Read History - Learn Leadership

I came across a column by Josiah Bunting (President of the Guggenheim Foundation, author, Rhodes Scholar, former Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute) written for the Richmond Times Dispatch in 2002 titled "Leadership Qualities: Studies of War, History Should be Lifelong Pursuits" in which the author pulls from Thucydides' work on war and politics in the Attic colony some 2,500 years ago. Thucydides, Bunting writes, "saw life steadily and saw it whole". By this I believe he meant that we can gain great wisdom from the counsel of history if we are willing to avoid impugning the integrity of others with whom we might disagree. Today, we are faced with the rancor of politicians who are full of certitude, jockeying for the latest photo op and castigating the opposition for their lack of patriotism. Again reaching back to Athens Bunting suggests:

"One qualification seems to be common of all leaders of democracies that prepare for war and fight wars successfully: a willingness, born both of necessity and compulsion, to engage their citizens in conversation about their policies, and to do so (think of Pericles, of the Younger Pitt, of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and FDR) with a magnanimous spirit, a consciousness of the terrible costs that will have to be borne, and the uncounterfeitable eloquence that rises from honest, educated conviction"

We in the business of finance can take our cue from Bunting and seek out opportunities to study our history, extrapolate its truths and share them with others. We can also learn from the Athenians to live life in its sense of wholeness, of purpose and of clarity. Too often we seek only what is most self gratifying rather than what is best for all concerned. Lets hope that we all read more history.