The Aspects of Power through Machiavelli’s Eyes

In 1517 Niccolo Machiavelli wrote one of the most famous dissertations on power to date, entitled The Prince. His insights on the elements of power include the struggles for every level of power, from strategies performed by world leaders to the executive struggling in the corporate world. The ideas he set forth in The Prince, known of as Machiavellianism, have been seen as evil throughout the ages; but as most business leaders and politicians would agree, …

…which he ought to follow will find that it leads him to ruin rather than to safety. For a man who, in all respects, will carry out only his professions of good, will be apt to be ruined among so many that are evil. A prince therefore who desires to maintain himself must learn not always to be good..." -Thus the ultimate definition of the irrefutable, universal aspects of acquiring and maintaining possession of power.