Leadership skills in Alexander the Great

The name of Alexander the great is engraved in history books not only as a Macedonian King

but as one of the great leaders in history. Without doubt Alexander the Great embodied not

only a great military leader who created tactics that were used for years after his death. He

led an army for almost twelve years, across twenty two thousand miles in devastating and

harsh conditions to fight over seventy battles without losing any thus conquering all the way

from Egypt to India. He had kept more than forty thousand men away from their families for

almost a decade through very harsh weather conditions. For him to accomplish a great

empire at the age of only thirty three he possessed great leadership skills. To begin with,

Alexander had a vision, he did not want to settle for his father, King Philips wealth and his

achievements, he wanted to expand Macedonia and create a vast empire. It is the vision that

differentiates a leader from a follower, a leader has a not only has a vision but also inspires

his followers to embrace his vision. Alexander did that, he was capable of inspiring his

soldiers; he was capable of passing on his passion to them motivating them to help him

achieve their goal. For example Alexander in a very inspirational speech motivated his

soldiers to continue their tedious march towards India, said: I could not have blamed you for

being the first to lose heart if I, your commander, had not shared in your exhausting marches

and your perilous campaigns; it would have been natural enough if you had done all the

work merely for others to reap the reward. But it is not so. You and I, gentlemen, have shared

the labor and shared the danger, and the rewards are for us all. Alexander not only led by

inspiration, he also led his soldiers by example. Alexander in every battle was the first in

line, and he did not ask his men to do anything he did not do. He was wounded just like them

in every battle, in every kind of weapon. He was not only their commander; he was a very
brave soldier. In addition Alexanders presence among the battle line and among his men

strengthened his relationship with his men; as he addressed them by their names. This strong

relationship with his men created trust, a very important aspect of leadership. Trust not only

involves the followers faith in their leader, but also it is trust that encourages the follower to

take a leap of faith following the leaders steps. Alexanders soldiers trusted him; they

followed his steps which were the reason behind building his huge empire, the empire that

crumbled into pieces shortly after his death. Alexander cherished this trust, he rewarded

those that showed loyalty and severely punished those that were disloyal. Moreover, the

ability to innovate is a vital skill any leader must possess. Innovation was very evident in

Alexanders life. Alexander was a great military leader that invented strategies and military

tactics that not only helped him with his invasion, but also was used by many great leaders

after him like Napoleon Bonaparte. One famous incident where Alexander showed

innovation is when he reached Gordian the house of the famous Gordian knot. He knew that

myths said that any person who can untie the knot will conquer. So instead untying the

mysteriously tangled rope, like many others had done prior to him, he simply slashed it open

with his sword. To sum up Alexander embodied all the traits that form an extraordinary

leader one that has a vision, one that leads with inspiration and example, and one that brings

trust in his followers.

Although leadership might appear to be all about emotions, those of the leader and the

followers as opposed to ethics which relies only on rationality. It is important to note that

leadership is not all about emotions and ethics is not all about rationality. Robert C. Solomon

in his publication discussed the concept of emotional integrity and its importance in relating

leadership and ethics, thus solving the paradox mentioned above. According to Solomon,
emotional integrity is a super virtue that encompasses all virtues and cultivates them in

harmony. Alexander the Great combined various emotions, some of which are empathy and

bravery. Not only that he spoke of empathy and bravery, he clearly showed them on the

battle field during his marches. He showed empathy towards his men on several occasions

some of which are the constant acknowledgement of their exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. On

another occasion, he denied a helmet of water that was offered to him, and preferred giving it

to his men despite his extreme thirst. Alexander also talked about bravery that was always

reflected in his performance in the battle field. Secondly, Solomon provided a detailed

explanation for the term integrity on another level which was consistent vision and intent.

Alexander mirrored a constant vision which was uniting Europe and Asia, a goal that stayed

with him for almost a decade. Although his consistency and determination did not break, he

showed flexibility. Flexibility was a very important aspect that Solomon spoke about so as

not to misinterpret emotional integrity with emotional rigidity. Flexibility was evident in

Alexanders military tactics, as he changed them according to different warfare

circumstances. According to Solomon, flexibility is only achieved through a very important

aspect of character which is self-confidence. Alexander represented self-confidence, although

he suffered many hardships in his marches and his destiny was uncertain all through the ten

years; he believed that could achieve his goal. Solomon also mentioned in his analysis the

importance of trust, quality of the relationships, as well as their optimal scope. During

Alexanders life, he bonded well with his subordinates and created a holistic relationship

with them that was based on love rather than fear. Furthermore, Alexander cherished the

various traditions of the places he conquered. He followed their traditions and spoke their

languages which resulted in expansion of his scope of relationships. Finally Solomon

associated emotional integrity with self-mastery. Self- mastery is trait where the leader is

capable of having the right emotion at the right time. However Alexander the great lacked

this trait in his character at some points. Alexander on several occasions lost control of his

emotions. For instance when he threw a sword at his step mothers uncle at the wedding

banquet when he was called a bastard. In addition, as Alexanders Empire expanded, he

allowed his doubts to surface, when he started killing those who betrayed hi m without

proper trails, as some of the Macedonian saw it as pure paranoia.

To sum up undoubtedly, Alexander was one of the greatest leaders in history. Not only did

his traits and character qualify him not only as an inspirational leader, but also an ethical one.

A leader that has emotional integrity, emotions in harmony, flexibility, unified consistent

goals and holistic quality trust and relationships with his followers. In our opinion, Alexander

lacked some self-mastery as he lost control over his emotions on several occasions. However,

that did not make him less of a good leader as in the end no one is perfect. We believe that

emotional integrity is what differentiates an ethical leader from an unethical one, and most

importantly a leader from a follower.