How They Became Legends (Part 2 of 8)

Continued from Part 1 …

“History, in short, gives you all the qualifying factors; whereas reason, in love with its own refinements, is liable to overlook that which should modify them.”^[1] – Alfred Thayer Mahan

Leadership, in its modern manifestation, has become a formal academic process which analyzes motivation, inspiration, and communication in relation to achieving an organizational goal. Within the public and private sector, leadership has become a lucrative industry generating $14 billion in 2013 from a multitude of courses, programs, and consultation services. On the surface, such an effort and investment to develop leaders is commendable; however, the challenges of evaluating the overall success of these endeavors prevents an accurate assessment of their effectiveness.^[2] As leadership is far from a novel concept, an understanding of how historic examples of past education, challenges, and successes provides an effective template in future applications of organizational influence, management, and…