The phrase “You’re weakest when you think yourself strong” doesn’t actually appear in the famous military treatise The Art of War by Sun Tzu, but it does reflect that author’s beliefs very well. Arrogance is dangerous, especially among those who reject sound advice or assume their every move is beyond criticism. One of the most dangerous consequences of such arrogance occurs when leaders surround themselves with “yes men” who are too cowardly or self-interested to point out a leader’s flaws or warn of mistakes.

We’ve had plenty of examples throughout history of leaders who placed themselves above criticism: an excellent recent example would be Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, whom I’m sure we’re all familiar with. Leader of the Iraqi Ba’ath Party, Hussein didn’t come to power through skill or even wit, but pure ruthlessness.

Hussein was willing to murder anyone who stood in his way, which quickly became apparent to those surrounding him. Not only did other potential Iraqi leaders who wished to remain among the living step aside and allow Hussein to take the dictator’s chair, they were unwilling to point out any shortcomings in Hussein’s incompetent leadership. To point out the dictator’s mistakes was to find yourself in front of a firing squad.

It’s estimated Hussein could have been responsible for up to 1,000,000 human deaths, which takes into account his disastrous military decisions. He launched the 1980 invasion of Iran, which immediately revealed itself to be bad planning on a monumental scale.

Then, of course, there’s the Gulf War started by Hussein, which was intended to help pay off Iraq’s war debts through the invasion of Kuwait. The dictator was well known for his war hyperbole (“The Mother of All Battles,” “the United States will drown in its own blood,” etc.). As we all know, perhaps the most one-sided war in human history was essentially over in a few days. Although the coalition allowed Hussein to remain in power, he didn’t learn his lesson and instead went back to baiting the United States, which eventually ended in his own trial and execution after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Right up to his capture, hiding in a basement, no one was allowed to second-guess Hussein.

Another famous example is, of course, the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Hitler was famous for his conceited dismissal of any criticism; he was famous for sacking generals and staff officers who disagreed with him. This was odd because most of those officers came from the highly educated Prussian aristocracy, who actually knew a thing or two about military tactics.

Compare this to Hitler, who before his service in the First World War was essentially an unemployed bum wandering the streets of Vienna; even during the war Hitler rose to no higher rank than corporal.

Yet late in the Second World War, as the Nazis squared off against Joseph Stalin’s USSR, Hitler dismissed critics, ignored advice, disregarded anyone warning of mistakes and sacked all who disagreed with him.

We know how the Second World War turned out. In the Battle of Stalingrad, Hitler refused to allow surrounded German forces to retreat, instead ordering them to never give up an inch of ground. German forces in Stalingrad were defeated in 1943, which allowed Soviet forces to begin an offensive that ended in the capture of Hitler’s beloved Berlin.

Among the many things Hussein and Hitler had in common was surrounding themselves with spineless “flying monkeys,” full of praise and too cowardly to point out any flaw in the dictator’s performance.

According to Roman custom, when great generals and leaders such as Julius Caesar were given a magnificent military parade known as a triumph, the general might even be dressed as the deity Jupiter. However, all through the triumphal march a slave stood behind this grand leader and whispered words to the effect of: “Remember, you are not a god; you are only mortal.”

Grasshopper, reflects on this kernel of wisdom from Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha: “A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.”

Stu Salkeld is a multimedia reporter and columnist for the Rural Alberta Report who is known to make his share of typos; you can contact him at stewartsalkeld7@gmail.com.