Chapter 12 discussion forum (Discussion Forum 1)What is interactive leadership, and why might this approach be increasingly important for all leaders? Provide an example to illustrate your point of vi
Machiavellian-Style Leadership Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, historian, and political strategist who wrote The Prince in 1513 as a guide for political leaders of the day on how to acquire and use power.23 The term Machiavellian is often associated with unscrupulous, even diabolical behavior aimed at increasing one’s power for personal gain, but in reality Machiavelli’s essential argument in The Prince is that the welfare of the state must come first and foremost and that leaders must often do tough, even ruthless things in the spirit of the ends justifying the means. In other words, power is a tool used for securing the safety and stability of the organization. Despite the emphasis today on agreeableness and collaboration, many organizational leaders, scholars, and politicians agree with Machiavelli that it isn’t possible in an imperfect world to lead with “perfectly clean hands.”24 Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford University professor and an expert on organizational power and politics, refers to the need for leaders to use bare-knuckle strategies to attain the clout they need to accomplish great things.25 As further described in the Bookshelf, Pfeffer believes that despite laudable personal achievements, power and politics almost always trump performance as a source of impact, so leaders had better be comfortable acquiring and using these tools. In today’s less-hierarchical organizations, leaders actually need more power than before to influence people. When Zia Yusuf, president and CEO of Streetline Inc., was an executive vice president at SAP, he advised and taught the people who worked for him how to court favor with the top 50 people in the company. Yusuf knew that having people in high places increases power and helps accomplish goals. Yusuf was in charge of an initiative that linked suppliers, users, and developers and had to influence many people that he had no formal authority over, not only from across SAP but from many different organizations. He says he succeeded because he was skilled at what he called “organizational dynamics”—the ability to influence people to get them to do what needed to be done.26 As discussed in the previous sections, many types of leadership are used to influence people. Each style—transformational, charismatic, coalitional, and Machiavellian—relies on different assumptions and behaviors. With Machiavellianstyle leadership, the leader is willing to use any means necessary to preserve and
Daft, Richard L.. The Leadership Experience (p. 366).
the well-being of the organization. The characteristics of Machiavellian-style leaders include the following:27 1. They are always on guard for risks and threats to their power. Machiavellianstyle leaders assume that people are basically fickle, greedy, and deceitful, so the leader is always alert to shifting loyalties and is not above using manipulation or pitting people against one another to retain or acquire more power to achieve goals. 2. They don’t mind being feared. Machiavelli warned that striving to be the mostliked leader can backfire when difficult times call for tough actions. By being too merciful and generous, leaders can ultimately allow disorder to destroy the organization. 3. They will use deception if necessary. The Machiavellian-style leader has no problem maintaining or using power by deceptive means to ensure the safety of the organization. 4. They use rewards and punishments to shape behavior. Machiavellian-style leaders don’t mind exploiting the fears and desires of people to get them to follow the rules and do what is necessary for the overall good.
Daft, Richard L.. The Leadership Experience (p. 367). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition.
Like coalitional leaders, Machiavellian-style leaders are highly political, but whereas coalitional leaders focus on reaching out and working with others, Machiavellian-style leaders typically focus on gaining and using individual power. They may strive to gain control over information and resources such as jobs, rewards, financial support, and materials so that people depend on them for what they need, which increases their power.28 These leaders may also use any means necessary to preserve their power, but they do so because they believe the organization can be secure only if it has powerful leaders. There are times in every organization when tough, even bare-knuckle leadership is needed. The following example describes how one woman says she used Machiavellian-style leadership to save her family.
Daft, Richard L.. The Leadership Experience (p. 368). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition.