The Prince is a book written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1532, Machiavelli wrote this book to prove to Lorenzo de Medici^1 that he could teach people how to be a successful Prince. He wrote this piece along with other important writings, after being fired from secretary.
Pre Conversation
This book was recommended to me by my Dad, Burt Espe with the aspiration of achieving a higher-ranking occupation in the military. My dad read The Prince in High School knowing that the contents of the book contained beneficial information on becoming an effective leader. After reading the narrative my dad felt a sense of “Informativeness” - he found/is finding the book’s messages to be a good source of “Leadership Tips.”
As a former Captain of Naval Vessel (The Uss Comstock LSD-45) my dad found himself utilizing a commonly highlighted message within the book which also is a quote Machiavelli is accredited to “The end justifies the means.” When thinking about this message one comes to think about ethics and values. When attempting to complete a task, it is important to consider ethics because with a proficient way of undergoing that task you are more likely to successfully complete it. In regards to values, it is essential to consider what really is important to the outcome of the task, for example if you as a leader are generous to your crew by providing them with a less stressful and hectic environment, although still staying stern, your crew will more likely be cooperative with your demands, thus making the state of your crew/underlings an important value, and making values themselves essential. While deployed my dad deemed the state of his crew important, with this value in mind he utilized resources within his department to make his crew’s experience more positive, all of course, without questioning his ethics. This is only one example of the result of Machiavelli’s work.
Post Conversation
After reading the book I was astounded by the extensive amount of highly detailed information contained in a mere 106 pages. Niccolò Machiavelli was so thorough with the contents of his piece that it made me ponder things that I have never thought to ponder before, for example in the book Machiavelli wrote “I say that a prince must have want to have a reputation for compassion rather than for cruelty: none the less, he must be careful that he does not make bad use of compassion,” this quote and the chapter it was written in made me think about how I as a leader can be effectively compassionate without posing my compassion as a weakness. In my conversation with my dad, I explained to him how, while I was reading this giant fortune cookie, I was very appreciative of the examples Niccolò Machiavelli providing within the book, he referred to past historical events and decisions that would ultimately prove his points. I appreciated these examples for two reasons, one, it made his messages easier to understand, and two it gave “tidbits” of historical information that is just cool to know. Overall I found this book to be awesome, and in the future I will be sure to refer to, and utilize information from this book.
1. Lorenzo de Medici was part of the Medici Family whom ended the Flourentine Republic in which Niccolo was the secretary of.
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