Chapter 22: Personal Assistants

In chapter XXII in ‘The Prince’: ‘Of the ministers of princes’ Machiavelli states that ministers are either good or not, according to whether the prince himself is sagacious or otherwise. He list three sorts of intellects: one understands things by his own quickness of perception; another understands them when explained by someone else; and the third understands them neither by itself nor by the explanation of others. The first is the best, the second very good, and the third is useless… Whenever he sees that the minister thinks more of himself than of the prince, and that in all his doings he seeks his own advantage more than that of the state, the prince can be sure that that man will never be a good minister, and is not to be trusted. On the other hand, the prince should, in order to secure the devotion of his minister, think of him and bind him to himself by obligations; he should bestow riches upon him, and should share the honours as well as the cares with him; so that the abundance of honours and riches conferred by the prince upon his minister may cause the latter not to desire either the one or the other from any other source, and that the weight of cares may make him fear a change, knowing that without the prince he could not sustain it.

To what extent do Machiavelli’s thoughts apply to the roles and responsibilities of modern leaders from different countries, cultures and trades? What is the role and significance of a personal assistance and should we hire a person smarter than ourselves?

Discover The Mind of a Leader…

Participants:
  Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
  Philip Kotler
  Michael S. Dukakis
  Steven Hilton
  Tony Visconti