The Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle™

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At a recent entrepreneur’s conference, I was charged to make some initial remarks to an audience of various ages, industries and business life-cycles.

The Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle resonated with me, and from the comments, it seems to have also resonated with others. So, I want to take a moment to share it with you.

Let me begin at the beginning, which is to give credit where credit is due: the term “Ben-Hur” is not my own. The term is from a novel written by Lew Wallace.

Many movie buffs consider the 1959 movie version of Ben-Hur to be one of the greatest movies of all time, to which the director credit goes to William Wyler. But, even better, there is a chariot race!

Apart from the entire movie itself, the chariot race is considered by many to be one of the greatest movie scenes of all time. If you have not seen this movie, particularly for younger folks, it is pure movie magic—and without computers! Yes, real horses, real extras, real chariots, real wheel dust.

Back to the author, Lew Wallace. He was a most interesting fellow. I love this guy, because he served others, and, for better or worse as he may be judged, in fact, he just did stuff—a lot of stuff. A lot of exciting stuff! Soldier in the Mexican-American War. Lawyer. Illinois Senator. Union Army General in the American Civil War. Governor of the New Mexico Territory. Negotiator with Billy the Kid. Minister to Turkey. President of the Court at the famous “Andersonville Trial” regarding the mistreatment of imprisoned Civil War soldiers.

And, yes, among all those and other accomplishments, he wrote Ben-Hur—you know, with all that available extra time in his life.

Lew Wallace is absolutely on my Dead Guy Dinner List.

Now, I cannot testify to all the things such an interesting man might learn along the path of that life, but apparently dead though he may be, by the life of his writings, he taught me something. Something good. Something real good.

I must say it was subtle. And, I must admit to you now, that I am chagrined that I did not see it until I watched the 1959 version of the movie, oh, about 15 times over the course of my life, and at the age of 50, I had an “aha” moment—or point of clarity, as some people call it.

Here it goes…

It is about the year 30 A.D. (we know this because Jesus makes a couple of choice appearances). Rome was the power of the day. You have heard of the Roman Circus, right?

I am not talking about a circus with clowns, such as we know it today, nor am I talking about the Colosseum, ala where gladiators fought. What I am talking about is Rome’s version of NASCAR. A circular (“circ…”, “circus”) type of track for racing. The cars of the time? You’ve got it: chariots. I won’t spoil the movie for you, so I won’t go into details.

Ben-Hur is traveling from Rome to Judea. In his travels, he meets Sheikh Ilderim. The Sheikh has four stunning white Arabian horses that he is training to race as a team in the Roman Circus.

We meet the horses for the first time observing them on a test track where they cannot hold the turn. Every time Sheikh Ilderim’s horses gain speed, they fly off the track at the turns. Not good for a chariot race, or NASCAR.

The Sheikh befriends Ben-Hur and invites him to dinner. After dinner, the Sheikh introduces his horses to Ben-Hur with the loving endearment that one might show in introducing daughters. He invites each one into the tent by name, introducing each with a personality summary, and then with a good night kiss. He loves those horses, and they seem to like Ben-Hur—you know, with friendly snorts, nose rubs and such things. (The horses, not daughters.)

Well, lo and behold, during the conversation about the horses, the Sheikh learns that Ben-Hur has actually raced horses in the Roman Circus!

“What!” exclaims the Sheikh, “You’ve raced in Rome, in the Circus?” querying with excitement.

“Please ride my horses, Judah Ben-Hur, and tell me why they do not race—as one in a team.” “Well,” says Ben-Hur to the Sheikh, “I’m sort of busy traveling right now. Maybe a little bit later…” “Please?” “No.” “Please?” “Um, no.” “Please, please, please?” “Well, okay….“

And, so it is that, the very next day, Ben-Hur gets onto the chariot teamed by the four white Arabian horses. Off they go. Around the first turn…, done. Nice. And, now gaining top speed, to the second turn, and, and, and… they fly off track again, as usual. [And here it comes, The Ben-Hur Principle of Team-Building.]

Ben-Hur gets off of the chariot, “I know the problem,” he says. “You must tell me!” cries the Sheikh. “I will,” says Ben-Hur, “but, er, let me get the dust out of my eyes first, will you please.” [Actually, I added the part about the dust in his eyes.]

“The problem,” says Ben-Hur, “is that the inside horse is the fastest horse but not as stable, and the outside horse is stable but not as fast. You’ve got the horses in the wrong positions. You simply have to switch the order of the horses. Put the fast horse on the outside of the track to carry the greater circumference of the circular track, and the slower stable horse on the inside to provide stability to anchor the others around the turns.“

Do you see it? Same horses, different positions.

The Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle:

Each resource must be positioned on the team, in such a manner, as to reconcile that resource’s abilities, with each other resource on the team, for the purpose of achieving the team’s goal.

