Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning
Parallels between Great Leaders of
the Ancient World and Today . . . and
the Lessons You Can Learn by John
Prevas
Great Lessons For Leaders
Based on an extraordinary collaboration between Steve Forbes, chairman,
CEO, and editor in chief of Forbes Media, and classics professor John
Prevas, Power Ambition Glory provides intriguing comparisons between
six great leaders of the ancient world and contemporary business leaders.
• Great leaders not only have vision but know how to build structures to
effect it. Cyrus the Great did so in creating an empire based on tolerance

and inclusion, an approach highly unusual for his or any age. Jack Welch
and John Chambers built their business empires using a similar approach,
and like Cyrus, they remain the exceptions rather than the rule.
• Great leaders know how to build consensus and motivate by doing what
is right rather than what is in their self-interest. Xenophon put personal
gain aside to lead his fellow Greeks out of a perilous situation in Persia–
something very similar to what Lou Gerstner and Anne Mulcahy did in
rescuing IBM and Xerox.
• Character matters in leadership. Alexander the Great had exceptional
leadership skills that enabled him to conquer the eastern half of the ancient
world, but he was ultimately destroyed by his inability to manage his
phenomenal success. The corporate world is full of similar examples, such
as the now incarcerated Dennis Kozlowski, who, flush with success at the
head of his empire, was driven down the highway of self-destruction by an
out-of-control ego.
• A great leader is one who challenges the conventional wisdom of the day
and is able to think out of the box to pull off amazing feats. Hannibal did
something no one in the ancient world thought possible; he crossed the
Alps in winter to challenge Rome for control of the ancient world. That
same innovative way of thinking enabled Serge Brin and Larry Page of
Google to challenge and best two formidable competitors, Microsoft and
Yahoo!
• A leader must have ambition to succeed, and Julius Caesar had plenty of
it. He set Rome on the path to empire, but his success made him believe
he was a living god and blinded him to the dangers that eventually did him
in. The parallels with corporate leaders and Wall Street master-of-the-
universe types are numerous, but none more salient than Hank
Greenberg, who built the AIG insurance empire only to be struck down at
the height of his success by the corporate daggers of his directors.
• And finally, leadership is about keeping a sane and modest perspective in
the face of success and remaining focused on the fundamentals–the nuts
and bolts of making an organization work day in and day out. Augustus
saved Rome from dissolution after the assassination of Julius Caesar and
ruled it for more than forty years, bringing the empire to the height of its
power. What made him successful were personal humility, attention to the
mundane details of building and maintaining an infrastructure, and the
understanding of limits. Augustus set Rome on a course of prosperity and
stability that lasted for centuries, just as Alfred Sloan, using many of the
same approaches, built GM into the leviathan that until recently dominated
the automotive business.
Personal Review: Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels
between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today . . . and
the Lessons You Can Learn by John Prevas

This book is about the leadership lessons that can be learned from
studying some of the greatest western leaders of the ancient world. Those
six great leaders were Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Hannibal,
Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar and of course, Xenophon. Wait a minute,
who was Xenophon and if he was so great why don't I recognize his
name? Feeling a bit ignorant I asked my adult sons at dinner if they knew
whom I was speaking about since they'd both had excellent Classical
Educations while attending six years at Boston Latin School. My question
produced nothing but blank looks. That made me feel a little better, but
didn't answer my question.
Xenophon (435-354 BC), was "a young scholar from Athens, and is
an example of a reluctant leader who came forward in time to crisis to fill a
void. He found himself in command of an army of Greek mercenaries--
mostly Spartans--trapped in the middle of the Persian Empire in the region
known today as Iraq. Xenophon's mission was to organize these soldiers,
motivate them, and get them home alive." Upon hearing this information,
one of my sons quickly volunteered, "Oh, I get it, X is famous for actually
having an Exit Strategy to get his army out of Iraq!" Touché, son!
The best part of this book is the brief over-views of the cultures and
eras of these leaders and learning about their exploits. That part of the
book was absolutely a page-turner and fortunately most of the book is
comprised of these historic profiles and the lessons that could be garnered
from their styles of leadership. I very much enjoyed learning about
Xenophon, who is given credit in this book for showing Alexander the
Great that there was a crack in the military might of the Persian Empire
and Alexander made full use of that information as soon as he could. The
weakest portion of the book is taking those examples of leadership
techniques and comparing them to the founders and CEO's of major
companies. That was just a bit much of an awkward reach for this
reviewer. Fortunately, I suspect both the co-authors also realized that this
comparison was somewhat weak and didn't dwell on it too much. As
fabulously successful as some of the contemporary CEO's may have been,
Sam Walton and Wal-Mart or Ray Kroc and McDonalds really don't stand
up side-by-side with these former kings, emperors and generals. If those
ancient leaders made a mistake thousands, maybe millions of their
followers and perhaps they themselves were killed and the history of the
world was changed forever. Another example of what happens to the
major political players in the ancient world involved the death of
Alexander's father King Philip. When the latter was struck down by an
assassin,
Alexander and his mother immediately removed any political enemies
including King Philip's new wife and infant son. He didn't say "My way or hit
the highway" as was often-used in the book to describe a modern
corporation management style, "Alexander ordered the executions of
anyone he considered a rival.He spared his older half brother, but many
members of the Macedonian aristocracy were put to death, including
Philip's new wife and infant son, who were roasted alive over hot coals."

It was bites of reality like the above that made me feel the
comparisons of those ancient conquerors and modern business builders
and managers didn't belong on the same playing field.
If Dennis Kozlowki, started believing his own public relations press
releases and dipping into company funds to enjoy a lavish, imperial
lifestyle, he simply ended up disgraced, broke and in jail--not poisoned by
his own generals, as was Alexander the Great. When Hank Greenberg
was voted out of AIG by his board of directors for some of the same
management mistakes made by Julius Caesar, the penalty wasn't exactly
equal. In fact, the AIG Board of Directors didn't realize that they were doing
Hank a great favor in light of what happened to AIG not long after their
actions. Hank might have been able to avoid the company's fall.
John Prevas makes the history in the book come alive and I even
ordered another of his best known books "Hannibal Crosses the Alps." He
is a true classical scholar who combined his scholarly study with his
mountain climbing hobby and actually traveled the various routes believed
to have been used by Hannibal when he totally surprised the Romans by
bringing his entire army including the War Elephants over the Alps in mid-
winter. By actually hiking the various very dangerous routes, Dr. Prevas
pinpoints the only route that might have been passable for Hannibal's
army. His on-the-ground research and writing remind me very much of
another couple of historians who also liked to test their theories before
publishing them. Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison of "Christopher Columbus,
Mariner" adventures and Thor Heyerdahl of "Kon-Tiki" and "Ra and Ra II"
fame, were the other two writers that popped into my mind as I read this
excellent volume.
This is a well-done book that includes a short introduction by former
NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. There are obvious lessons to be learned from
studying history and from studying the leaders of past history. Many of the
greatest leaders of the 20th Century were students of history including
Harry S. Truman and Winston S. Churchill. They too were looking for
helpful leadership advice and styles. I enjoyed it even though I felt the
basic premise was a bit of a stretch. The book is still a good read.
For More 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price:
Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient
World and Today . . . and the Lessons You Can Learn by John Prevas 5 Star Customer
Reviews and Lowest Price!