NT1 The Prince: Machiavelli’s Methodology on Leadership Niccolo Machiavelli, the first modern thinker, dedicated The Prince to Lorenzo De Medici and the De Medici family as a “how to guide” on becoming a successful ruler and more importantly, how not to be a successful ruler. As in any philosopher’s works, there are many components that are comprised into one common theme. Machiavelli presents a strong methodology and main concept which is to act in your own self-interest if you want to become a leader, and to do so by any means necessary. In The Price, one of his most famous works, Machiavelli establishes his leadership guidelines on specific categories such as virtue, goodwill, hatred, and reputation, just to name a few. Machiavelli’s goal in The Prince is to distinguish why human nature is the leading cause of a princes’ ultimate success or failure. Machiavelli strongly feels that the idea of politics is not a natural, innate part of humankind. It is crucial for a prince to reflect on the actions of great men that came before him and the history surrounding them. Within the text, Machiavelli does not focus on unity nor does he focus on the virtuous soul. He strictly concentrates on consequences because they are facts which we can verify. Due to this belief, Machiavelli’s ideas represent the consequentialist approach to morality. Meaning, consequences are driven purely by an individual’s actions. Therefore, the means by which individuals go about taking those actions are driven and determined by the existence, or lack thereof, of one’s morals, ethical values, and determination for power. In the case of The Prince, Machiavelli insists on setting aside ethics and morals to properly acquire and maintain power. Machiavelli recommends that princes who are striving for greatness must study the great princes of the past to learn from their mistakes and elaborate on their excellences. Every action or decision a prince has made in the past has led to the evolution or destruction of a society. Machiavelli demonstrates, through the use of examples of successful and unsuccessful princedoms, how important historical patterns are to a present day princes’ actions. Simply put, if it did not work in the past, it will not work now. Machiavelli strongly emphasizes how crucial it is for successful princes to look to their predecessors actions and consequences for inspiration. By doing so, a prince will have a foundational set of principles to abide by and a set to avoid. Machiavelli identifies the qualities in which an aspiring or inherited prince should or should not posses in order to maintain the throne. For example, he states that a prince should not be generous because it depletes their resources and eventually causes them to lose respect from society. If a prince is overly generous, he will not be appreciated. Although Machiavelli does not necessarily suggest generosity is ineffectual, he argues that a rare occurrence of generosity exhibits more value to the people. Generosity, if not used properly, causes more harm than good. It is looked upon as utility to build a reputation. But Machiavelli claims generosity becomes a cyclical process. If the prince gives to the people, he will eventually have to take back what he has given away in order to keep the state financially stable. Consequentially, people of the state will assume mixed intentions about the prince’s motives. Generosity, according to Machiavelli, should not be a quality that a prince should strive for if he wants to be admired by his people. Secondly, Machiavelli describes why it is better for a prince to be feared rather than to be loved. This is one of Machiavelli’s main principles of establishing a princedom and solid reputation. “It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved (Machiavelli 43).” Since it is clear to him that love and fear cannot exist together, it is more important for a ruler to be feared than to be loved. If you are a beloved ruler and your people are not afraid of you, your power is immediately stripped away. There is no sense of authority and the title of “prince” is irrelevant. Machiavelli complicated the notion of “good” as subordinate to power. Machiavelli suggests that there is no determination of how much “good” a society can handle. Therefore, too much “good” can eventually be harmful. Uprisings, war, and disfunction can result from too much clemency. In order to avoid societal destruction, a leader may need to invoke a sense of cruelty. In effect, according to Machiavelli, cruelty may lead to a more loyal, stable, and balance society. “Cesare Borgia was reputed cruel, yet his cruelty restored Romagna, united it, and brought it to order and obedience...to avoid the implementation of cruelty, suffered Pistoja to be torn to pieces by factions (Machiavelli 43).” To maintain order, a prince must do whatever is required to serve the greater good, even if cruelty is necessary. Machiavelli resorts to the example of Cesare restoring Romagna by using measures of cruelty. By instilling a sense of fear in society, a prince will demonstrate power and authority. In comparison, he exemplifies how the reluctance to implement cruelty measures in the city of Pistoja, tore the town to pieces. If a prince is not willing to invoke some degree of cruelty, the society, with out a doubt, will fall apart. In regards to faith, Machiavelli