Machiavelli: What Makes A Good Leader Or Successful Leader?

A good leadership is essential to the survival and success of kingdoms and empires. In the empires to be mentioned further on, there are violent leaders, benign and liberal leaders, and a combination of both. The latter is one who will come to be a leader whose work, will elevate the status of the kingdom and the people in it. A successful leader must be kind and tolerant, but at the same time, must not be afraid of being feared. On the way to become a prince, it is better to be loved, and viewed as benign. But after being established prince, it is better to be feared than loved, because fear is what keeps social order.

A Successful leader, according to Niccolo Machiavelli, is not one who is friendly, honest, and kind. It is someone, however

Although signs of feudalism are seen in both, the citizens were granted protection in exchange for their produce. The political and economic systems of these societies, create trust towards the ruler and respect amongst the people. But however tolerant these societies were, the citizens had knowledge that actions that were to compromise the activities of the empire and therefor its leader, would lead to suffering and punishments. Successful leaders ought to be seen as understanding and a figure the people could trust, but a leader should never lose interest in inspiring fear and

This means that however tolerant, kind, and clement people might think he is, he ought to inspire fear. Machiavelli suggested that a leader would be wise to make use of what he called Virtu (virtue). This concept for leaders involves, wisdom, strategy, strength, bravery, and if necessary, ruthlessness. Machiavelli uses the phrase “criminal virtue” to describe the ability that was necessary for leaders to be cruel in the interest of the state, yet good in the eyes of the people as a leader. Violence should be strictly necessary for the security of the state, but these violent acts should not be repeated too often, because a reputation of brutality builds up. As seen with the Mongol invasions, the repeated use of violence built them the reputation of barbaric and brutal – nevertheless, after these invasions, came periods of unification and prosperity-. “Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. And if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciful than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed. Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty” (Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince). Christian leaders suggested that princes should be merciful, peaceful, generous, and tolerant.