Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

Book Review - Essay Example Whats more important, Heckel says, is understanding how the strategies and approaches used in Alexanders time are still the same today, after you make allowances for changes in technology. "Field Marshall Mongomery thought that even in the twentieth century the fundamental principles of war had not changed since ancient times" (ix). Heckels book is designed to argue against the hero worship of Alexander the Great and to move away from the investigations of his personality in order to look more objectively at his actual accomplishments and defeats. Heckel is an appropriate person to have written such a book because he is a professor in the department of Greek and Roman studies at the University of Calgary. He has studied Alexander the Great for a long time and has written several books about him. He is also on the board of dedicated newsletters regarding this time period and he has helped with translations of ancient text about the time of Alexander the Great. This goal of providing a realistic overview of Alexanders accomplishments and their importance to todays leaders is carried through the major chapters of the book. The book is organized into nine major chapters, but they are not necessarily the chronological sequence one might expect for such a book. Heckel starts the book with a preface that explains his primary goal in writing the book and then provides an extensive timeline graph of Alexanders life and some maps that show the growth of his empire. This is finally followed by a generalized introduction to the historical figure he discusses as well as why Alexander is considered so great for todays leaders. In establishing the context leading up to Alexander, Heckel continues to relate events to similar events today. An example of this is when he says, "The extent of Persian intervention is doubtless exaggerated, but there was

Final BA420 paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final BA420 paper - Essay Example Due to this integral quality level 5 leadership is ranked at the highest level in the hierarchy of executive capabilities. The ranking of level 5 leadership above the all four levels of leadership indicates that a level 5 leader embody all the qualities of below 4 level. It means a level 5 leader would definitely be a highly capable individual focused towards contributing to the team resulting in him being a competent manager and an effective leader. However, besides all these qualities, he would possess the qualities of ferocious professional will, personal humility, and these two qualities are the core ingredient that makes an individual a level 5 leader. So much so that level 5 leadership is indicated through a formula as Humility + Will = Level 5 Leadership. These core ingredients of Level 5 Leadership are what make its different from all other leadership styles. All other leadership styles focus on the leader developing strong will to achieve the goals and on developing the abil ities to work along with the team while leading them but no other leadership style place its focus on humility of the leader like level 5 leadership do. ... n the next generation, comfortable with the idea that most people won’t even know the roots of that success traces back to their efforts.† This broad vision of a level 5 leader that is far beyond his personal gains and achievement is what makes this leadership style different and special. In addition, a leader of such vision is necessary and important for a company if it wishes to achieve a transaction from good to great because without such a leader a company will only be able to exhibit a consistent performance pattern instead of a growing one (Colllins,2001, pp.22). It can be summarized that a level 5 leader is an individual who is humble and modest in his dealing but with an unwavering resolve to make the company great with the confidence to share credit for success and accept blame for mistake. These individuals are disciplined and take responsibilities of their actions and concentrate on finding the right people to work with them so that they can setup a capable su ccessor for the organization. Section Two Jim Collins describes Colman Mockler, the CEO of Gillette from 1975-1991, as an example of level 5 leaders in his book â€Å"Good to Great†. Mockler served 17 years in financial administration of Gillette before being appointed as CEO and COO in 1976 by his predecessor Zielger. Although Mockler was very acumen in financial information and treasury of the company, he had not much experience to lead the company. That is why he had to â€Å"undergo a crash-training program on how to run the company and prove his leadership skills before Ziegler retired† (Mckibben, 2000, p 73-75). Mockler choose Stephens J Griffin, president of international division, as president to work along with him indicating his intend to continue with the geographical expansion started in