The visionary leadership of Alexander the Great

By Deart Bullari

It takes more than a man to obtain such power, a figure, maybe, an inspirational symbol, a god-king that embodies dreams and aspirations. In the words of Maximus (Russel Crowe) in the “Gladiator”: What we do in life echoes in eternity.

These words cannot be fitted better on than Alexander the Great. The life of this great adventurer itself can fill thousands of pages, and it would only be a glimpse of his greatness. His legendary life has been an inspiration for generations to come and has been studied by thousands of scholars for his visionary personality and vivid passion.

His life is a symbol of freedom, adventures, and the stuff that dreams are made of. In his legendary ten-year campaign, he traveled all the known world, achieving what no-one else could do but it all had to start from the beginning, why he became, what he became and how he became Alexander the Great.

Alexander was the son of King Philip of Macedonia and Olympia, the princess of Epirus. Since from a younger age, under the mentorship of Aristotle, he developed a love for culture, knowledge, myths, and of course, the Iliad. He was born with greatness, as many authors referred, and led to believe that he was descanted of Hercules from his father’s side and Achilles, from his mother’s side.

Achilles played a great role in our hero’s journey as he drew inspiration and courage from this mythical figure. He even was proclaimed as “New Achilles“ later on in his journey. Since from a young age, he embodied the heroic spirit of the Iliad and dreamed of Asia and its wonders.

There is no doubt that a complex figure like Alexander with all of his mighty gained over time a sense of responsibility and duty from the mentorship of Aristotle and course from the ongoing domination of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia for more than 200 years.

Historically speaking, the Persian empire had imposed all of its laws and tax regulations in many Greek provinces along with their military domination since the reign of Xerxes I, which you might know from the movie “300” as the tall, bald, pierced tattooed guy that killed King Leonidas (Gerard Buttler), but in reality, he was completely different, in the classic long-bearded unibrow fashion of the Persian kings.

The vision of a legendary campaign

Alexander was a complex figure with high leadership and strategic skills from a very young age, but he needed a major cause to fulfill his destiny and follow his dreams.

This key moment in the history of our protagonist took place in 338 BC when he became the general of the League of Corinth, also known as the Hellenic League, which was a unification of all the armies of the Greek city-states, creating a single political and military entity, with the higher goal in stopping the long-lasting regime of the Persians.

Given the period and the way that society functioned, Alexander represented a diverse way of thinking and dreaming.

Some might argue that the spoils of royalty gave him a commodity of choice but greatness can’t be bought or taught, and Alexander, like no other leader of the time or even today, dared to dream the whole world and had a vision like no other.

The first among many attributes that Alexander possessed was the vision of changing the world and the will to do so. He was a passionate dreamer making that a contagious and motivational feeling amongst his troops and generals.

Nobody would believe in that time that, what he wanted to achieve was possible, and many times during his journey, his generals counseled him to accept peace offers that king Darius constantly sent through messengers of noble blood.

Once, king Darius even offered his daughter to Alexander, half of the empire and enormous sums of gold. The offer was so compelling that one of his most esteemed generals, Parmenion, who was strongly advising him to accept this once in a lifetime offer by saying to him that nobody has achieved what he achieved so far.

Alexander famously said that he agreed with him, that what he achieved so far was unimaginable, and that was once in a lifetime offer. He said: I would accept all of this if I was Parmenion, but I am not. I am Alexander, and I don’t negotiate on what is already mine.

This mindset of Alexander and his confidence elevated his figure in the eyes of his generals and his army. It was out of this figure that he created that they followed him for ten years.

A ten-year journey to the edge of the known world, fighting barbarians and pursue eternal glory, and through all of this, Alexander was just 20 years old. It takes a visionary mindset to make the greatest army of the world to follow you for ten years to the end of the world. That is the stuff that emotional leaders are made of.

Emotional leadership

Being an emotional leader is the second aspect that made Alexander like no-one else. Alexander had a sophisticated oratory and a powerful persuasive ability.

Many ancient writers quote that Alexander could get anyone in the world to fight for him and believe in his dreams. He represented a source of power and inspiration for his army. He had a profound need to constantly prove that to himself and his army that he was the chosen one to rule the world. He deeply respected mysticism and religion as on many battles and ceremonies, he performed various rituals to honor his idols and gods.

Amongst the most known moments are those of the honoring of Achilles, when he first set foot on Asia Minor, on the supposed Troy, where he found the burial of Achilles and Patroclus. He performed ancient rituals in his honor as Alexander felt a deep connection with the hero of the Iliad and it was there when he was proclaimed the New Achilles.

The other key moment was when Alexander went to the ancient legendary temple of Amon-Ra, deep into the deserts of Egypt. It is said that his army that was tired of all the battles with a longing need to go home, was doubtful of these endeavors, and they lost their path in the desert.

