Foils vs Antagonists

I want to tell you about one of the most important leadership truths I know in this Leading Thoughts, but to do so I’m going to first define some terms from literature. Trust me, I’ll make this practical for you before I’m done.

In literature, you often have a figure called the “foil.” This is someone who is just different enough from the lead character that they help draw out and illuminate who that lead character is. You get to know who Tom is because of his interactions with his very different buddy Bob.

This device is used so much in literature that you may not even notice it. For example, we are allowed to understand the quixotic, impulsive, and brilliant Sherlock Holmes because he goes through his adventures with the more methodical, less-brilliant but medically astute Dr. John Watson. We enjoy their interactions as they solve mysteries, but we are also getting to know Holmes better because Watson is standing next to him. Holmes is the lead character. Watson is his foil.

Now, the foil is different from another common literary figure—the “antagonist.” The antagonist opposes the lead character. In fact, the antagonist often intends the destruction of the lead character.

In the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, the antagonist is Professor James Moriarty. This man is evil and conspiring and seething, the ever-present threat that Holmes holds in check. It’s what makes Holmes a hero. It’s much of the reason he has been so loved through the years.

Now back to you, my dear leader. You will have both foils and antagonists in your life, on your team, maybe even among your friends and family. You will have to discern which is which.

You see, you want foils in your life. You are made better by them. The foil is committed to you and the cause but is different from you. They challenge you. They see what you don’t see. They draw out parts of you that you would never summon on your own. You want foils in your life. In fact, you are likely married to a foil. It’s what made them hot when you first met them. They were different from you, made you better, frustrated you, and awakened you. It’s what foils do. You need them in your life and with you as you lead.

The antagonist, though, is someone you don’t need around you. They oppose for the sake of opposing. Often, these people oppose because only in opposing do they feel in place, alive, and fulfilling a purpose. Yet their opposing is not meant to do you good. It is meant to empower them, though they may not realize it. They are the dissenters, the rebels, the schismatics. They may even be “coups plotters,” to use the language of political science.

Your task as a leader must be to keep foils in your life and allow them to make you better, frustrating as they can often be. However, you must distinguish between foils and antagonists, and gently send the antagonists away. They aren’t there to do you good. They are there to destroy, though if you suggested this to them they would be horrified. They often don’t know themselves well enough to realize who they are.

In the leadership consulting I do, I find that leaders are sometimes overly tolerant of the antagonist and largely because they have become politicians who believe they have to please everyone. It ain’t gonna happen! You can’t please everyone, nor should you.

Gain from the foil. Weed out the antagonists. Know the difference and build a culture that encourages the one but guards against the other. Finally, check your political need to try to please everyone. That’s not a leader’s goal. It is rather to rally everyone to a higher purpose. Foils will help you with this. Antagonists will only drop bombs on what you’re trying to build.