition is just another word for greed.' Explain your stance in a full
paragraph with examples from Macbeth.
Ego And Ambition
Jun 18, 2009,06:00 pm EDT
"When the gods wish to take vengeance on a man for his crimes they usually grant him
considerable success and a period of impunity, so that when his fortune is reversed he will
feel it all the more bitterly."
--Julius Caesar
Ambition is among the strongest and most creative forces in the arsenal of human
psychology and frequently the reason things get done. It also is one of the most dangerous--
that drive to grab the biggest slice of the pie before anyone else and sometimes even the
entire pie. Julius Caesar (101-44 BC) had plenty of ambition. Early in his career he happened
upon a bust of Alexander the Great. Comparing himself to the great king, Caesar lamented
that he was the same age as Alexander had been when he died but that by age thirty-two
Alexander had conquered a world and so far he had done practically nothing. Vowing that
would change, Caesar entered the Roman political arena and the rest is history.
The world for "king" in German is kaiser, and the word for "supreme ruler" in Russian is
czar. Both come from the Latin word caesar, confirmation of this ancient leader's profound
impact on history. In today's communications age, Julius Caesar would be a highly effective
CEO. He was a superb orator who could appeal to a wide array of constituents, from the
common citizens to soldiers to officers to aristocrats to merchants to foreign leaders and
women. He was an excellent writer and an amazingly capable executive, who successfully
undertook enormous endeavors fraught with risk. Caesar had a natural talent for sizing up
situations, knowing when to push and when to hold back. Throughout his career, he learned
from his mistakes. Only at the end of his life, at the height of his success and power, did
hubris, ego, and the daggers of his assassins converge to destroy him.

2. Ambition is not all bad. Healthy doses can pay off. The trick to mastering ambition is
recognizing the rewards when they come your way and then deciding when enough is
enough. Left unchecked, ambition can cross the line, mutating into arrogance and avarice,
two of the most destructive human impulses. When ambition crosses that line, the result, as
we will see in Caesar's case, can be a compulsiveness that leads to self-destruction.
Interestingly enough, it seems that for every person driven by ambition, a hundred seem
content or complacent enough to accept what they have and walk away. Take, for example,
Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple Computer. At age thirty-four, Wozniak chose to take his
profits in 1985 and walk. Today, his partner, Steve Jobs, is still at it, the innovative force
behind exciting products such as the iPod and the iPhone. What makes a Wozniak walk and
a Jobs stay on the treadmill? Successful ambition, as Jobs demonstrates, seems to be a
healthy mix of energy and determination, well-defined goals, and an ethical framework to
keep within honest parameters.
The Dark Side
Julius Caesar was the consummate politician of his time, a gifted writer, and one of history's
great military commanders. He was a man of action--equally skilled with the persuasive
word, the pen, or the sword--yet also a tragic example of the consequences of unchecked
ambition. Although Caesar set standards for success and leadership that continue into our
own age, he also shows us--like Alexander before him--that unbridled ambition is capable of
turning on and destroying anyone, no matter how powerful and seemingly untouchable.
Caesar projected a sense of sovereign self-assurance. There was no question that he was
the boss and considered himself the only man for the job. Of course, Caesar was not the first
person to live with the delusion that he alone could handle the top job. But in his case, that
sense of self-worth turned out to be a double-edged sword. It mesmerized his followers and
galvanized his enemies. Throughout his career, Caesar gave the impression that he always
knew where he was going and what he was going to do when he got there. That impression
eventually proved to be his undoing as it mutated into an imperious arrogance that cost him
his life.
* * *
A recent example of an executive who let ambition warp his sense of judgment and
perspective is Edward Finkelstein, a highly respected and successful retailer who shocked
the corporate world by presiding over Macy's bankruptcy in 1992. When Finkelstein joined
R. H. Macy & Company as a young management trainee in 1948, the company was one of
several nationally known department store chains, its most famous rival being Gimbels.
By the 1960s, Macy's had become stagnant, but its bright star was Finkelstein, who was
proving to be a superb retailer through his management of the company's Bamberger's

