Kyi Min - Leadership

Transforming a situation means shifting the focus of what people think is important and what they care about. The way we view and approach the problem is important. When we turn it around and make it clear, the world around us changes.

I believe that the most important job for leaders is to create real action for their organizations. The basic level of that is problem solving.

It is a stage where you have to see and change. For example, the vision of the business (customer-centric/quality-centric/employee-centric) will change the situation of the business. If the three types of customers, vendors, and employees adopt this vision differently, the results will come when the leader announces that they will do this. Regarding a goal, it is said that the way of doing things and the perception of the group are different, but the goal is the same.

Emperor Alexander sometimes transformed a problem. He transformed the problem he was facing into a new problem. If you solve the new one, it is easier to solve the old one.

It's not like you're going to go anywhere, you don't even need to solve it. I call this the "turning the tide." This skill is arguably the most important of the leadership secrets I'll cover in this book. You'll see that Alexander didn't see obstacles, including natural ones, as something to be overcome. He transformed them into problems. There are many ways to do this, but sometimes it just takes a little bit of getting people to think and see things differently.

*****

Leadership lessons from Emperor Alexander

1. Defeating the navy on land

"An insoluble problem" for leaders

I always encounter something like that.

World-renowned military, political, and economic leaders

Don't solve such difficult problems head-on.

I did some research and found out that it is not.

Transforming the problem into a new problem

When faced with a solution, the original problem

It has already been resolved.

After defeating Granicus and Isis (two of the four great wars of his life), Alexander was eager to invade the interior of Persia (now Iran). To do so, he had to stockpile supplies and weapons.

The issue of food was the most difficult for Alexander. There was a lot of food for the army.

At that time, there were no highways, no food trains, no food planes. So the easiest and cheapest way to transport food was by sea. So Alexander conquered the rivers and the coasts.

We need to be able to keep it. The current ruler of Persia is Darius III. This dynasty has ruled Persia for thousands of years. They have a very strong navy, with over two hundred warships. In contrast, Alexander had only large supply ships and a few coastal ships. The problem is solved.

How would Alexander's large supply fleet be protected from the Persian navy, which was so powerful?

The idea was to build a powerful navy in parallel. This plan did not emerge until more than three hundred years later, during the reign of Julius Caesar. On land

The council of governors had asked for a budget to build a fortress to protect the city from the enemy who would surround it and attack it. Alexander was not allowed to do that. He did not have that much time, nor did he have all the money. He had to camp for a year and build boats. He had to cut down trees, cut planks, dig mines and smelt metals, sew sails, recruit and train naval officers and sailors. While he was doing this, the Persians would come and attack. The Persian navy was a people who were already experienced in naval warfare. So building a parallel navy was not the way to go. What would they do? (Pause and think if you want to think.)

The path Alexander chose was so brilliant that he continues to this day in naval training.

If you study military strategy in schools, it is not included. He defeated the navy from the land. Later, many generals followed this strategy. Some of them won the war. But Alexander was the first warlord to do so.

Alexander gathered information about the Persian navy, the enemy he was about to face. When he examined everything he found, he discovered a major weakness in the navy: its need for drinking water. Today, nuclear-powered submarines can stay submerged for more than six months. There are machines that can make fresh water from seawater. In the past, they had to boil it in pots.

There was not enough water. It was too light for firewood. So the boats carried only drinking water. So they could only go as far as they could carry back if they ran out of water. These large boats, which relied on large oars, could only carry enough drinking water to last two days in the hot Mediterranean. If only Alexandar's boats could cover the fresh water holes and lakes during such a two-day journey, they would be done.

Alexander did this seemingly difficult task with ease. He captured all the rivers, lakes, and wells he could. He poisoned the wells and wells he didn't want to capture or couldn't capture. So he marched along the coast and came to what is now Lebanon. There he found a small city called Tyre on an island. It wasn't Tyre inland. It was Tyre on the island of Hai. There was an underground aqueduct on the island, so it had good fresh water. Tyre sold that water to the Persian navy. Tyre was also not easy to capture. It was very well-defended. That's why they didn't attack Alexander.

Before he could move forward, Alexander had to capture Tyre, or else he would be assured that the island would no longer provide drinking water for the Persian fleet. So Alexander's first step was to approach the leaders of Tyre diplomatically. They reluctantly drove him away. So there was only one choice. He had to capture the island.

Alexander used his army to build a wall. It was about half a mile from the shore to the island. The distance from the shore to the island was almost a mile. Pickaxes, hoes

The sea was used to fortify the city. The Tyrians also made various attacks. Alexander defended this with infantry and boats. After seven months, the land road was completed.

The whole island fell within two weeks of his capture. He was brutally murdered for his mistreatment. The Persian fleet also ran out of fresh water and could not stay in the area. So Alexander was able to march freely into Egypt.

Something to consider

Alexander is someone who looks at the island and sees the land. Transforming the problem he faces

The island, which they said could not be invaded because of the invasion, was captured. The army took care of the issue related to the navy.