The Dark Side of Goodness: Lessons from Machiavelli
They will be able to use you. But when you’re unpredictable, when people are never sure of what your next move will be, you become dangerous. And when you’re dangerous, they respect you. Machiavelli understood this better than anyone. A leader who can be read like an open book is a weak leader, but a leader who maintains a certain level of mystery, who changes when necessary, who never lets others label them—that is the leader who stays in power.
Now the question is: do you want to keep being an open book that anyone can read, manipulate, and take advantage of, or do you want to start being a strategist—someone who controls their image, their information, and their unpredictability for their own benefit? Because kindness without strategy is just an invitation to be devoured. The world doesn’t change its rules for you, so learn to play with the rules that really exist, not the ones you’ve been made to believe.
If you do it well, if you apply what really works, then for the first time you will stop being a victim of the system and start being one of those who dominate it. But here comes the most interesting part: the art of strategic distance. Many believe that the key to power is to always be present, to be omnipresent, to make yourself noticed at every moment. But the reality is different.
The one who is too available loses their value. Scarcity creates desire; absence creates impact. Think about this: why do certain people generate more respect just by being present, while others, no matter how hard they try, never seem to impose authority? The difference lies in the perception of their value. Machiavelli said that a prince should avoid becoming too accessible, not because they should disdain their people, but because excessive familiarity destroys respect.
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