Xenophon and The Ten Thousand have been held up as role models of crisis leadership across the millennia.

Stuck in the worst situation imaginable, they turned a complete disaster into outright triumph.

But funny enough, there nothing special about The Ten Thousand.

They had no advanced training that we don’t possess today. They had no technology that we don’t possess today.

This “marching republic” was made up of ordinary men.

Lucky for us, those ordinary men left behind their story. For us to learn from. For us to experiment with and improve. For us to go out and write our own story.

There are many lessons we can take from Xenophon’s Anabasis. Here are the 10 that we focused on:

1. Do Not Play Favorites
2. Have A Clear, Honest Vision
3. Stop Small Conflicts From Escalating
4. Stay Alert & Focus On The Big Picture
5. Extend Grace, Gratitude, Generosity
6. Contain The Fear Virus
7. Leadership Is Self-Responsibility
8. Assess, Adapt, Act… Again And Again
9. Change The System To Fit The Strategy
10. Leaders Inspire By Their Own Example

Together, they form important lessons in leadership.

From the records that have survived, scholars believe that Phillip of Macedonia, who was a contemporary of Xenophon, was inspired by the tale of The Ten Thousand. He was convinced that a small force of Greeks, acting in unison, could conquer the whole of Persia.

He of course would pass on this task to his son, Alexander.

We know that Alexander The Great studied Xenophon and Anabasis.

As we have no written records of his direct takeaways, we are left to reconstruct what he learned from The Ten Thousand. At a minimum, scholars see enormous influence in his military tactics. And more likely, Anabasis impacted his leadership and the management of his massive empire.

While Anabasis is a story of war and killing, Xenophon at his core was a philosopher. Like his teacher Socrates, Xenophon sought to pass on wisdom.

Socrates, Plato, Xenophon… they didn’t care about pointless concepts. They cared about living a good life. An honorable life. An ethical life.

If we stop and really listen, maybe… just maybe…

We can catch what they are trying to tell us.