REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

‘ DOING AN ALEXANDER ’ :

LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP

BY A MASTER CONQUEROR

There is nothing impossible to him who will try.

— Alexander the Great

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army

of sheep led by a lion.

— Alexander the Great

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to explore what makes for effective leader-
ship and what contributes to leadership derailment. For the purpose of
elucidation, I have selected one of the most famous leaders of all times:
Alexander the Great of Macedonia, who, more than any other single
person, changed the history of civilization. I cover his life story in some
detail as a means to illustrate the psychological forces that generally
come into play in the making of a leader and to highlight a number
of leadership lessons that can be learned from his life story. Included
are: the need for compelling vision, the role of strategic innovation,
the creation of an executive role constellation, the management of
meaning, ‘ praise - singing, ’ training and development, succession plan-
ning, and the importance of instituting well - structured systems of
organizational governance.

CHAPTER 10