KEYS TO POWER
Everyone has insecurities. When you show yourself in the world and
display your talents, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment, envy, and
other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected. You cannot spend
your life worrying about the petty feelings of others. With those above you,
however, you must take a different approach: When it comes to power,
outshining the master is perhaps the worst mistake of all.
Do not fool yourself into thinking that life has changed much since the
days of Louis XIV and the Medicis. Those who attain high standing in life
are like kings and queens: They want to feel secure in their positions, and
superior to those around them in intelligence, wit, and charm. It is a deadly
but common misperception to believe that by displaying and vaunting your
gifts and talents, you are winning the master’s affection. He may feign
appreciation, but at his first opportunity he will replace you with someone
less intelligent, less attractive, less threatening, just as Louis XIV replaced
the sparkling Fouquet with the bland Colbert. And as with Louis, he will
not admit the truth, but will find an excuse to rid himself of your presence.
This Law involves two rules that you must realize. First, you can
inadvertently outshine a master simply by being yourself. There are masters
who are more insecure than others, monstrously insecure; you may
naturally outshine them by your charm and grace.No one had more natural talents than Astorre Manfredi, prince of Faenza.
The most handsome of all the young princes of Italy, he captivated his
subjects with his generosity and open spirit.
In the year 1500, Cesare Borgia laid siege to Faenza. When the city
surrendered, the citizens expected the worst from the cruel Borgia, who,
however, decided to spare the town: He simply occupied its fortress,
executed none of its citizens, and allowed Prince Manfredi, eighteen at the
time, to remain with his court, in complete freedom.
A few weeks later, though, soldiers hauled Astorre Manfredi away to a
Roman prison. A year after that, his body was fished out of the River Tiber,
a stone tied around his neck. Borgia justified the horrible deed with some
sort of trumped-up charge of treason and conspiracy, but the real problem
was that he was notoriously vain and insecure. The young man was
outshining him without even trying. Given Manfredi’s natural talents, the
prince’s mere presence made Borgia seem less attractive and charismatic.
The lesson is simple: If you cannot help being charming and superior, you
must learn to avoid such monsters of vanity. Either that, or find a way to
mute your good qualities when in the company of a Cesare Borgia.
Second, never imagine that because the master loves you, you can do
anything you want. Entire books could be written about favorites who fell
out of favor by taking their status for granted, for daring to outshine. In late-
sixteenth-century Japan, the favorite of Emperor Hideyoshi was a man
called Sen no Rikyu. The premier artist of the tea ceremony, which had
become an obsession with the nobility, he was one of Hideyoshi’s most
trusted advisers, had his own apartment in the palace, and was honored
throughout Japan. Yet in 1591, Hideyoshi had him arrested and sentenced to
death. Rikyu took his own life, instead. The cause for his sudden change of
fortune was discovered later: It seems that Rikyu, former peasant and later
court favorite, had had a wooden statue made of himself wearing sandals (a
sign of nobility) and posing loftily. He had had this statue placed in the
most important temple inside the palace gates, in clear sight of the royalty
who often would pass by. To Hideyoshi this signified that Rikyu had no
sense of limits. Presuming that he had the same rights as those of the
highest nobility, he had forgotten that his position depended on the emperor,
and had come to believe that he had earned it on his own. This was an
unforgivable miscalculation of his own importance and he paid for it withhis life. Remember the following: Never take your position for granted and
never let any favors you receive go to your head.
Knowing the dangers of outshining your master, you can turn this Law to
your advantage. First you must flatter and puff up your master. Overt
flattery can be effective but has its limits; it is too direct and obvious, and
looks bad to other courtiers. Discreet flattery is much more powerful. If you
are more intelligent than your master, for example, seem the opposite: Make
him appear more intelligent than you. Act naive. Make it seem that you
need his expertise. Commit harmless mistakes that will not hurt you in the
long run but will give you the chance to ask for his help. Masters adore
such requests. A master who cannot bestow on you the gifts of his
experience may direct rancor and ill will at you instead.
If your ideas are more creative than your master’s, ascribe them to him,
in as public a manner as possible. Make it clear that your advice is merely
an echo of his advice.
If you surpass your master in wit, it is okay to play the role of the court
jester, but do not make him appear cold and surly by comparison. Tone
down your humor if necessary, and find ways to make him seem the
dispenser of amusement and good cheer. If you are naturally more sociable
and generous than your master, be careful not to be the cloud that blocks his
radiance from others. He must appear as the sun around which everyone
revolves, radiating power and brilliance, the center of attention. If you are
thrust into the position of entertaining him, a display of your limited means
may win you his sympathy. Any attempt to impress him with your grace
and generosity can prove fatal: Learn from Fouquet or pay the price.
In all of these cases it is not a weakness to disguise your strengths if in
the end they lead to power. By letting others outshine you, you remain in
control, instead of being a victim of their insecurity. This will all come in
handy the day you decide to rise above your inferior status. If, like Galileo,
you can make your master shine even more in the eyes of others, then you
are a godsend and you will be instantly promoted.
Image:
The Stars in the
Sky. There can be only
one sun at a time. Neverobscure the sunlight, or
rival the sun’s brilliance;
rather, fade into the sky and
find ways to heighten
the master star’s
intensity.
Authority: Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious, but the
superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal. This is a
lesson that the stars in the sky teach us—they may be related to the sun, and
just as brilliant, but they never appear in her company. (Baltasar Gracián,
1601-1658)
