No bullies in jazz, by Nancy Chek

The rule of Alexander the Great, at his death, extended over more than two million square miles. Not all of those lands had been conquered. Apparently, when some little countries saw him coming, they just gave up and asked him to dinner.

Setting aside his military prowess, one can see Alexander as a master of Mergers and Acquisitions. It’s the part that comes after each “takeover” that points to his genius at holding on to what he had won, whether in battle or by concession. He didn’t need to leave more than a small administrative contingent in one conquered land before moving on to the next. Once conquered, they stayed conquered, until his death at 32.

Dave Logan, one of the authors of Tribal Leadership, credits much of Alexander’s success to his tutelage in rhetoric under Aristotle. This is not the corrupted view of rhetoric as some flowery manipulation. Rhetoric for Aristotle encompassed ethos in language (wisdom, virtue and good will) as well as pathos. Alexander went into countries and adapted the character of his speaking to the character of the audience, so the people never felt subjugated. He allowed himself to admire and express generosity to those he thought brave and worthy.

Not unrelated is what Stefon Harris said about jazz on a recent NPR broadcast. He said a jazz group was a team (although he didn’t use the word “team”), and if one member bullied (he did use the word “bully”) the group into a certain rhythm or melody, it was never good jazz. So the deal was that you didn’t go into the group intending to ram through your own preconceived idea of how anything should be. What you did was listen. You listened to the group, and pulled from whatever was already going on.

Alexander’s rule (after the spear and sword part) sounds like jazz to me: Listening and inventing what’s there in the in-between, expanding a bit where there’s room for it. The Alexander method of Mergers and Acquisitions.