Books on leadership which use examples of good practice from
history have themselves a very long history.
The earliest, the Cyropaedia, was written
in the 4th Century BC by Xenophon, a gentleman-soldier
from Athens. An accomplished leader in his own right – his autobiographical Anabasis is
one of the great adventure stories of all time – he was also the author of
books on a broad range of subjects: as well as this first guide to leadership,
he wrote the oldest surviving works on economics.
In the Cyropaedia
he illustrates his thoughts on leadership with examples and maxims drawn from a
highly fictionalised history of his own real-life hero, Cyrus the Great, King
of Persia and Conqueror of Babylon.
Cyrus’ management philosophy has been summed up in six words
in the Harvard Business Review:
“Diversity in counsel,
unity in command”.
If there is a Great Secret of Leadership, that may be it.
There may appear to be a superficial contradiction between
the diversity and the unity – but it is only superficial. The right sort of diversity
increases unity. If you listen to all opinions before making a decision, you
are more likely to make the right decision – and everyone involved will co-operate
whole-heartedly, knowing it is an informed decision and having had their own
opinions taken into account.
Yet it must be stressed that, in the end, it is the leader
alone who makes the decision – and takes responsibility for it.
Responsibility is the constant theme of the Cyropaedia. There appears to be no real
evidence that Cyrus himself ever uttered the neat six word formula. What he did
say – or at least what Xenophon says – is that a named person must be given
responsibility for every task. It is no good just shouting “Someone should do
this” or “Somebody do that”.
The leader is ultimately responsible for everything. He
ought to delegate responsibility but, when he does, he must specify the task he
is delegating, the person to whom he is delegating it, and the authority that
is also being delegated so that he can complete it successfully. A leader who
does not do that is no leader.