Socrates, a Soldier and a Self-Aware Leader
Socrates practiced self-awareness and trained future leaders. As one of the wisest teachers of all time, he urged his students to listen to the oracle at Delphi. Know yourself.
He also said the only thing that made him smart was the fact that he was aware he didn’t have all the answers! Of course, he never wrote anything down, so the only way we know about him is his students Plato and Xenophon.
Plato I've Heard of, But Who is Xenophon?
Xenophon was an Athenian young man who studied under Socrates. Soon after his teacher’s death the leaders of Athens banished him. He also joined an ill-fated expedition in Asia under Cyrus the Younger that he wrote about in Anabasis. As a soldier he learned a lot about leadership by watching good and bad ones in action.
Later, back in Greece and settled on his estate, Xenophon wrote about leadership again in the Cyropedia (Education of Cyrus the Great), he turned to history with Hellenica, and captured the wisdom of Socrates in his Apology and Memoirs. He wrote his own essays on estate management, horsemanship, and leadership or cavalry command. Xenophon influenced many in the ancient and medieval world including Alexander the Great, Machiavelli and more into modern times.
Life is Fired at You Point Blank
“We cannot put off living until we are ready…it is always urgent, ‘here and now’ without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point blank.”
-Jose Ortega y Gassett
When Xenophon was left stranded near Babylon along with the 10,000 Greek mercenaries, surrounded by hostile enemies, he had to grow up fast. Life is fired at you point blank.
Often you aren’t ready for the challenges of leadership or leading people or projects. You learn on the job. Xenophon experienced it and understood it. A military leader has to make life or death decisions out in the field, in battle and even when training. Leaders in other fields may not always have such stark realities facing them, but their decisions definitely affect more people in wider and wider circles.
The Self-Aware Leader
Xenophon never used the actual word “self-awareness”, but he certainly pointed to its presence. Cyrus the Great undergoes development into a powerful leader who is possessed with self-awareness, self control and a good reading of what’s motivating other people around him. Cyrus the Younger in the Anabasis is a charming yet narcissistic leader lacking in self-awareness.
Xenophon rarely wrote autobiographically. He did, however, show a good awareness of who he was and a sharp insight into the leaders around him. Leaders today need to learn what he did: to grow in self-awareness. How else can you hope to see your visions and dreams become reality?
