The Instructions of King Cormac: Leadership Lessons for Fair Rule

What are the Instructions of King Cormac?

The Instructions of King Cormac, in Irish Tecosca Cormaic, is a short Old Irish text of 37 sections set as a dialogue. Cormac's son Carbre asks a question, Cormac answers, and the answers are usually lists: what is best for a king, the ways of folly, how to behave among the wise and the foolish, whom not to put in which role. The English quoted here is Kuno Meyer's translation, published by the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin in 1909 and now in the public domain.

Cormac mac Airt is a figure of legend. Britannica's account of the Fenian cycle notes that the Fianna were said to flourish under his reign in the 3rd century, and links him with his grandfather, Conn of the Hundred Battles, and his son Cairbre. The text itself is much later. Meyer judged from its language that it was compiled not later than the first half of the 9th century, and his preface notes that scribes often mixed it up with the sayings of Fíthal, a poet said to have lived at Cormac's court.

Meyer (1858 to 1919) was, as Britannica records, a German scholar of the Celtic languages who founded the School of Irish Learning in Dublin in 1903. His translations are the public-domain English used here for this text and for the Triads of Ireland.

What does Cormac say is best for a leader?

The very first question is the one every new leader asks: what is best for a king? Cormac's answer is a long list, and it begins: "Firmness without anger, Patience without strife, Affability without haughtiness"

Each of the three joins a strength to the fault that ruins it. Firmness is good, and anger spoils it. Patience is good, and strife spoils it. Affability is good, and haughtiness spoils it. For a manager this is a usable test: you can be right about the standard and still lose the room through the voice you use to hold it.

Further down the list come truth and fair decisions: "Truth without addition, Mercifulness with consolidation of law" Truth without addition is a precise phrase. It rules out the flattering adjective and the hopeful rounding as well as the lie. In a modern status report it means amber is amber, with the risks and the next date, and no 'green with challenges'.

• Firmness without anger: hold the standard in a level voice.
• Patience without strife: give time without turning the wait into a fight.
• Affability without haughtiness: warm to everyone, condescending to no one.
• Truth without addition: say the plain thing and let people trust it.

How should a leader judge fairly, according to the Triads?

The Triads of Ireland, a collection of sayings in threes that Meyer dated to the second half of the 9th century, are not Cormac's, and should never be credited to him. But they sit naturally beside the Instructions, and several are about judgement.

One names how truth is recognised: "Three doors through which truth is recognised: a patient answer, a firm pleading, appealing to witnesses." Another is a conflict-of-interest rule: "Three who do not adjudicate though they are possessed of wisdom: a man who sues, a man who is being sued, a man who is bribed to give judgment." A third gives a test for any decision: "The four deaths of judgment: to give it in falsehood, to give it without forfeiture, to give it without precedent, to give it without knowledge."

Read together, they make a fair process: hear each side patiently, check records and witnesses, never decide a case you gain from, and test your draft decision for truth, consequence, precedent and knowledge. Early Ireland had a professional class of legal experts; Britannica describes the brehon as an arbitrator, umpire and expounder of the law, and dates the Brehon law texts to the 7th and 8th centuries.

What does 'be not too wise, be not too foolish' mean?

In section 29 Carbre asks how he should behave among the wise and the foolish, friends and strangers, the old and the young. Cormac answers with five pairs: "Be not too wise, be not too foolish, be not too conceited, be not too diffident, be not too haughty, be not too humble, be not too talkative, be not too silent, be not too harsh, be not too feeble."

He then gives the cost of each extreme: "If you be too wise, one will expect (too much) of you; if you be too foolish, you will be deceived" and "if you be too harsh, you will be broken; if you be too feeble, you will be crushed." The middle of each pair is not blandness. It is the right amount of yourself for the moment.

