ABSTRACT

Xenophon went on to become a soldier, and a historian, though he is remembered more easily as a student of Socrates. Although Xenophon was not regarded as one of the classical Greek philosophers his writings have shaped much of the modern day science of leadership. In some of his more considered annotations, Xenophon pares down the art of leadership and reveals the importance of building culture: The true test of a leader is whether his followers will adhere to his cause from their own volition, enduring the most arduous hardships without being forced to do so, and remaining steadfast in the moments of greatest peril. The idea of sacrifice is certainly beyond the realms of this book and perhaps even a little avant garde for many of today's methods of modern management but in praying to the gods, perhaps what Xenophon is seeking here is the X Factor.