The leadership style and Traits of Alcibiades Alcibiades is a rather interesting historical figure, he is known for his close relations with Socrates and for his talents as a military general as well. Athenian army owes a lot to that ambitious and intellectually developed general, and although some of his decisions led to grave defeats, overall Alcibiades can be considered a rather successful military leader. Within the course of this paper, we will discuss Alcibiades traits and leadership style and abilities based on Pressfields book Tides of War. Some historical background will also be incorporated into the contextual framework of this research, since it is impossible to describe such a diverse historical figure based on one authors account only. Alcibiades father was a commander of the army of Athens when he was brutally murdered, at the time when his son was only a small boy that certainly needed the support and care of his father. Thus, from the very time of his youth Alcibiades got to know how treacherous life could actually be, which certainly influenced the way he developed as a person. He did not trust that much to people, since he knew that many of them could betray in the moment when help was needed the most.
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Although his father died, Alcibiades still was well born and wealthy lad, which opened up wide horizons for him in Athens. The boy grew up to be very handsome and intelligent, however there were some negative traits of character as well: Alcibiades was extravagant, self centered and somewhat egoistic. Irresponsibility was also one of the traits of his character, and that was probably the worst feature, since general of the Athenian army was responsible for many people and important things at the time. Alcibiades leadership style was based on many components: he used personal example to persuade people as well as his persuasive speeches and good reputation he has earned as a general of the army. Moreover, his social status allowed him to talk to the representatives of most of the families in Athens, which meant that he was able to find supporters of his cause among those who had money and power. Although Alcibiades was rather self centered, he never showed his subordinates that they were inferior to him, which also meant a lot for the people that served under his command. Alcibiades was well known for his courage in the numerous battles he fought, he never used his people to cover and protect himself, moreover, he was the first to enter the enemies lines and start the fight.
He risked his life as most of the ordinary soldiers did, which made him a hero among the people he commanded. His fame as a warrior was equal to his fame as a speaker, he was always able to encourage his troops, and no mater how hard the situation was, Alcibiades always managed to use his charisma to persuade the army that they would be able to accomplish almost anything. It is a rather interesting fact that Socrates believed that Alcibiades could have accomplished much more in the intellectual fields like philosophy or science more than he has in the field of war as an army general. Socrates was surprised at the fact that Alcibiades, although understanding all the privileges of being a philosopher and respected by everyone representative of the scientific world, still preferred to pursue the career at the military. That decision exemplifies still another trait of Alcibiades, his stubbornness and unwillingness to subdue to someone elses opinion. Alcibiades never lost his spirit, even in the situations when everything simply seemed to go wrong. When he made a wrong decision, he accepted the fact that he failed, however that certainly did not mean that he would give up.
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On the contrary, he would do anything to make up for the previous mistakes, and his brilliant mind and the ability to use all the resources available to the best extent always helped him in the really harsh situations. Alcibiades never tried to say that someone else was responsible for his own faults, and although he was rather irresponsible, her never avoided the responsibility for something that was done wrong because of him and his decisions. That is why people under his command loved him so much, and that was also one of the most important features of his leadership style. Alcibiades never used his social status or position in the army to lead those under his command, he was able to persuade people by the power of his genius, by his personal example of courage and by his speeches. He was a model commander, a person with the ability to concentrate all his efforts on something he believed to be the most important for his country and for his people. Alcibiades never did something that he would be later ashamed of, the interests of his country were always more important to him than his own. Although some of the political decisions he has made were strategically wrong, he made them in order for his country to flourish and resolve all the current problems.
Overall, Alcibiades was a great and intelligent leader that was able to help and support his people in the hard moments, and his soldiers appreciated that and were ready to follow him everywhere for the just cause. Some historians believe that Alcibiades has done a lot of things that caused Athens to lose its power and good allies, however Alcibiades ideas of power and superiority lied well above the estimates of those historians. He wanted Athens to become strong and powerful, he wanted to lead his soldiers for the new victories that would make his homeland the best place to live in. Undoubtedly, Alcibiades is one of the most controversial figures of the ancient Athens. People like him are rare to find, his bad qualities were far outweighed by the good ones, and respect that his soldiers had for him is the best example of his popularity in the army and among the ordinary people. His speeches were able to encourage and lead many people, he was able to use his persuasiveness in the right time in the right place, and people followed him willingly and without any hesitation. Thus, Alcibiades leadership style would be called democratic in the contemporary environment, since he influenced people not using his social status or army position, but rather using his charisma and appeal.
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Not too many army generals were able to create an atmosphere when every single soldier was able to die for his general, and the mere fact that Alcibiades has done so tells a lot about him. Bibliography 1. Pressfield, S. Tides of War. New York: Harper Perennial, 2001..
