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Leadership has no boundaries. A reputable corporation may have good leaders, a street gang may have good leaders, and a barbarian horde may also have good leaders. No matter the organization, there is a need to develop good leaders that will further the cause.

Attila the Scourge of God (Flagellum Dei) (404-453 AD), also called Attila, Atli, Etzel by the Germans, and Ethele by the Hungarians lived from and was King of the Huns from 434-453 AD. Attila was a member of the ruling family of the Huns, a nomadic Asian people who spread from the Caspnian steppes throughout the Roman Empire in search of global conquest. By 432 AD, the Huns had gained so much power that they were receiving a large annual tribute from Rome.

Attila, the son of King Mundzuk, was born in a chariot somewhere in the valley of the Danube and he could trace his ancestry for thirty-two generations. His was the family that maintained the integrity of the horde’s bloodline and distinctly Mongol characteristics. Learning first to ride on the back of sheep, Attila later developed extraordinary horsemanship and became skilled in the use of the bow, lance, lariat, sword, and whip as was expected of his noble position. He was proud of his personal strength and had a great disdain for the weak.

Attila’s father died while he was still young. He became critical of Rugila’s, an uncle who was successor to the throne, policy of entering the horde into the service of foreign nations, whom Attila thought the Huns could easily defeat. It was customary in ancient Rome to hold hostages to ensure treaties were upheld. So at age twelve, Attila was sent as a child hostage to the Roman court of Honorius. He was educated and trained by the Romans and eh also learned their strengths and weaknesses. Once released, Attila vowed to conquer the nation that had held him.

The Hun nation was comprised of various un-united tribes that were led by chieftains who were soldiers of fortune with no alliance to a Hun king. Attila knew he would need to pull them together if he was to defeat the Romans, so he began renewing and de­veloping relationships with tribal chieftains. During hunt­ing expeditions throughout the Hunnish territories, he gained the loyalty of these chieftains through emo­tional appeal, arousing their warrior instincts, and whetting their appetites for easily gained glory and pillage.

After the death of his brother Bleda during a hunt, Attila became king over the tribe in the valley of the Danube and used his leadership skills to unite the other tribes and form his great army. He solicited advice from the warriors as well as the chieftains and persuaded the chieftains that there was more to be gained by working together than by fighting one another or acting as soldiers of fortune for the Romans.

Attila reigned over what was then Europe's largest empire, from 434 AD until his death. His empire stretched from Germany and the Netherlands to the Ural river and from the Danube River to Poland and Estonia. He and his horde were feared throughout Europe as sackers of cities. Attila invaded the Balkans twice and besieged Constantinople in the second invasion. He marched through Gaul (modern day France) as far as Orleans before being defeated at the Battle of Chalons. By AD 451, Attila's horde consisted of 700,000 warriors, and intent on ransacking Rome itself. In 452 AD, he drove the western emperor Valentinian III from his capital at Ravenna.

The Huns had a reputation for cruelty and barbarism. They ate their meat raw and had a strong appetite for murder and mayhem. No one was allowed to look Attila in the eyes, not even one of his 400 wives. Much of the fear the Hun’s instilled came not so much from their actual exploits, but from their reputation as barbarians.

In 453 AD, even though he already had many other wives, Attila took another bride, named Ildico. He spent the wedding day drinking and partying, and then took his new bride to bed that night in drunken lust. The next morning he was found drowned in own nosebleed.

Not only did Atilla not trust his own sons to take over his empire, he had not established a successor to his throne; he believed a successor could be chosen in time. However, while his sons quarreled amongst themselves as to who would lead the Huns, in 454 AD, the Ostrogoths and other Germanic tribes revolted against the Huns and the Huns were defeated.

Though Attila’s empire died with him, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty and barbarism. However, some histories lionize him as a great and noble king, and he plays major roles in three Norse sagas.

In the 1980’s, Wess Roberts published a book called Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. The book pretends to be a collection of campfire stories told by Attila while training his chieftains to be better leaders. While there is no historical evidence to substantiate this, it does make a good story. This book is legendary amongst students of leadership and management; rumor has it that Ross Perot bought all copies of the first printing in 1985. 

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