Xenophon's Anabasis: Lessons in Leadership

The purpose of this thesis is, paradoxically, to provide a fresh perspective on leadership, particularly military leadership, by returning to a piece of classic literature. It is not about defining leadership, or presenting an argument in defense of one leadership theory or another. It is about analyzing, from the classical historians as well as the professional soldier s perspective, one of the greatest examples of leadership in written history Xenophons Anabasis. This thesis will extract, from Xenophons work, a wide range of the characteristics and principles of leadership, as well as discuss concrete examples of their use. Some of the principles and characteristics presented will no doubt be familiar, such as leading by example, building morale, and instilling discipline. Others, such as consensus decision making, piety, and brutality might be viewed as more controversial. All the principles however, from balancing contradictions to gathering information, share one significant and inescapable truth one man, using the principles laid out in the pages that follow, facing inhospitable terrain and weather, supply and food shortages, internal dissent, and external hostility, successfully led ten thousand disparate Greek mercenaries on one of the greatest adventures and survival expeditions in written history.