Employee Engagement: The Alexander WAY

Since my childhood I always wonder how a person can win all the battles (4 major battles) he fought in a small life time span (33 years)! Thus his name has been titled as - Great! Yes, we are talking about Alexander the Great (356BC - 323BC) was the son of King Philip II of Macedonia, educated by Aristotle. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father to the throne(assassinated) at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through western Asia and northeast Africa, and by the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to north western India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history's most successful military commanders.

Alexander earned the name/title "the Great" because of his supreme success as a soldierly chief. He never lost a battle, despite typically being outnumbered. This was due to use of ground,formation and cavalry tactics, bold strategy and the fierce loyalty of his troops. Yes, the engaged workforce what is dream for a team! 

So how he kept his troops so attached, loyal and engaged?

This is the summary of the different statements of historians which might help modern professionals to keep team with a high morale!

1.      Optimum size of troops: Easy to control.

2.      Competitive salary and timely pay: Basic motivation/hygiene factor.

3.      Leading from front: Walk the talk! Given causes to his troops for fighting.

4.      In person talk, thanking them, caring for injury due to battle: Making them Important.

5.      He ensured that his soldiers are well fed: Healthy and strong muscle. 

6.      Well distribution of valuable stolen goods, especially those seized in war (booty): The reward for winning the battles!

7.      Quick in decision making and implementing it: Never hesitated and communicated logics instantly. Went for action to implement.

8.      Well balance between reward and punishment: Never delayed to reward or execute for betray, including his trusty old general, Parmenio.

9.      Continuous artillery training and tactical communication of battle plan to team/troops. Innovations in plan.

10. He knows the strengths of his troops/team and always focused there. In Battle of the Granicus River (May 334 BC) he fought in Northwestern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), near the site of Troy. The various satraps of the Persian empire gathered their forces at the town of Zelea and offered battle on the banks of the Granicus River. Alexander ultimately fought many of his battles on a river bank. By doing so, he was able to minimize the advantage the Persians had in numbers. In addition, the deadly Persian chariots were useless on a cramped, muddy river bank.

Why the troops were trusted him so much with their life at battlefield? Interesting fact was, Alexander were standing in a place during each battle where he can be easily identified from front row. He was leading from front and his soldiers were inspired by his charismatic leadership although risk were associated. He was injured several times but indeed gain were more than risk. 

He also worked hard in other ways to maintain the loyalty and motivation of his men. He generally dressed like his soldiers and spent time with them, and was often found walking through the camp, stopping to talk and listen to groups of men. This outward appearance of love and concern, allied with his courage and determination, evoked great affection from his soldiers. He was an adept politician, skilled in the arts of plotting and manipulation, fluent in many the languages.

"So how great leaders create highly engaged team? "

What we learn from the story of Ancient Great –Alexander?

We often hear fantastic traits of great leaders saying in the below way to engage his team-

1.     We value your contributions.

2.     I have complete faith on you!

3.     Alright it was a mistake by us, what did we learned from it so that from next we can correct it?

4.     What you need from me to make it as success?

5.     Do you have the capacity to do it now?

6.     How could we do this better?

7.     You have done a great job!

8.     Raise your hand while made mistake, together we will solve.

9.     Thank you! And I believe you are on track!

10. You are awesome! Lets go beyond limits!

So, even after 2300 years of Alexander we still see a lot of similarities in case of team engagement. We have boss and leaders around us. They have unique set of traits, practices and approaches to engage employees in recent era. As it is a burning issue (only 13% of employees are actively engaged, Gallup survey) we may reconcile us how many of us having above traits?

Good news is, a major portion can be practiced!

Share your team engagement thoughts!

Reference

• Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction, edited by A.B. Bosworth, E.J. Baynham. New York: Oxford University Press (USA), 2002 (Paperback, ISBN 0-19-925275-0).
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great
• https://changingminds.org/disciplines/warfare/commanders/alexander_great.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Alexander_the_Great#:~:text=The%20wars%20of%20Alexander%20the,known%20to%20the%20ancient%20Greeks.
• The Art of WAR, Sun Tzu.