Leadership Lesson from Alexander The Great

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During a recent European trip, I noticed that the influence of Alexander the Great is still felt this day in Europe and Asia - some 2400 years after his death. There's been a resurgence of interest in Alexander because of the new film Alexander. This man is an interesting study in the art of leadership, and today's leaders should take note. Here are some of Alexander's lessons for general managers and sales managers: Strategic Planning: When Alexander left Macedonia to conquer Persia, he took surveyors, engineers, architects, scientists, court officials and historians. Once he left home, he left nothing to chance - he couldn't afford to stop his campaigns and wait for the "Army Corps of Engineers" to build a bridge. Speed was essential for Alexander. Through his travels of 21,000 miles, (remember, this was on horse and foot, not in a new Porsche Cayenne), Alexander had to backtrack only once in his journeys across Europe and Asia.This is amazing, considering he didn't have a GPS in 334-323 BC. Policy of Assimilation: Some historians look at Alexander as the father of mergers and acquisitions. In less than 10 years, Alexander became ruler of half the known world, and he managed to hold his empire together less by force, than by the astute policy of assimilation. Newly acquired Persian territories were not told to "fall in line," but instead, were encouraged to retain their local administrative structure and culture. Aristotle had taught Alexander to think of the Greeks as the only free men, and all others as slaves, but Alexander disagreed. He admired the Persians' organizational ability, and instead of ruling over them, he decided to rule with them. He insisted that his leaders adopt local customs and respect local religious faith. If that were applied to our industry, a new general manager wouldn't "blow out" almost everybody because they weren't "his
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