{"id":74209,"date":"2019-03-25T09:33:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T14:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/persian-heritage.com\/wordpress\/?p=74209"},"modified":"2020-04-15T14:16:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T19:16:36","slug":"timeless-leadership-lessons-from-cyrus-the-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2019\/03\/25\/timeless-leadership-lessons-from-cyrus-the-great\/","title":{"rendered":"Timeless Leadership Lessons from Cyrus the Great"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Holiday \u2014
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forget 1-800-CEO Read. The greatest book on business and leadership was written in the 4th century BC by a Greek about a Persian King. Yeah, that\u2019s right.
\nBehold: Cyrus the Great, the man that historians call \u201cthe most amiable of conquerors,\u201d and the first king to found \u201chis empire on generosity\u201d instead of violence and tyranny. Consider Cyrus the antithesis to Machiavelli\u2019s ideal Prince. The author, himself the opposite of Machiavelli, was Xenophon, a student of Socrates.\u200b
\nThe book is a veritable classic in the art of leadership, execution, and responsibility. Adapted from Larry Hendrick\u2019s excellent translation, here are nine lessons in leadership from Xenophon\u2019s Cyrus the Great:<\/p>\n

Be Self-Reliant
\n\u201cNever be slow in replenishing your supplies. You\u2019ll always be on better terms with your allies if you can secure your own provisions\u2026Give them all they need and your troops will follow you to the end of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be Generous
\n\u201cSuccess always calls for greater generosity\u2013though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed. Collecting boot [is] not an end itself, but only a means for building [an] empire. Riches would be of little use to us now\u2013except as a means of winning new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be Brief
\n\u201cBrevity is the soul of command. Too much talking suggests desperation on the part of the leader. Speak shortly, decisively and to the point\u2013and couch your desires in such natural logic that no one can raise objections. Then move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be in Control
\nAfter punishing some renegade commanders: \u201cHere again, I would demonstrate the truth that, in my army, discipline always brings rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be a Force for Good
\n\u201cWhenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth\u2013these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be Fun
\nOn being fun: \u201cWhen I became rich, I realized that no kindness between man and man comes more naturally than sharing food and drink, especially food and drink of the ambrosial excellence that I could now provide. Accordingly, I arranged that my table be spread every day for many invitees, all of whom would dine on the same excellent food as myself. After my guests and I were finished, I would send out any extra food to my absent friends, in token of my esteem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be Loyal
\nWhen asked how he planned to dress for a celebration: \u201cIf I can only do well by my friends, I\u2019ll look glorious enough in whatever clothes I wear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be an Example
\nOn setting an example: \u201cIn my experience, men who respond to good fortune with modesty and kindness are harder to find than those who face adversity with courage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be Courteous and Kind
\n\u201cThere is a deep\u2013and usually frustrated\u2013desire in the heart of everyone to act with benevolence rather than selfishness, and one fine instance of generosity can inspire dozens more. Thus, I established a stately court where all my friends showed respect to each other and cultivated courtesy until it bloomed into perfect harmony.\u201d
\nThere\u2019s a reason Cyrus found students and admirers in his own time as well as the ages that followed. From Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to Julius Caesar and Alexander (and yes, even Machiavelli) great men have read his inspiring example and put it to use in the pursuit of their own endeavors.
\nThat isn\u2019t bad company.<\/p>\n

Ryan Holiday is the author of Trust Me, I\u2019m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator (Penguin\/Portfolio).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Holiday \u2014 Forget 1-800-CEO Read. The greatest book on business and leadership was written in the 4th century BC by a Greek about a Persian King. Yeah, that\u2019s right. Behold: Cyrus the Great, the man that historians call \u201cthe most amiable of conquerors,\u201d and the first king to found \u201chis empire on generosity\u201d instead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phart"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}