Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun

The morale of the Huns rises and falls depending on the current purpose of the people and whether they are at war or plundering the loot of an enemy. Attila’s persona insists that the people’s morale needs to be sustained and boosted by a consistent identity, especially since in the past their spirit was dampened and crushed when they were made subject to a people that they thought they could conquer. He states, “Morale is the spirit by which Huns submit their services to the tribe” (36), and “unduly harsh or unnecessarily lax discipline will undo the morale of their Huns” (37). The peace of the tribes will depend on discipline and a common purpose much more than on a fleeting sense of victory that may or may not come.

Uniting the tribes is of utmost importance, as prior to Attila’s influence they failed to join as one for any purpose and were bound merely by custom. Attila realizes that the tribes have a vast unrealized potential that only he can bring out, but first “the army had to be assembled and the independent tribes consolidated” (40). Attila’s persona speaks about the desire to support and strengthen the goals of the people specifically as united, not as individual tribes that might have competing or unaligned intentions.