The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership: Classical Wisdom for Modern Leaders

by Michael A. Soupios, Panos Mourdoukoutas

Skills and experience might land you a leadership position, but they don't make you a true leader.

Leadership comes from inside--and the greatest leaders first question themselves before they tackle the world around them. To aid in this critical interrogation, The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership explores ideas from Aristotle, Heraclitus, Sophocles, Hesiod, and other great thinkers, including:

* Know thyself * Do not waste energy on things you cannot change * Nurture community * Always embrace the truth * Let competition reveal talent * Live life by a higher code * Understand that character is destiny

Then it shows you how to take each idea--along with what you've learned about yourself--and apply it to the challenges of the modern workplace. As Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great, you too will learn what it takes to conquer all.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Self Help

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Michael A. Soupios, PhD is professor of political philosophy at Long Island University, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He holds eight graduate degrees including four earned doctorates.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for modern leaders. Take the classic philosophers combine it with today’s business and this is the book you will get.
Forget what you knew about business, this will remind you that character, wisdom, and a higher code are all requirements for a leader. It’s not necessarily about promotion, rather understanding that character is your destiny.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Were the great minds of Ancient Greece this repetitive?

[Jeri Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

In high school and college, I never really jumped into this ancients with old-school wisdom. And of course, I didn't do it in my professional life as a daily journalist for nearly 30 years. But when I made the jump to higher-ed communication and found myself writing much for speeches, essays, video scripts and books, I realized I wanted to jump in and see how I could use this old-school wisdom gleaned way before knowledge was simply a click away.

I discovered this book through the Farnam Street online newsletter, and what I found was written in an easy-to-understand way. The chapters are short, the writing succinct and the thinkers you find are folks like Antisthenes. He once said: "There are only two people who will tell you the truth about yourself – an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.”

After finishing "Ten Golden Rules," I realized no matter how much technology changes who we are,
our core values -- or what we hope our core values are -- should never change.

[Joseph Steers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and understand for an aspiring leader.

This book is good for.a young leader who.hopes for a long career in any field. The concepts are broken down simply and easy for the reader to understand.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book with some mix of Ancient Greek philosophy tied with mordant corporate world. The book is bit oversimplified and wish there’s more stories from ancient philosophers - it would’ve made the content rich and enjoyable.

[AbdulRahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to read.

[Brian W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leadership book founded upon the ancient Greek teachings focusing on the "philosophy of life." The lead premise is that the old classical tradition is a rich and valuable source of such insights.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you have what it takes to make you a true leader? It requires more than the right skills and experience - it needs the empathy, understanding and thought processes of a great, wise person.

This is a bit of a different book. It looks at many of the classical great leaders such as Aristotle and Hesiod and examines how to utilise their philosophical thoughts in more modern day business applications. It is certainly a different, fresher way of doing things and doesn’t just rely on tiny cutout quotations, often stretched out of context.

Poor leadership is caused by many factors: it is not just a lack of experience. It can be a lack of maturity, a lack of technical experience, a lack of humility and even personal insecurity. Maybe a greater, more-rounded, focussed and insightful character will be prepared to take knowledge from every possible source and shape this into a force for good. The insights in this book might help provide some polishing of one’s opinions and valuation of matters.

The author correctly identifies that leadership is not the same as management, with the former implying a range of insights and talents that are categorically distinct from the mundane execution of daily administrative affairs. Many opinions are brought to the fore, stress-tested and destroyed as necessary with analytical accuracy in just a few well-chosen words.

“Genuine leaders have no need or interest in browbeating staff members; they understand that administrative styles relying upon fear and coercion are ultimately counterproductive. Abusive leaders serve neither the interests of the organization nor the career objectives of the leader. Rather than conduct themselves in a dictatorial manner, real leaders offer object lessons in the fair and enlightened application of authority. Simply put, they lead by dignified example, turning subordinates into “believers” who will go that extra mile to advance institutional objectives,” notes the author. This should be printed out, laminated and stuck on every so-called leader’s door so they view it each time they enter their office.

This was an enjoyable book. It was much better than originally feared and the insightful analysis transformed this into a very powerful work. Confident leaders and managers have nothing to fear – this will further underline and validate their greatness – and the poor-but-open leader could get a lot of great knowledge which has the potential to help transform them. At the book’s price point you can’t go wrong, can you?

The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership: Classical Wisdom for Modern Leaders, written by M.A. Soupios and Panos Mourdoukoutas and published by AMACOM Books. ISBN 9780814434673, 144 pages. YYYY

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book and it is outstanding! This is one of the best leadership books I have read or listened to.

The authors use ancient Greek Philosophers and their philosophies or quotes as leadership rules or in their case golden rules and guiding principles and expound on the Philosophers' thinking and times and how it applies to today and the workplace.

They end each rule with a leadership grid or matrix about how each rule should be applied.

The Ten Golden Rules and to whom they are attributed are as follows:

1. Know thyself-Thales
2. Office shows the person-Pittacus
3. Nurture community in the workplace-Plato
4. Do not waste energy on things you cannot control-Aristophanes
5. Always embrace the truth-Antisthenes
6. Let competition reveal talent-Hesiod
7. Live life by a higher code-Aristotle
8. Always evaluate information with a critical eye-The Skeptics
9. Never underestimate the power of integrity-Socrates
10. Character is destiny-Heraclitus

I highly recommend this book.

[Heath Henwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership
By M.A. Soupios and Panos Mourdoukoutas

This book provides wisdom, not quick fixes for leaders and developing leaders.

The book is very detailed, exploring the positive and negative characters of leaders. There appears an aim of ensuring integrity in the life of the leader.

I found the book idealistic in places, with the concepts being researched based, and thus theoretical in places. The concepts are not always practically described how to implement.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I would recommend this book to all leaders and those inspiring to become future leaders. For some it will reassure you in how you may be currently leading. For those others it will help you make better choices your current leadership style.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethic is a simple matter, use it, worth it.