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I just finished *Virtues of War*. A brilliant book. Whether Pressfield captured the spirit of Alexander, I am not sure, but he did capture the spirit of a great leader–not just a military leader, but a man who understood how to drive people to excel beyond their wildest dreams.

There are so many great passages in this book–so many great lessons. One of my favorites is:

> We as officers debate our routes and strategies. What we forget is that the men do the same. They are not stupid. They see the country change; they know what they are marching into. In their tents and around their cook fires, they chew over every fresh piece of intelligence. We in the command post have our source; the corporals and private soldiers have theirs too. Daylong they interrogate the natives tracking the column, the rabble in the towns we pass through, the whores and sutlers of the general crowd, and, of course, one another. A racehorse cannot gallop the column’s length faster than the newest rumor or the freshest fear.

Alexander understood that the only way to combat these rumors was to build trust with your soldiers. You won’t stop the rumors, but if your people trust you, they are less likely to fear the changing landscape.

What’s really interesting about this passage is its applicability to the modern world. With Internet technologies, such as blogs, we can provide greater transparency to our employees, co-workers, and customers. With so many shady business practices, transparency is even more vital to building trusting relationships.

This entry was posted Wednesday, May 4th, 2005 at 7:21 pm and is filed under Books, Inspiration. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.