alexander

38 THE WISDOM OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
vealed this sheer cliff to Alexander.) That flank was never
defended because it was believed no one could scale it.
Wrong. The scaling of the rock by Alexander’s troops was
so unexpected that it succeeded. It is worth brief note that
Alexander’s human resources capabilities were renowned,
so he could call upon his army, with proper inducements,
and they would deliver.
Inferences and Allegations
Alexander did not accept the apparent reality presented to
him. Ever. An impregnable location obviously wasn’t, because
Alexander was Alexander the Great. He reframed any
and all ‘‘unsolvable’’ problems. Here, he recognized that the
perception of impregnability was the very weakness of the
entrenched army.
Leading Lessons
Saying it is so sometimes makes it so. In my experience,
leaders are often their own worst enemy. Because they cannot
conceive of some outcomes, they cannot possibly
achieve them. I often train executives about fire walking
(the practice of walking barefoot over a long bed of burning
coals, a practice recognized worldwide but uncommon in
America, and therefore incorrectly believed to be impossible
without harming the feet). Exposure to fire walking often
opens the realm of possibility. Alexander seemed never to
have such closed realms.
About 1990, Jack Welch wanted General Electric (GE)