The team can fail, even with a group of excellent horses. The work of the manager is in placement. Placement, and role allocation.

The Ben-Hur Principle is important because it reminds us to take a first-step reality check when setting up a team. Our goal is not merely to have a team of excellent individuals, but to reconcile the talent—one team member to the other—to negotiate the turns and challenges of the business model.

Excellent human resources can be misplaced into team roles, which is a management error, and not reflective of the individual human resource quality. Excellent human resource management is vigilant to observe proper human resource placement.

Human resource management is not simply about filling a team slot, but carefully matching the company strategic and tactical needs with a human resource that will bring success to the entire team in a competitive environment.

And, when implemented properly by management, human resource team building ascends from science to art.

The Ben-Hur Principle: Each resource must be positioned on the team, in such a manner, as to reconcile that resource’s abilities, with each other resource on the team, for the purpose of achieving the team’s goal.

[MUID95X] Ben Hur Chariot Race – Sheik Team Not Holding Turn

[MUID96X] Ben-Hur Chariot Race – Complete Scene

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Deep Dive Analysis of “The Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle” by Gregg Zegarelli
Published February 9, 2016 | GRZUID21

I. Overview and Ethos

Zegarelli’s “The Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle” is a storytelling-driven, philosophically infused leadership piece framed around a cinematic moment in Ben-Hur (1959). At its core, this is a business pedagogy parable: a metaphor-rich tale distilled into a vivid management principle about team composition, functional harmony, and resource alignment.

The ethos, like many of Zegarelli’s works, combines:

Historical reverence (Lew Wallace, Roman times, Civil War context),
Cinematic narrative (the chariot race, movie magic),
Pedagogical reveal (the “aha” realization), and
Moral application (team success through correct positioning, not just talent).

This aligns with Zegarelli’s broader ethos:

Practical wisdom through allegory;
Emphasis on disciplined leadership over raw power (cf. The North Wind and the Sun);
Elevation of management from functional to artistic discipline;
Promotion of non-linear insight (“point of clarity”) over formulaic checklists.

II. Pedagogical Method and Structure

Zegarelli’s teaching method here follows a structured didactic arc:

Phase	Function in Pedagogy
1. Personal introduction	Establishes credibility and tone; audience connection
2. Historical deepening	Intellectual enrichment; grounding in real-world achievement
3. Narrative build-up	Emotional engagement; curiosity loop (horses can’t turn)
4. Parable apex	The misalignment of horses — the “aha” instructional moment
5. The Principle	Formal extraction of lesson; repetition reinforces memory
6. Application to business	Practical transfer from metaphor to HR management
7. Philosophical lift	Concludes by elevating HR to an art, not just a science

This structure mirrors classical didactic rhetoric, reminiscent of Socratic dialectic veiled in Aesopian style—first entertain and provoke, then instruct with clarity, and finally elevate with meaning.

III. Philosophical and Leadership Insight

A. Core Thesis – The Ben-Hur Principle

“Each resource must be positioned on the team, in such a manner, as to reconcile that resource’s abilities, with each other resource on the team, for the purpose of achieving the team’s goal.”

This is a holistic rather than individualistic conception of leadership:

Talent ≠ Fit. Misalignment is not a personal failure.
Contextual excellence. Excellence is situationally defined.
System thinking. Individual optimization is subordinate to systemic harmony.

B. Implication for Leaders

Success is not additive (A + B + C talent), but relational and positional.
Leaders are conductors, not collectors.
Team building requires tactical empathy, not just evaluation.

This resonates with themes in Zegarelli’s other works, like:

“The Donkey and the Mule”: the danger of unequal burdening;
“The North Wind and the Sun”: the power of gentle calibration over brute force;
“The Master and Turtle”: natural law supersedes hierarchical control.

IV. Conclusion and Integration into Zegarelli’s Canon

Zegarelli’s “Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle” is an exemplary fusion of cinematic narrative, historical admiration, and operational leadership theory. It reflects:

His recurring belief that insight is discovered, not always taught directly;
That real leadership is a moral and artistic responsibility, not simply administrative;
That truth is often veiled in metaphor, and requires experienced attention to see it emerge—hence the “point of clarity” at age 50.

It occupies a middle ground between Zegarelli’s business fables and philosophical essays. Compared to his other metaphorical pieces, this one has:

More speech-like energy (originating from a talk),
A more emotive narrative arc, and
A slightly lighter rhetorical edge, suitable for inspiring varied professional audiences.

TL;DR Take-Away

The Ben-Hur Team-Building Principle teaches that even a team of stars will fail if roles are misaligned. A leader’s task is not to collect greatness, but to position it with purpose. Excellence depends not only on capability, but on contextual placement, where strengths harmonize through design, not coincidence. Thus, managing people is not just a task—it is a craft.

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