This is a useful frame for what organisations now call executive presence. A new manager who answers every client question herself is too wise: the client expects too much of her and her team leads go quiet. The same manager, overcorrecting, says nothing in a steering meeting and a bad decision goes through: too silent, and not regarded. A simple practice is to score yourself on the five pairs before and after important meetings, and ask a colleague where you landed.

What habits did Cormac practise as a young man?

Section 7 is a portrait of a young person learning to lead. Cormac says he listened in woods and watched the stars, kept secrets, was quiet when alone and talkative in company, and was not arrogant though he was wise. Then come three lines that read like a modern code of conduct: "I would not speak about anyone in his absence, I would not reproach, but I would praise, I would not ask, but I would give"

Each is a habit a leader can practise this week. Do not talk about colleagues who are not in the room; raise problems with them directly. Notice your ratio of praise to criticism. Offer help before you ask for it. For a new role, the 'listener in woods' line is a good brief for the first month: spend more time listening on the front line than presenting plans.

How should a leader choose advisers?

Cormac's list of what is best for a community begins with meetings, assemblies, an enquiring mind and questioning the wise. Among the short sayings of section 15 is one that Meyer renders "every faithful person is a good counsellor", though he flagged both key words as uncertain. Section 34 is a list of mismatched appointments, and one line is pointed: "nor a garrulous man your counsellor"

In practice, score your advisers on five qualities: faithful (to the truth as well as to you), knowledgeable about the matter, discreet, brief rather than garrulous, and independent of the outcome. Then check the circle. If nobody in it has told you that you were wrong in the last month, add someone who will.

Read section 34 as a list of role mismatches and conflicts of interest, not as a way to rule out kinds of people. Some of its lines reflect the prejudices of its time and should not be quoted at work at all.

What is worst in a leader, according to Cormac?

Carbre also asks about 'the ways of folly', and the list reads like a modern derailer checklist: rash judgments, rousing anger, chiding truth, a lying chief, acting without a witness, being a feeble master, buying judgments and talking much without wisdom. Cormac names the worst kind of household management in four words: "There is another housekeeping which is worse: 'Get, fetch, take, bring!'"

The Triads add that the three worst things for a chief are sloth, treachery and evil counsel. A monthly habit works well here: count the early signs of each derailer you noticed or were told about, choose the one with the most, plan one counter-move, and ask a colleague to tell you privately when they see it. If you want a structured baseline, an assessment such as AssessAll's Ethical Leadership & Judgment can show where you stand before and after a few months of practice.

What should you leave out when you quote this text?

A large part of the Instructions is unusable at work. Section 16 is a long tirade against women, and other sections repeat the attitude; section 8 boasts of violence; some lines of section 1 praise raids and hostages. Many of the Triads concern women, servants and bodies in ways that are offensive today. Quote none of them.

Be careful with editions, too. Meyer published a revised rendering of some sections in 1911, with different wording in places. Pick one edition per quotation and cite it. Many lines circulating online as 'Cormac quotes' come from other texts or are modern paraphrases. And treat the old belief that a ruler's justice brings good seasons and plenty as a belief of its time: the useful principle is that fairness is the foundation of trust.

Finally, the Instructions are literature and heritage, not spirituality or ritual. Read them the way you might read any old advice to rulers: closely, selectively and with respect.

How can you start practising this week?

Start with three small habits. Each morning, choose one of Cormac's qualities for the day, such as firmness without anger or truth without addition, and write where it will be tested. Each evening, write three lines in the triad form: one thing you did well, one you avoided, one you will change. Each Friday, take one decision where people disagreed and check whether you heard both sides, checked the facts and gave everyone the same reasons.

To turn the qualities you choose into goals you actually reach, the WOOP method (wish, outcome, obstacle, plan) explained by Jobulary is a good fit: name the obstacle, such as the 15:00 call where your temper rises, and write an if-then plan for it. If you want the whole system ready to use, Bodhih Training's Instructions of King Cormac kit includes the e-book, the What Is Best leader profile and counsel register, fillable forms, a 52-card deck and a 12-week programme.