What lesson could corporate chieftains learn from Xenophon, who seemed to lead as much by consensus as fiat?
Forbes: No matter your own predilection, you have to be very sensitive to the culture you’re going into. You can’t say, “It’s my way or the highway.” One parallel would be Lou Gerstner of IBM, who came in during the early ’90s when IBM was in the verge of bankruptcy and had an insular culture. Like Xenophon, he was very careful about the environment in which he was trying to lead, so he changed and adjusted and he turned IBM around. Another is Finbarr O’Neill. Hyundai USA was changing CEOs, and when he came in he met with the dealers and said, “Tell us what you need.” By asking them, he became their leader and helped achieve a turnaround. Considering what happened to many ancient leaders, Xenophon’s consensus-building style and relative lack of ego and ambition seemed to serve him well. Prevas: He’s the only one that didn’t die a violent death. The two things that mattered most to him were leading these men out of the Persian Empire and teaching his two sons to hunt and fight. He’s a
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