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 cou...