Leadership Lessons of Leonidas and Others

Dave Neilsen

Sarah Lehman

Loren Cooper

Jon Bennett

http://llamabutchers.mu.nu/archives/king%20leonidas%20pretty%20pissed.jpg

Overview

• Historical Background / Technology

• Movie Summary

• Leonidas on Leadership

• Theron on Getting Ahead

• Xerxes on Persistence

• Summary

Historical Background

• The battle of Thermopylae is the middle battle

of three critical battles between the Greek

city-states and the Persian Empire.

• These battles were:

1. Marathon (490 BCE)

2. Thermopylae (480 BCE)

3. Plataea (479 BCE)

The Battle of Marathon

490 BCE

• King Darius I sends general Datus to subjugate

the Greeks, specifically Athenians.

(Not really unprovoked)

• The Athenians are commanded by Miltiades, a

former Greek Tyrant and Persian Military

Conscript… He knows their tactics

• Gen. M. sets his forces in the Vrana valley.

• Gen. M.’s use of terrain results in a victory

End-game at Marathon

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Battle_of_Marathon,_490_BC_-_Greek_double_envelopment.gif

Aftermath of Marathon

• King Darius vows to return and defeat and

subjugate the Greeks, but internal affairs

(wars) delay him, and he dies before he is able

to return.

• Ten years later, his son, Xerxes, honors the

vow and returns to the Greek peninsula.

The Battle at Thermopylae

(The Hot Gates) 480 BCE

• Xerxes crosses the Hellespont using a pontoon

bridge and heads towards Sparta.

• The 300 Spartans (and perhaps 5,000 others)

stand their ground at Thermopylae.

• Xerxes is victorious, and heads inland and

burns some cities.

• Xerxes leaves before the Greeks destroy his

escape route(pontoon bridge).

Movements at Thermopylae

http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Battle_of_Thermopylae_and_movements_to_Salamis,_480_BC.gif

• Bronze Shield (hoplon)

• Double-ended Spear (dory)

• Helmet, (Laminated )Cuirass, and Greeves

Technology: Spartan Heavy Infantry

http://www.talismancoins.com/catalog/Spartan_Hoplite.jpg

Technology: Persian Light Infantry

• Wicker

Shield

• Sword and

Spear

• Minimal

armor

http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/images/752_Frank_Miller_300_-_300SpartanWarriors_-_4.jpg

Movie Summary

• Spartans are threatened by Persian emissary,

Leonidas pushes them down a well

• Ehpors and Oracle tell Leonidas not to go to

war with Persians

• Leonidas takes 300 men to Thermopylae, they

are joined by a few thousand Arcadians

• The original Persian attack on the Spartans

fails

Movie Summary

• Xerxes confronts Leonidas personally and

Leonidas insults him

• Persians send several more attacks head on,

they all fail

• A Spartan traitor shows the Persians a goat

path they use to surround the Spartans

• The Spartans fight to the death and are

mowed down by arrows

Movie Summary

• Back in Sparta Queen Gorgo tries to gain

support for her husband

• After a betrayal by councilman Theron she

stabs him, his gold bribe from Persia falls out

and he is exposed as a traitor

• The ends scene depicts a Spartan camp before

the Battle of Platea telling the story of the 300

Leonidas – Honor and Freedom

• Sources of Power

• Tough Empathy

• Rousseau

• Sun Tzu

http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2007_300/2007_300_045.jpg

Sources of Power

• Legitimate Power– Earned as King of Sparta

• Coercive Power– “You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city

steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same!”

• Referent Power– “It’s an honor to die at your side.” –Stelios

• Expert Power– “Spartans! What is your profession?”

“HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!” -Spartans

Tough Empathy

• “Dilios, I trust that "scratch" hasn't made you

useless.”

• Leonidas meets with Ephialtes (the

Hunchback)

• “You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers

than you did.” – Leonidas to the Arcadians

Rousseau

• “How can I protect Sparta when I am bound by the very laws that I defend?” - Leonidas

“Don’t ask ‘what should a Spartan do, instead ask what would a free man do?” – Queen Gorgo

• “None are above the law.”

• “The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.”

• “Children, gather round! No retreat, no surrender; that is Spartan lore. And by Spartan lore we will stand and fight... and die. A new age has begun. An age of freedom, and all will know, that 300 Spartans gave their last breath to defend it!”

Sun Tzu

• “We will use our skill in battle, and the

terrain.”

• Orders the other Greeks to hide and then

attack the flanks of the immortals

– Extraordinary forces

– Deception

Theron – Getting Ahead(?)

• Sources of Power

• Adam Smith

• Machiavelli

• Political Power Struggle

http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/7/D/FCJG300-0081.jpg

Sources of Power

• Legitimate Power – Theron was a council

member, and appeals to the council’s regard

for the law (while he breaks it).

• (False) Referent Power – He misleads the

other council members through deception.

• Coercive Power – He uses fear and false hope

to manipulate the council.

Adam Smith

• We don’t know how he became Xerxes’ spy,

but he is clearly out for personal wealth. We

know this from when his Persian gold is

revealed (when the queen lets the air out of

him.)

• Pure, unvarnished selfishness.

Machiavelli

• “Once they were dead, he seized and held the principate of that city without any civil controversy.” – Machiavelli

• “One cannot call it a virtue to kill one’s citizens, betray one’s friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; these modes can enable to acquire empire, but not glory.” – Machiavelli

Political Power Struggle

• Background (the sex thing…)

• The Queen’s speech before the Council

• Referent Power – Queen Gorgo builds power

• The council responds – Representing the people

• Undermining Power – Theron Responds

Xerxes - Persistence

• Sources of Power

• Sun Tzu

• Machiavelli

• http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=6572875

http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/9/D/FCJG300-0091.jpg

Sources of Power

• Reward Power

– Ephialtes: Wealth, women and uniform in exchange for information regarding the location the goat path

• Legitimate Power

– Emperor or the Persian Empire

• Coercive Power

– Xerxes- “It isn’t wise to stand against me, Leonidas. Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.”

– King Leonidas- “And I would die for any one of mine.”

Sun Tzu

• Sun Tzu

• “One cannot use spies without sagacity and knowledge,

one cannot use spies without humanity and justice, one

cannot get the truth from spies without subtlety. This is a

very delicate matter indeed. Spies are useful everywhere.”

• Xerxes

• After being denied acceptance into the Spartan Army

Ephialtes becomes a spy for Xerxes

Machiavelli

• Xerxes army kills a whole village except for a

single child to instill fear in the Spartans right

before the battle of Thermopylae

• Machiavelli “From this a dispute arises whether it

is better to be loved than feared, or reverse. The

answer is that one would want to be both the

one and the other; but because it is difficult to

put them together, it is much safer to be feared

than loved, if one has to lack one of the two.”

Minor Characters

• Queen Gorgo

– Attempts to exercise referent power

• Ephors

– Traditional, have referent and expert power

– Adam Smith, selfishness vs. self interest

• Ephialtes

– Wants acceptance and commits a selfish act

• Maslow’s Hierarchy – security, love & belonging, esteem and self-actualization

Freedom Is Not Free

• The battle at Plataea (479 BCE)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFOl-

QXpLc4

• “This day we rescue a world from mysticism

and tyranny and usher in a future brighter

than anything we can imagine.” – Dilios

Questions