Leadership Principles (continued)
Leadership is 24/7/365.25—Leaders cannot take a day off, even in a Leap Year! As his father advises Cyrus, “One thing you must ever bear in mind: if you wish your men to follow you, remember that they expect you to plan for them. Hence you must never know a careless mood; if it be night, you must consider what your troops shall do when it is day; if day, how the night had best be spent.”[i]
Leave nothing to chance. Pay attention to details without losing sight of the big picture. Pay attention to your followers. Never put them on a “back burner.” Keep them top-of-mind.
As several guest leaders shared, followers remember when leaders fail to lead, when they fail to put followers first. General Marty Steele, Admiral Jack Buffington, and Admiral Mike Johnson reminded my students of the need for leaders to “take care of their people.” Cyrus the Great became great because of his attention to detail, his attention to his people, and his constancy of purpose. He never lost sight of his goals, and he realized he could only achieve them by taking care of his people.
Focus on the long-term—Cyrus the Great is willing to forego short-term gains for long-term rewards. In Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great, after Cyrus sees how successful the Medes and Hyrcanians have been in battle, he realizes the price he and his men paid for not being stronger, not being greater in number, and not having a large force of cavalry. Watching them ride away, “After my sudden pang of envy, I quickly reminded myself that collecting booty was not an end in itself, but only a means for building my empire. Riches would be of little use to us now—except as a means of winning new friends. For a long time we Persians would be continually on the move, and the more possessions we collected, the slower our movements would be. My desire was to be the most benignly powerful man alive—not the richest.”[ii]
Cyrus thinks strategically. An example is provided by his recommendation to free captured adversaries. In addressing the Median and Hyrcanian cavalry following a successful battle, Cyrus says, “‘You have put the defenders to the sword, I know, and rightly—for that is the only safe road to victory; but you have brought in as prisoners those who laid down their arms. Now if we let these men go, I maintain we should do the very best thing for ourselves. We gain two points; first, we need neither be on our guard against them nor mount guard over them nor find them victuals (and we do not propose to starve them, I presume), and in the next place, their release means more prisoners tomorrow. For if we dominate the country all the inhabitants are ours, and if they see that these men are still alive and at large they will be more disposed to stay where they are and prefer obedience to battle. That is my own view, but if anyone sees a better course, let him point it out.’”[iii] (Cyrus’s actions regarding prisoners reminds me of Lincoln freeing Confederate soldiers captured following the end of the Civil War. Might Lincoln have read Xenophon’s writings? In Cyropaedicia, Cyrus says, “… it is no time to be changing horses when the race is being run …”[iv] This reminds me of Lincoln’s appeal to voters during his reelection campaign to not change horses in midstream[v]. Did Lincoln read Xenophon’s writings? I believe he did.)
Leaders must guard against jeopardizing the long-term success of the organization by maximizing short-term profits. They must also guard against greed. As Cyrus puts it, “Success always calls for greater generosity—though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed.”[vi] His generosity is directed toward others, allies and followers. Personal gain is less important than establishing a solid foundation for greater success in the future.
Cyrus has lofty goals and reminds himself of them during his campaigns and the expansion of his empire. He not only exercises immense self-control, but also teaches his followers to do so, as evidenced by one of his captains, Hystaspas the Persian, who encourages the men to forego immediate pleasures and focus on the long-term rewards accompanying victory.[vii]
Reward fairly, not equally—In The Education of Cyrus, after assembling his army and traveling to Media, before beginning his attack on the enemy, Cyrus assembles his leadership team and poses a question of how people should be rewarded with the spoils of victory. Using a participatory leadership style, he lets his leadership team decide how rewards should be distributed. Instead of giving his opinion, he poses the question and awaits their responses. Chrysantas doesn’t understand why Cyrus raises the question and opens the subject for discussion; he wonders why Cyrus doesn’t just announce how he is going to distribute the spoils of victory. After giving everyone a chance to speak, Xenophon writes, “It was decided that each be honored in accord with his worth and that Cyrus be the judge. So these matters went forward like this.”[viii]
Obviously, not every decision can or should be made by voting. Likewise, a participatory leadership style won’t be effective in all situations. At the time of the exchange described, Cyrus is probably only in his early 20s. However, he is wise enough to know which style is appropriate and when a vote should be taken.
Trust to be trusted—To gain the trust of his followers and those he subdued, Cyrus trusts them. He demonstrates this repeatedly in the formative stages of and throughout his campaign. He lets others decide how to divide the spoils of war, he leaves former enemies in charge of his possessions, and he frees those captured in battle if they pledge to follow him.
Consider the following exchange between Cyrus and a number of Hyrcanians, former subjects of the Assyrians, who are claiming to be followers of Cyrus: “‘Sons of Hyrcania,’ I addressed them, ‘we’ve shown our trust in you already, and you must trust us in return. Now tell me, how far is it from here to the main body of the Assyrian army?”[ix]
Next: Leadership ABCs—X (Part 7)
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[i] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2085/2085-h/2085-h.htm. Gutenberg’s Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus, Book I, Chapter 6.
[ii] Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War, edited by Larry Hedrick, Truman Talley Books, New York, NY, 2006, p. 95.
[iii] Gutenberg’s Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus, Book IV, Chapter 4.
[iv] Ibid, Book VI, Chapter 3.
[v] https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/115400.html.
[vi] Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great, p. 90.
[vii] Gutenberg’s Cyropaedia: The Education of Cyrus, Book IV, Chapter 2.
[viii] Xenophon: The Education of Cyrus, translated and annotated by Wayne Ambler, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2001, p. 76.
[ix] Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great, p. 83.