3. stores in New Jersey. Finkelstein transformed dowdy, uninteresting Bamberger's into a
place to shop where consumers were eager to spend their time and money. He spiffed up
the facilities and offered attractive merchandise, soon gaining a reputation in the retail
world as a wunderkind. It was no surprise in 1980 when Finkelstein took the helm at
Macy's.
Macy's did well until 1985, when Finkelstein decided to take the company private through
a leveraged buyout. The company would borrow massive amounts of money to buy out
existing public shareholders, leaving as owners a handful of Macy's managers along with
private equity funds that invested in the business. Eventually the company would go public
again by selling its stock, and the managers and private equity funds would reap huge
profits. At least that was the plan.
Thanks to his success, Finkelstein was revered by Macy's managers. That intense
admiration deepened when he allowed hundreds of them to buy stock in the recapitalized
company; significantly profitable participation in such deals was usually reserved for a
handful of top executives. The devotees of this retailing Caesar believed that in just a few
years, the value of their investment would increase sixty to ninetyfold. But that did not
happen. Intoxicated by his success, Finkelstein started making mistakes.
To boost profits, Macy's began pushing its own private labels despite the fact that
customers still wanted traditional brands. Consumers preferred prestigious labels or at
least merchandise with names they recognized. Private labels in department stores often
connote "cheap." But Finkelstein kept the prices on Macy's private labels so high that even
customers who, to save some money, might have overlooked the stigma of in-house brands
chose not to buy them.
Even though Macy's was heavily in debt from the initial stock buyout, Finkelstein tried to
buy Federated, a collection of department stores that included Bloomingdale's and I.
Magnin. Finkelstein lost that battle in 1988 to Robert Campeau, a leverage-buyout artist
from Quebec; but as part of an agreement with Campeau, Macy's did get to purchase
Bullock's and I. Magnin. Macy's debt, already extremely high, ballooned even more. The new
debt schedule that resulted from the acquisitions meant that absolutely everything had to
go right, there was no margin for error. But the 1989 Christmas season was disappointing,
losses mounted, a national recession occurred in 1990-1991, and the red ink became a
flood.
Finkelstein enjoyed playing his executives off against each other, and as conditions
worsened, he behaved as if temper tantrums and bellowing would make Macy's debts
disappear. Company morale suffered as a result, and Finkelstein's image tarnished. He
aggressively promoted two of his sons, and some of his key executives began leaving.
Finkelstein became increasingly aloof, even watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
in his private viewing stand instead of with his top executives.

4. After another disastrous Christmas retail season and crushed by debt, Macy's filed for
bankruptcy in early 1992. Instead of listening to any criticism of his stewardship or
suggestions for improving the situation, Finkelstein shouted his critics down and refused to
take any responsibility. He blamed forces beyond his control since his ego would not allow
him to admit that he bore even marginal responsibility for the bankruptcy.
Macy's creditors finally did to Finkelstein what the senate did to Caesar. They finished him
off. But, Finkelstein's story, unlike Caesar's, has a relatively happy ending. Federated, which
Finkelstein had tried to gobble up only a few years before, bought Macy's in 1994, and a
considerably humbled Finkelstein became a well-paid consultant to the new enterprise.
If You Are Going to Cross the Rubicon, Make Sure You Know What You're Doing and Where
You're Going
Much of Julius Caesar's success can be attributed to the fact that he was focused and
decisive and knew how to get things done quickly. Nothing illustrates the interaction of
these qualities more forcefully than Caesar's decision to lead Roman legions under his
command across the Rubicon River in 49 BC. It was a defining moment not only for Caesar
but for history. By crossing the Rubicon, he not only defied Roman law but began a civil war
that transformed Rome and changed the ancient world.
As Caesar prepared to cross the river on the night of January 10 in 49 BC, he reflected in
solitude for a while, then turned to his commanders and gave the order. When they reached
the other side, his first words were Alea iacta est (the dice have been thrown). Since that
fateful night, the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has come to mean willingness to undertake
a major and risky course of action from which there is no turning back. It is a move that
requires foresight, strength of character, and willingness to accept the consequences of
one's actions, both good and bad. Caesar knew that he was about to plunge Rome into civil
war and that as a result he would either become master of the ancient world or be killed. He
was willing to accept either outcome.
"Crossing the Rubicon" means embarking on a course of action from which you cannot turn
back. What is the lesson here? Be sure to think before you act and to understand fully the
implications of what you are about to do--the rewards as well as the costs for yourself and
others. Once you decide on your plan and take action, don't look back or second-guess
yourself. Execute your plan to the best of your ability and let the chips--or dice--fall where
they may. When Caesar crossed that river in 49 BC, he released the dogs of war, and once
out they could not be restrained but had to run their course.