Forget about gleaning leadership lessons from the likes of Attila the Hun or Alexander the Great.

FORBES: How Silicon Valley Says 'Sorry'

Red Hat may have been targeted by the software industry's answer to Attila the Hun, but the Raleigh, N.

FORBES: Chief Executive Larry Ellison

But, hey, if they can extract leadership tips from a brute like Attila the Hun, why shouldn't the hero of the first English epic be fair game?

FORBES: Leadership Lessons from Beowulf

"I'm no Attila the Hun, " he says.

FORBES: Railroads