Ancient Strategies: Lessons for the Modern Leader

This book analyses the works of six ancient strategists and draws out the key lessons articulated by each. These lessons are then contextualised and contemporised for the modern leader into an easy to digest and easy to apply set of guidelines. Common lessons from across the ancient works are also extracted to provide the ageless fundamentals of effective strategy. Part 1 looks at developing a strategic mindset and studies the works of Musashi and the Indian epic The Mahabharata. Part 2 discusses the works of Kautilya and the Tamil Purunanuru poems and offers some thoughts on adopting strategic approaches to complex problems. Finally, Part 3 analyses the works of Sun Zsu and Julius Caesar and presents some strategic toolsets to assist with developing and implementing specific strategies.

Nick Sawyer is an alumnus of the UK’s Royal College of Defence Studies and India’s National Defence College. He holds an MPhil in Strategy and National Security from the University of Madras, a Masters Degree in Defence Studies from Kings College London, a Masters Degree in Military Studies from Cranfield University and an Honours Degree in Materials Technology from the University of Birmingham. He has written papers on Kautilyan strategy, the behavioural economics of strategic decision making and the psychology of strategic leadership. He served as the UK’s Defence Attaché to India from 2022-2024. In a career spanning over three decades, Nick served in over 50 countries on active duty and diplomatic service and commanded troops on operations at every level from Second Lieutenant to Brigadier. He was Mentioned-in-Despatches in 1999 during the Kosovo entry operation, awarded the Medal of Merit by Lithuania in 2015, the Cross of Merit Third Class by Estonia in 2015 and won the prestigious Pyara Lal Gold Medal, National Defence College, India in 2021.