Business Leadership - Collectivism, Individualism, Philosopher Kings

What can Plato and Ayn Rand teach us about business leadership?

"That man, the unsubmissive and first, stands in the opening chapter of every legend mankind has recorded about its beginning. Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received —hatred. The great creators — the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors — stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won. Whatever the legend, somewhere in the shadows of its memory mankind knew that its glory began with one and that that one paid for his courage."

"Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution - or there will be nothing to distribute. We praise an act of charity. Yet we shrug at an act of achievement. Major horrors of history were committed in the name of altruistic motives. The leaders of collectivist movements ask nothing for themselves. But observe the results."

"To act together, to think together to feel together. To unite, to agree, to obey. To obey, to serve, to sacrifice. Remember the Roman Emperor who said he wished humanity had a single neck so he could cut it? Kill man's sense of values. Kill his capacity to recognize greatness or to achieve it. Great men can't be ruled. We don't want any great men. Don't deny the conception of greatness. Destroy it from within. The great is the rare the difficult, the exceptional. Set up standards of achievement open to all, to the least, to the most inept — and you stop the impetus to effort in all men, great or small. You stop all incentive to improvement, to excellence, to perfection.... Don't set out to raze all shrines — you'll frighten men. Enshrine mediocrity — and the shrines are razed."

Excerpts from For the New Intellectual, Ayn Rand, please read: https://campus.aynrand.org/works/1943/01/01/the-soul-of-an-individualist/page1

https://campus.aynrand.org/works/1943/01/01/the-soul-of-a-collectivist/page2

A Philosopher King, one that both thinks and leads and according to Plato, is a ruler who is a lover of truth and wisdom, just and virtuous, courageous and high-minded. As extreme as Ayn Rand's words may be, there are resounding truths but yet, no alternatives are provided in terms of leadership whether in businesses or the world. We all know that the 'invisible hand', game theory or market forces in economics are all but theories impractical in reality. A Philosopher King can adequately juggle healthy individualism and collectivism - collectivelyleading his people with inspiration, wisdom and courage towards individual glory for all.