A Rethink of Power and Influence: What we can Learn from Xenophon's Concept of Leadership.

Xenophon already described an "ideal" of leaders in ancient Greece. The image of leadership described not only goes hand in hand with certain specific characteristics and virtues (virtue ethics), but also with a profound description of the leader-follower relationship. One of Xenophon's best-known texts in particular - the Anabasis - contains key references to this, pointing to the first writings on collective decision-making in groups. This not only allows leadership to be differentiated from pure management but also reveals important details for the attribution of power and influence. This paper aims to address precisely these relations and clarify what collective decision making and leadership in Xenophon entails and how it can be interpreted. The focus here is on the fundamental aspects of a leader's power and influence that can be gained. It will be argued that this forms a far-reaching basis which is still helpful in modern theories for a better understanding of power and influence in leadership and which could be expanded accordingly against the current background of collective choice and decision-making (game theory). A look at Xenophon's writings therefore points to a rethinking of power and influence and can serve as a fundamental description here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]