KEYS TO POWER

 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)