Leadership lessons from Machiavelli: The ends only justify the means when the goal is a good one

Five hundred years after it was written, Machiavelli’s treatise on monarchical rule, The Prince, is still considered essential reading for those who are ambitious and desire power. Written as guidance for Lorenzo de Medici, The Prince famously prized earthly success over moral principles. But its teachings are often misinterpreted as advocating cunning, uncompromising methods to achieve your goals whatever the cost.

 

Machiavellian behaviour is much more nuanced. Indeed, research into workers at German companies revealed that not only are Machiavellian traits linked with greater seniority and leadership in the workplace, but surprisingly, managers who exhibit them are actually more likely to enjoy their work as well. Here are some tips for how business leaders can apply his tactics today.

 

For monarchs and managers, it is vital to project a strong image to gain the respect of subordinates. As Machiavelli observes, “men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand.” 

 

While every employee will know who the boss is, few will enjoy direct contact, so it is important to project a powerful image to colleagues and competitors alike.

 

This is undoubtedly more difficult today than in fifteenth century Florence. With feedback from the front lines needing to reach the C-suite in real-time, bosses must be more engaged and less enigmatic. 

 

Craft your social media profile carefully and be mindful of your internal correspondence with colleagues. Equally, you should confine any criticism of your management to the proper, and even private, feedback channels, to ensure that the business runs efficiently while  you keep your authority intact.

 

A Machiavellian also knows that “the first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” Who you choose as your immediate advisers and department heads is vital for keeping you updated about each division’s performance, and for helping you devise strategy. But because they are an extension of your authority, they must alsocommand respect from their own teams. 

 

Debunking the myth that pupils of Machiavelli are invariably ruthless, a good ruler, he argues, should aim to be “clement and not cruel”. He does say, however, that being feared is safer than being loved. His view is supported by research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which found that men who were agreeable were likely to earn less than their disagreeable counterparts.

 

But given the choice, a leader should seek to be both liked and feared. Columbia Business School’s Ray Fisman and Harvard Business Review’s Tim Sullivan agree. They told the Wall Street Journal that “a little well-directed pain can be a good thing in getting workers to focus on the tasks they might otherwise choose to forget, and to increase overall productivity.”

 

“Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times,” writes Machiavelli, presaging today’s advocates of constant product iteration. However, contrary to popular belief, Machiavelli does not argue that you should seek success at any price. 

 

Pragmatic methods must serve a higher purpose. Princeton professor Maurizio Viroli told Strategy+Business that a Machiavellian executive should be “an innovator capable of creating new and better ways of producing and distributing products and services”. Dishonest behaviour would be excusable, he argues – although not justifiable – if it is necessary to produce an innovation which would be valuable to a large number of people, from customers to colleagues.