WHAT PLATO, SUN TZU, AND 5 OTHER GENIUSES CAN TEACH YOU

ABOUT LEADERSHIP

The challenges that come with leadership are among the hardest in the business

world; every decision you make has more consequences, and the moral decisions

that come along the way are enough to challenge even the most steadfast of

leaders.

SO HOW DID THE WORLD’S GREATEST LEADERS DO IT?

Find out now...

Answer: they turned to some of the greatest thinkers in history.

Napoleon and Bill Clinton studied The Prince. Books like The Art

of War have inspired everything from Communist strategy in the

Vietnam War to victory in the Super Bowl.

So if you want to separate the dreamers from the entrepreneurs

in this world then look at their bookshelves...

Know the enemy, your team and yourself, says Sun Tzu in The Art of War, and the battle will be won before it is even fought.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom? Consider these questions:

What information can you gather that’s out of reach of the

competition? What are their weaknesses, and how can you take

advantage?

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It’s better to be feared than loved (if you cannot be both), according to Machiavelli’s The Prince.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom? Consider these

questions:

What do you value more: being liked, or being a

successful powerful leader? By Machiavelli’s standards,

you cannot be both.

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A team is better off with a strong leader at its helm and a hierarchy to support it, Thomas Hobbes argues in Leviathan.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom?

Consider these questions:

How can you find a balance between

being a strong leader and a fair

Leviathan?

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In Republic, Plato advises that a leader must be strong, but they must represent reason and seek knowledge and truth.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom?

Consider these questions:

Your business and its employees are a

reflection of yourself. Plato valued

reason, knowledge, truth, and justice in a

leader. Does your leadership style

encompass all of these traits?

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Robert Putnam emphasises the importance of a sociable team for productivity in Bowling

Alone.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom? Consider these questions:

Do members of your team feel connected with each other? Do

they socialise, or are they glued to their computers? If it’s the

latter, then their productivity will suffer. How can you help them

reconnect on a personal, not just professional level?

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Happiness is the goal of human life, John Stuart Mill argues in Utilitarianism, so the best decision is the one that promotes the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom? Consider these

questions:

When faced with a tough decision as a leader: which

choice will mean the greater amount of happiness for

the greater number of people?

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Modern institutions use surveillance to shape our behavior, control our souls, and limit our individualism, warns Michel Foucault in Discipline

and Punish.

Want this great thinker’s wisdom? Consider

these questions:

Why do you follow your industry’s “modus

operandi”? Is the fear of being judged

stopping you from making your own rules and

testing your own theories?

Read more...

LOOKING FOR MORE LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM HISTORY’S BRIGHTEST MINDS?

From Plato to Piketty, Macat curates and explains the most important books ever written in a way that

helps you become a better leader.

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