Yes, The 48 Laws of Power talks about Machiavellian ways of getting and using power. That’s why repairing relationships is one of those topics all leaders need.

That’s not ideal, but we don’t live in an ideal world. And sometimes, as a leader, you must wield power to skip the steps because there isn’t time for the alternative of progressing up the graph. And that’s what I’d call a good use of power for a leader. And to tie in another book I recently read (Thinking in Systems), it’s why feedback loops are incredibly important for leaders whose impact comes from their role, not their progression up the ‘making an impact’ graph (or as power law 18 says: do not build fortresses to protect yourself–isolation is dangerous).īut there are also situations where power is used to help facilitate the steps in the impact graph. This is the dilemma of top-down leadership. But the reality is that the outcome isn’t as impactful because the folks following may not believe in where they are led. For example, if you consider the ‘5 steps to making an impact’ graph, there are plenty of examples we can all think of where power is used to skip those steps and make an impact without actually gaining creditability, trust, respect, or inclusion. I see leadership as the process of influencing others. Power has a lot of relevance to leadership. Last year, based on a extremely flattering book recommendation, I read The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene.

48 laws of power law 18