In the book The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli discussed how certain characteristics were needed in order to make a leader successful. It has been argued that these same characteristics could be use to describe any successful leader in modern society no matter the population or the field in which they are working in. I agree with Machiavelli, the characteristics that he discussed are all needed in order to become a great leader. Machiavelli stated that leaders should have the support of the people, good virtues, and should never turn outside the auxiliary or mercenary units, but to always rely on his/her own arms. He we also states that a leader should be intelligent and also understand that it is better to be feared than to be love if you cannot
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It is one of Machiavelli’s most powerful statements about leadership. Ideally in a perfect world a leader would be both feared and loved, but that is not always the case. The importance of this characteristic in leadership is that if a leader shows too much compassion, many may take that as a sign of weakness. This can create a sense of disorder amongst an organization or group of people.
At times, leaders are forced to make a choice about whether it is better to be feared or loved, but what must be understood by a leader is that most human beings may become, “ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee danger, and covetous of gain,” (Machiavelli, 1992). In times of conflict, danger, stress, and/or tough times, your most loyal servants will take risk for you as their leader, but in the event that the danger, stress, and/or conflict begins to interfere with your servants personal well being and advancements in life, those same loyal servants will turn on you as a leader. It has almost become acceptable for people to do this in the society we live in today. Not all will turn, but most will. So it is important that as a leader you understand that it is easy to break a bond of love, trust, and admiration when situations arise, but the fear of punishments is always effective, regardless of the situation. Regardless of how people feel about you, as long as they respect you, sometimes having their love is not
It is one of Machiavelli’s most powerful statements about leadership. Ideally in a perfect world a leader would be both feared and loved, but that is not always the case. The importance of this characteristic in leadership is that if a leader shows too much compassion, many may take that as a sign of weakness. This can create a sense of disorder amongst an organization or group of people.
At times, leaders are forced to make a choice about whether it is better to be feared or loved, but what must be understood by a leader is that most human beings may become, “ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee danger, and covetous of gain,” (Machiavelli, 1992). In times of conflict, danger, stress, and/or tough times, your most loyal servants will take risk for you as their leader, but in the event that the danger, stress, and/or conflict begins to interfere with your servants personal well being and advancements in life, those same loyal servants will turn on you as a leader. It has almost become acceptable for people to do this in the society we live in today. Not all will turn, but most will. So it is important that as a leader you understand that it is easy to break a bond of love, trust, and admiration when situations arise, but the fear of punishments is always effective, regardless of the situation. Regardless of how people feel about you, as long as they respect you, sometimes having their love is not