Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence Italy, May 3rd 1469, into a noble family. His father was a lawyer, and although his family was not wealthy, he got an education as a child. He grew up to become a secretary of the Florentine Republic in 1498, and got to meet some of the influential leaders of his time. Sadly, in 1512 he lost his job, after organizing a citizen militia to defend the republic and get rid of the Medici family, the rulers at that time. With no job, he went back home and decided to write. In 1513, Machiavelli's most famous work, The Prince, was written. It was most likely an attempt to gain favor from the Medici family again. 

 The Machiavelli quote that i think is most relevant to leadership today is, "The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise, the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not." In society today, everything is changing and evolving extremely fast. If you want to be a politician today, you need to find out what it is that the people you are trying to win over want most. Then you need to make it sound like you have a way to give it to them. Similarly, if you don't keep up with the demands of the people, whatever they may be, they will not want you as their leader. Let’s take tax reduction as an example. If you are a politician today and you know that the people want tax reduction, you need to add that to your policy. If you don’t, you will not be chosen as a leader.  

A Machiavelli quote that I think is bad advise for leaders today is, "Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself." This would not apply to todays society beause