Virtual Macedonia Bookstore - The Wisdom of Alexander the Great: Enduring Leadership Lessons From the Man Who Created an Empire

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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 938.07092 EAN: 9780814408209 ISBN: 0814408206 Label: AMACOM Manufacturer: AMACOM Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 192 Publication Date: 2004-09 Publisher: AMACOM Studio: AMACOM
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: The Wisdom of Alexander The Great Comment: Alexander the Great ascended the throne at age 20, unified Greece in less than two years, and conquered Asia Minor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Middle East, the Persian Empire, and Afghanistan. In every battle he was at the forefront fighting with his men and always refused medical treatment until his men had been treated. He made a lot of really big mistakes but he also achieved a good deal. The Wisdom of Alexander the Great looks at snippets of Alexander the Great's reign; examines the leader's actions and reactions; and then analyzes comparable strategies in modern business. These excerpts are organized according to four main leadership strategies: reframing problems, building alliances, establishing identity, and directing symbols. The tone of this book is a little different that most business books on the market. The focus here is on building strong leadership that others will follow rather than a shared leadership scheme of many like books. Indeed, this publication states that it is imperative that a good leader know how to spin things when problems arise. Customer Rating: Summary: Leadership Wisdom Comment: This book teaches readers about four strategic topics to practice to enable them to be great business leaders. The author is of the view that by studying Alexander the Great, one can derive important lessons which they can use in today's fiercely competitive operating environment. It is easy to dismiss the author's premise in that the environment during Alexander's time is very different from the present one. However, if one employs the lessons with care, bearing in mind the historical context, I think the author did a commendable job of coming up with an interesting and insightful book. Those that are open minded will find the book a useful addition to the collection of other management books by the likes of John Adair and Peter Drucker. I have always been fascinated by Alexander since I first learnt about him at secondary school. This is a man that by age 33 had conquered most of the then known world. It is a wonder how he managed the logistics of moving a huge army, feed it, provide water and other combat supplies, cater for the injured and effectively maintain a string of cities that he had captured. It was, therefore, little wonder that I welcomed Lance Kurke's addition to the voluminous literature on Alexander the Great by enabling me to see how I can use some of the lessons learnt from his brilliant campaigns. I particularly enjoyed reading about Alexander the Great's approach towards challengers and people and how I can use this knowledge in refining my leadership and management expertise. This is an insightful book that is highly recommended. Customer Rating: Summary: The Commericalization of Alexander for American Business Comment: American business books are money-makers so this is an inevitable publication. The one thing I must ask is: if everyone created an empire we would run out of consumers. So, the reason there is only one or two Alexanders in a century, is that the economy couldn't handle too many moguls running around. Needless to say, there is NO one template for success except maybe for certain personality traits but even then Alexander was a prince, a warrior, and went into battle in such a way that today he would be tried for war crimes in The Hague by the International World Court. Leaders create results but often the methods themselves are good or bad. Besides, so much debate surrounds Alexander himself that to minimize who he was in a short-form of 10 chapters or so dilutes his historical impact. Customer Rating: Summary: Great Lessons from the Great One Comment: As soon as the book was delivered at my house, I swallowed it in a few hours and I must say that it was extremely tasty and satisfying. Kurke successfully manages to create the four strategic topics to practise for great leadership - Reframing Problems, Building Alliances, Establishing Identity and Directing Symbols. Towards the end of the book I realised that I was about to start complaining about the lack of information with regards to Alexander's general background, but I felt relieved with the final 6 pages. I am sure that I will read this book many other times, and I will recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in history or in individual success. On a critical point, I was disappointed by the Crossing the Gedrosian Dessert chapter. It is true that there is no clear evidence of what were Alexander's reasons for enduring this tough journey but Kurke takes it for granted that Alexander was misinformed by the local guides. Probably Kurke chose this version to create the need for his reasoning. Though many other history books and biographies of Alexander support the fact that Alexander did it on purpose to punish his men after their mutiny. Maybe this is an aspect of Alexander's character that should be studied in depth. Zen Customer Rating: Summary: Contrived. Comment: I could recommend this book only to a 9th or 10th grader who needed to complete a biographical sketch of Alexander. As for the book's premise, namely that one can study Alexander and derive lessons applicable to today's business world, this is as contrived an idea as I've seen in recent years. For example, we learn that Alexander routed his opponent, Darius, at Gaugamela. The defeat was complete. Therefore, claims the author, we can draw from this incident the conclusion that sometimes "deconstruction is the only way to begin a merger." Having lived through numerous mergers and acquisitions, I can only be grateful that personnel decisions were made based on economics and productivity, and not on some irrelevant analogy to war.
Editorial Reviews: Exceptional leaders are the ones who are able to analyze problems, optimize resources, inspire loyalty, and execute strategy. There is no more stunning example in history than Alexander the Great, whose leadership skills were so immense that they still resonate some 2,000 years later. The Wisdom of Alexander the Great reveals four leadership processes distilled from the life and extraordinary accomplishments of Alexander, King of Macedonia. Readers will learn how he:* reframed problems in order to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges* built alliances by using his strength to generate trust and respect, not just fear* established identity and "branded" himself a unifier, thus keeping the home base secure while continuing to expand his empire* recognized and assimilated the cultures and symbols of different peoples, becoming a powerful and trusted figure everywhere he wentThe Wisdom of Alexander the Great relates 34 riveting episodes from Alexander's expansion through India and the Persian Empire, includingincluding Asia Minor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Middle East, and more. Each example, tied to a modern-day counterpart, imparts valuable lessons from the timeless legend of one of the greatest leaders in history.