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Niccolo Machiavelli's Theory Of Good Leadership

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Machiavelli’s Paper: Option 1 Niccolo Machiavelli was indeed the first person to adequately define leadership. Machiavelli set out the foundation of modern leadership theories. He defined leadership by outlining the five basic tenets of a good leader. These tenets are still relevant, if not relished, in today’s business and management studies. However, the writers of today shy away from referencing Machiavelli directly due to negative connotations that come with his basic premises. Some say the theory proposed by Machiavelli comes out as cunning, deceitful, self-serving or the more common term Machiavellian. Nonetheless, Machiavelli’s theory of good leadership asserts that a good leader should …show more content…

A rearrangement of associations and alliances within the business environment could be beneficial. It would be naïve to believe that the present-day man is benevolent and orderly; but, in fact, if they get a chance they would easily harm another. Machiavelli pointed out that a leader should always be on guard. Therefore, if the leader is to maintain their status, they must defend it by all means necessary either by being cruel, deceptive or applying force. This is somewhat the general idea behind Machiavelli’s leadership …show more content…

Machiavelli argued that the adopted principles of private morality would not be necessarily adopted by the leader’s followers. Ergo, it would be a disadvantage for the honorable person to pursue virtue, especially in real world situations. If the leader is, therefore, to be deemed successful, they must discern when and how to do what no other virtuous person would do. In the present day, private morality is of little consequence to the survivability and success of a leader. What really counts is how much blame or praise the leader receives from fellow individuals. As such, leaders must understand that certain situations would require them to maintain a stand-up reputation while doing some wrongs if the circumstances necessitate it (Machiavelli

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In Niccolo Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), he evaluates on how a prince can be a successful leader. Machiavelli’s purpose of this guidebook was to construct his argument to the rising ruler Giuliano de Medici for when he comes to power in Florence. He adopts a casual but authoritative tone in order to convince the prince that Machiavelli’s evaluation on how to be the best prince, is the right thing for the prince to do without coming off as he knows more than the prince or is trying to intimidate him.. Machiavelli’s reference to previous rulers and whether their tactics failed or succeeded helps to benefit his credibility along with his allusion to historic text. He appeals to our logic by simply stating a prince can only do what is within his power to control, and his use of an analogy furthers his argument.

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Machiavelli argues the perfect prince will be both feared and loved by his people, and if unable to be both he will make himself feared and not hated. Machiavelli believes it is much safer to be feared than to be loved because people are less likely to offend and stand up against strong characters, also people are less concerned in offending a prince who has made himself loved. Accordingly, Machiavelli believes generosity is harmful to your reputation and the choice between being generous or stingy, merciful or cruel, honest or deceitful, should only be important if it aids the prince in political power. All in all, Machiavelli believes the ruler must be a great deceiver and do what is essential to uphold power over the

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The Prince, written by Machiavelli, is a candid outline of how he believes leaders gain and keep power. Machiavelli uses examples of past leaders to determine traits that are necessary to rule successfully. Leaders such as the King of Naples and the Duke of Milan lacked military power, made their subjects hate them, or did not know how to protect themselves from the elite, causing them to lose power. He says that these rulers should blame laziness, not luck, for their failures. By looking at these historical successes and failures, Machiavelli is able to develop his own thoughts on how politics and leaders should be in the future.

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To Machiavelli, there is no morality in politics, only political virtue (Prudence). Prudence means knowing when to exhibit virtue or vice. As long as the Prince understands the role of Prudence, they will be successful. However, Machiavelli made an oversight.

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Leadership Thought Prior to 1900 The earliest study of leadership thought would be the “Great Man Theory. This theory conceptualized leaders as a single “Great Man” who knew everything and influenced others to follow him. In leadership discourse, the Great Man theory—an assertion that certain individuals, certain men, are gifts from God placed on earth to provide the lightening needed to uplift human existence—is associated mainly with Thomas Carlyle (Spector, 2015, p.250). The focal-point of this theory is that leaders’ skills are inherent and set that them apart from those around them and that these traits enable them to assume roles of power and authority.

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A leader’s cruelty enables him to make the decisions necessary for the kingdom, while also being miserly to keep the people happy. I think that Machiavelli’s advice provides a sound basis on how leaders today can lead. On other hand, others may argue that Machiavelli’s advice leads rulers astray and rather rulers should be kind and generous because morally that is the right thing to do. No matter the interpretation of how a ruler should lead, Machiavelli's analyst of a leaders provides insight into everyday life and causes leaders today to think about how they

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1. Introduction Individuals with leadership qualities are everywhere, if you can identify them. From within the family household, the school your children attend, to the more obvious; the workplace and political environments. However, what makes an individual a leader and what makes that leader an effective one? Can anyone be a leader?

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Machiavelli believed that men will follow a ruler as long as the ruler serves their interests, and a quick to turn against the ruler unless they fear great punishment. Machiavelli would say that it is best to be feared rather than loved as long as the fear does not cause hate, which he believed to be perfectly possible.

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Leadership, therefore, calls for practice. Since civilization, leadership has changed but one thing remains constant; leaders have always sought to gain favor with their subjects and they do so they need insight from adviser. Machiavelli understood this and for that reason, he wrote to the prince in a bid to advise him on what he ought to have done in order to be a successful leader. From the ideologies of Machiavelli, Machiavellian leader was coined.

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This is a work that still influences us today and is still relevant in today’s complex society. Some of the most prominent leaders of the 20th century have been influenced by Machiavellian ideas. U.S Presidents like Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton and U.K Prime Minister Anthony Blair are called Machiavellian leaders today. According to Machiavelli a prince must focus all his serious time and energy to war and how to wage it (Machiavelli, 31).

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In developing this paper on leadership, I examined what was most important to me as a leader. As I reflected on my leadership philosophy, I thought about my experiences and the principals that I have learned through my own self-discovery and the observation of other leaders that I have had throughout my life. My leadership philosophy paper will focus on what leadership is to me, core values, and knowledge of others. In thinking about my definition of leadership, I thought of what was most important to me in and as a leader.

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They can’t let any situation bring them down and affect their daily life. It helps a leader remain calm in uncertain situations, a courtier when they may face difficult problems in the court of royalty and everyday people when talking to someone they wanted to show respect to. Machiavelli never mentioned his exemplary leader with mental strength, so one can assume it wasn’t a trait he considered significant. However, he did mention false sincerity in paragraphs six and seven. Instead of holding the traits of honesty, trustworthiness and leniency, Machiavelli told one make it only look as though did instead, and when the time came, they could be corrupt, sly and merciless.

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