It is said that Alexander was guided by a snake to the gates of the whole time that he so passionately wanted to go to.

Alexander’s Heritage

The reason why lies in his heritage, which he always had an inner conflict with. On one side, he was the descendent from the line of Macedonian kings, and on the other side, royal Epirian blood.

There was no doubt that the Greeks had different opinions on Olympias influences on Alexander, as they would consider those “barbarian” and unfit for a Greek leader. Olympia came from a royal family that had ongoing relationships with other Illyrian tribes, that shared cult beliefs.

She was fascinated with snakes, as were her people that were bound to three major cult elements that were: The snake cult, mother earth cult, and sun cult.

The Greeks saw these kinds of beliefs as old and barbaric, alongside the ways that Olympia was trying to teach Alexander, so it was no doubt that this troubled our hero from the inside. At that moment he remembered the teachings of Aristotle. He told him about the magnificent temple of Amon-Ra and the holly ceremonies that took place there.

There was a belief that the God of all Gods would answer the question to the chosen one who would rule under the sun. To be free of this burden Alexander went in front of the Egyptian priests that were consulting the oracles and asked the question that he was born to ask: Am I the one to rule the world?

The oracle of Amon-Ra told him that he and only he could rule the ground under the sun. It was a sign for Alexander. Destiny was waiting for him, as his troops regained faith and trust in their leader. He became the son of all Gods, having divine power on him in the eyes of his general. He turned out to be Alexander the Great.

The sociological aspect of this endeavor & behavioral leadership

From a sociological perspective, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration that influenced Alexander and led to his metamorphosis. He was raised heavily with the Greek culture, which he was very fond of, but his travels led to various experiences that changed him.

He respected all the nobles and treated all of those with royal blood like they were supposed to be treated but soon after that, he went deep into the Persian empire. He was leaving the old Greek ways behind by embracing more of an Asiatic mindset and culture.

This metamorphosis did not happen overnight but was the result of many moments that deeply impacted Alexander. The first time he saw the Pyramids of Egypt, or the first time he reached the gates of Babylon and admired Persepolis with all of its wonders, culture, architecture. Never before he and his army had seen such wonders.

They were fascinated with their mathematics, aesthetics, wonderful gardens, fantastic architectures, and exotic culture. These sights and wonders won his heart and, little by little, he started to embrace their culture and changing some aspects of his leadership.

Nowadays there are not too many leaders who change or are willing to change their perspective and opinion on a strictly firm. Alexander grew up knowing them as barbarians, and now he saw how these “barbarians” lived.

He thought they were savages, and saw how these “savages” treated themselves in gold and wonders. He was raised to hate them and now he embraced them.

That is a quality that not too many leaders have. Because leaders have a tendency to radicalize their thoughts and actions, not giving themselves time to think. They learn only to hate their enemies, not realizing that they can profit or even better, learn from their enemies.

Great leaders know where is the right time to shift perspectives. They know when is the right time to impose a new culture on their company, followers, country, or army. They know how to manage their emotions and create new mindsets.

Alexander was unique and visionary in accepting and see for what he can be, unlike his peers that at the time, whatever they conquered, they would destroy. Alexander preserved beautiful things, and he knew their importance.

He was the first conqueror that was loved by the conquered people. They saw his greatness. He was transcendent in his emotional leadership. His aura echoed through all of Asia. He was not afraid of change, and he embraced change. He learned and adapted to these new ways and he moved forward.

Alexander the Great

His life can fill a thousand pages about how he truly became a myth and legend for his peers at the time. Everybody looked up at him, for what he achieved.

His style was unequivocal, to no one. He was the first pioneer leader. He was the first leader to become much more than a human, a quasi-God-King. He completed a journey that no one had ever done before, achieved in just ten years what men seek to achieve in a hundred years. He was mature for his age, and that alongside his metamorphosis completed a loved and aspired leader that was loved for his personality and behavior.

His true essence of leadership was the belief in himself that nothing was impossible and that everything can be achieved. He is an inspirational example of what can be done in life if only we dare to dream about it and want it. He was unapologetic and wasn’t afraid to hide his feelings.

Alexander’s most dominant element was his full involvement with his army. He became one with his men. He expressed and shared all his feelings with his men and he respected them, he loved them, and they all loved him back and drew inspiration and guidance from him.

They moved like a single body towards eternal glory, battle after battle, day by day. It all comes to leadership and having the morality to accept the responsibility.

He learned that at an early age. It would be a life in vain if he would just conquer lands and gold. He learned, that there is more to life and wanted more from life. He wanted to impact this world, to leave a great mark, and to unify it.

That is why some are successful with what they do and some are extraordinary in what they do and some are very talented in what they but they all would not be remembered because those who will be remembered are great, like Alexander the Great.