ABSTRACT
Both myths and legends, and religious texts describing great leaders and writings about concepts and principles of leadership date back to the emergence of early civilizations. The “Qābus-nāma,” a famous Persian advice book, was authored by Kaykāvus b. Eskandar, the prince of the Ziyarid dynasty in Gurgan and Ṭabaristan. Kaykāvus finished the book in 1083, at the age of 63 years, and addressed it to Gilānšāh, his favorite son and intended successor. Although contemporary research largely overlooks the managerial experience gained by past generations, pre-capitalist ages with sets of values very different from today could provide us with inestimable implementation alternatives. This chapter initially attempts to reveal the leadership-related virtues introduced by the Qābus-nāma through qualitative content analysis. The framework is then compared with the leadership virtues in the literature to see how required qualifications for leadership have evolved throughout history. The leadership virtues emphasized by Kaykāvus display a strong similarity with ancient and contemporary virtue approaches, yet the source of virtuousness is nothing but the religion.
