Journal Thirteen.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015: Class time 9:40–11:00 am: 1 hour 20 minutes Reflection time 4:21–6:00 pm: 1 hour 30 minutes (Location: Dorm office hours, College Hall South)
We began class reconsidering what may motivate a person to lead. People may want to lead for self-improving reasons, self-focused reasons, wanting to serve, having influence, and even unethical reasons like money.
Cyrus, for example, wanted to lead because of his philotimia and his philanthropia.
Next Dr. Sandridge posed the question: Why do followers, follow leaders? and what an interesting question to think about. You could think about shallow motives, jumping in the bandwagon, because every else is, maybe looking for some big break. Some may be sincerer reasons like buying into the vision, having faith in the leader, or even fear of compensation.
Reasons why Cyrus’ followers were motivated to follow him included:
· friendship,
· admiration (thauma),
· relief,
· hope, derived from his bravery & good fortune
· him being a matchmaker, doing favors for people — being able to network and pair people accordingly
· his ability to build gratitude,
· and their love of gain.
These are all ways we as student leaders might think about our careers and professional lives — particularly having that emotional intelligence to know what’s going on in the heads of some of my followers and knowing how I am perceived and viewed by them.
When I do consider this personally, I think there is definitely a surface view. How people may view me or think they see me but it may not necessarily be all the way true because they do not know me completely, however image is image regardless.
Cyrus does a good job at being very versatile in all of his roles. He is definitely manipulative and knows how to play the game to his advantage. He plays with people’s feelings and making others feel grateful for his doings. Sometimes his manipulation is good, other times it is bad. We find a prime example of this, in book five, when he punishes Araspus by summoning her to guard the captive lady until her husband could take her back himself.
In our class thus far, we have been awaken to a whole host of problems relevant to leadership. So in the future, we should realize the importance of being able to identify them, articulate them clearly, and act accordingly as leaders.
We discussed the issues that came from conflicting agendas such as between Chrysantas and Hystaspas, both who were great friends of Cyrus since childhood. Cyrus strategically establishes a set group, of awesome people, all which have assets that make up in areas he may lack respectively. He does a good job of maintaining morale amongst his troops while there are multiple motives involved, with deferred rewards. This is process organization.
“But there was one method, he felt, worth all the rest, an honourable method and one that would secure his safety absolutely; to win their friendship if he could, and make them more devoted to himself than to each other. I will now endeavour to set forth the methods, so far as I conceive them, by which he gained their love.”
This is a particular passage we reviewed that depicts Cyrus’ philanthropia, which if done carefully and thoroughly can solve many of these problems pertaining to leadership. He utilizes a method which ‘secures his safety,’ and makes his followers ‘more devoted to himself than to each other.’ He has that much influence over people.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015: Reading of Plutarch’s Life of Alexander the Great, parts one and two 5:01–6:37 pm: 1 hour 40 minutes (Location: College Hall South 5th floor study lounge)
Reflection time 9:00–10:00 pm: 1 hour (Location: Health Science Library)
After reading about Alexander the Great I have gathered that he rose to power after Cyrus’ passing and more so because of his father, Philip, and not himself. He did not have to work as hard to get to where he was, however he was very smart in action and particularly when it came to leading his men in battle. Alexander the Great always led by example, while Cyrus did just the same. Alexander trusted his friends to delegate and lead unlike Cyrus who used his friends in a strategic and productive manner while still maintaining his position as leader. He was very generous and always gave back. He exhibited a competitive nature and was very religious at the same time. Apparently he had ties to Achilles and held Zeus to a high regard. He did however indulge in drinking which was actually relative to his cause of death.
Cyrus found his way to a position of power from identifying something he didn’t like from government, and finding a way to create change. Cyrus set a goal and achieved it which speaks for itself. His followers admired him so much. The things he implemented carried on beyond his life even if people created chaos after his death. His Charter of Human Rights still existed and his military strategy still stood strong. He adopted some Persians ways, and by doing so lost the respesct of his men. The peoples he conquered were never content to have him as thier King, often revolting after he had passed on to his next conquest. He, himself, never instituted any laws for the betterment of his empire. Alexander was a soldier…he lived, and died, as one.
Similarites include that Alexander the Great was aware of his good looks and used this knowledge to impact others he interacted with, to his advantage.They are both able to appeal to different types of people. Alexander kept a tight network of people close to him similar to Cyrus. They both adopted Persian education principles. I would easily compare Alexander the Great to Alcibiades because of his drunken episodes and his sarcastic nature.
Thursday, November 19, 2015: Class time 9:40–11:00 am: 1 hour 20 minutes Reflection 11:30–1:30 pm: 2 hours (Dorm office hours)
Today’s class focused upon various characters and their emotions as a response to Cyrus’ actions throughout his lifetime and in Cyropaedia. A great portion of our discussion came from whether or not globalization presents problems modern day and hypothetically how Cyrus might go able dealing with such issues.
Epimeleia — attentiveness
Cyrus 8.2 The range of Philanthropia (Cyrus’ cares for his brethren and soldiers) Cyrus 7.2.15 ff. Croesus & knowing thyself (Knowing your worth) Cyrus 8.8 Does the ending reflect well or poorly on Cyrus… (No because he brought the empire to its current state, yes because the empire did not last long after him)
Can globalization be seen as an exchange of culture? No…
While globalization may help to drive trade and industry expansion, it has an underlying effect on the most prized aspects of identity which make up culture itself. Cultural values are often so invaluable that no form of modification can be seen as well thought-out or “creative.” Conversely, globalization can be viewed as educational and enlightening, opening minds to new walks of life. Globalization cannot be seen as a complete exchange of culture because there always lies some disconnect in understanding. Once Cyrus conquered Babylon he received a new luxurious wardrobe which was a direct reflection of his relationship with the Medes. He received praise from the Jewish community since he made way for them to return to the Promised Land of Palestine. Cyrus held religious beliefs with high regard and never failed to acknowledge cultural traditions of others. For these reasons people could not help but respect Cyrus as a leader. He wanted to bring peace to all mankind. He would exhibit multi-cultural versatility.
How effectively can we have globalization?
In order to have highly effective globalization government must play a much modernized role, which essentially would involve thinking smart with the goal to remain parallel with a global economy. Cyrus introduces having a king in charge of all resources as he redistributes networking to make things easier.
“And I have somewhat else to say; I tell you, Croesus, there is something the gods have implanted in our souls, and there they have made us all beggars alike, something I can never overcome. I too, like all the rest, am insatiate of riches; only in one respect I fancy I am different. Most men when they have more wealth than they require bury some of it underground, and let some of it rot, and some they count and measure, and they guard it and they air it, and give themselves a world of trouble, and yet for all their wealth they cannot eat more than they have stomach for–they would burst asunder if they did–nor wear more clothes than they can carry–they would die of suffocation–and so their extra wealth means nothing but extra work.”
Cyrus says that one who acquires wealth more than they are able to receive and handle raises foul intentions and wasteful existence. It is important to observe that he had access to knowledge and utilized it in a productive fashion, as well as the fact that he took the time to cultivate sustained friendships.
Friday, November 20, 2015:
1. Select three stories from the Life of Alexander that seem especially implausible. How do you think these stories got started and were passed down to Plutarch four hundred years later?
2. Here is a job listing for the Dean of the college of arts and sciences at Clark University in Atlanta. Note that there is a long list of knowledge, skills, and abilities expected of the role. Do you think Alexander would make a good candidate? Why or why not? What other characters from the Life of Alexander might be more qualified? Would you yourself expect to be qualified for this role in 10–20 years?