holds a strong position on how princes should keep it. “We see what has taken place in our own days that Princes who have set little store by their word, but have known how to overreach men by their cunning, have accomplished great things, and in the end got the better of those who trusted to honest dealing (Machiavelli 45).” Machiavelli states why honesty is not always the best policy. A successful prince can tell his people exactly what they want to hear and when they want to hear it, without actually following through with their words. He breaks this category into two segments, holding faith by laws and holding faith by force. Many times, according to Machiavelli, a prince will need to resort to using force and when that inevitable instance comes, it is important to choose the appropriate forceable path. Machiavelli compares this force to an individual’s ability to be both strong like a lion and sly like a fox. “To rely wholly on the lion is unwise (Machiavelli 46).” Failing to emit both personalities of the lion and the fox, will ultimately lead to failure. “It is necessary, indeed, to put a good colour on this nature, and to be skilful in simulating and dissembling (Machiavelli 46).” It is important for a prince to be able to be deceitful like a fox, a common quality in Machiavelli’s methodologies. Trickery and deceit play important roles in the political life of a ruler. Machiavelli says a prince can break their promises, which for the most part they often do, but in order to be successful in doing so, one must seem to posses virtuous qualities. A prince will be deemed unfit if he does not embody virtuous qualities like mercy, good faith, integrity, humanity, and religion. Therefore, Machiavelli emphasizes the importance of pretending to posses all of the above mentioned qualities. The entire society will see you for what you seem to represent, but only a few understand who you truly are. How a prince is seen in the public’s eye becomes more powerful that their actual leadership capabilities. A prince must be transformative, while maintaining a somewhat transparent appeal. Therefore, a great liar who is able to put on a front, will inevitably be a successful leader. In addition, Machiavelli specifically explains why a prince does not necessarily need support of the noble class and why support of the common people is more important. Due to the simple fact that the common people constitute for a majority of the city, they could rise against a ruler and he would be unable to hold onto power. However, to win support, a leader must provide supporters with weapons so they can take pride in defending the city. Therefore, Machiavelli insists that a strong military force is of the utmost importance. He believes that the greatest moral good is a virtuous and stable state. Machiavelli continues to suggest that justice evolves by strengthening the state of the ruler. “A ruler should also show himself to be an admirer of skill [virtu] and should honor those who are excellent in any type of work. He should encourage his citizens...he should ensure that those who improve and invest are rewarded, as should be anyone whose actions will benefit his city or his government (Machiavelli, Wootton 70).” In order to win support of the common people, a leader should reward people (to a certain extent) for excellence, reward those who benefit the city, protect their commerce and profit by eliminating taxes and property confiscation, and by providing citizens with entertainment throughout the year. Throughout his text, Machiavelli lists practical advice on how to act boldly without being too generous. He feels that fortune is not static and that it is constantly changing. He mentions that fortune allows an individual to take an active part in politics even though sometimes it is better to abstain for doing so. “I do think, however, that it is better to be headstrong than cautious, for fortune is a lady (Machiavelli, Wootton 76).” By comparing fortune to a river and a woman, he illustrates how irrational forces of nature can still be controlled to a certain extent. Overall, Machiavelli thinks a prince should make pragmatic decisions without considering the influence of emotion, religion, or how people will react to the decisions he makes. The Prince is merely a manual for leadership, in which Machiavelli supports his methodology and lack of morals. According to him, morality is not only unnecessary, but stands in the way of effectively governing a state. What ultimately determines a successful ruler from a failure, is human nature, which reiterates the fact that humans are generally self-interested. If a leader wants to be successful, they will and must take all necessary actions to do so. If that means instilling cruelty and fear, one must do so. If that means being deceitful and surrounding himself with lies, one must do so. A leader must set aside ethics if they truly want to be successful, have superiority, gain power, and earn respect from society. Without possessing or pretending to posses the appropriate leadership qualities, a prince will be doomed for failure.

Works Cited
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. N.p.: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.
Machiavelli, Niccolò, and David Wootton. Selected Political Writings. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1994. Print.