Preview

THE PRINCE -Machiavelli- Leadership

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3255 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
THE PRINCE -Machiavelli- Leadership
Class: ΓΒΑ1
Topic: Analyse and evaluate the Leadership views presented in “The Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli, under the prism of the following four contemporary approaches on Leadership: Contingent, Dyadic, Power, and Transformational. Identify and explain elements of convergence and divergence between that classic text and the corresponding contemporary theories and make use of specific theoretical models (such as Blake & Mouton’s grid, the LMX model, etc) where necessary in order to support your arguments. Overall, you should provide a critical comparison in evaluating “The Prince” against the above contemporary empirically-supported theories.
Student name: Marianna Oikonomidou
Submission date: 24/1/2014
Word count: 3020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction 3
Chapter 2: Leadership Theories 4 2.1 Leadership Defined 4
2.2 The Contingency Approach 4
2.3 The Dyadic Approach 6
2.4 The Power Approach 9
2.5 The Transformational Approach 10
Chapter 3: Blake & Mouton’s Leadership Grid. 12
Chapter 4: Synopsis / Critical Evaluation 13 4.1 Convergence 13
4.2 Divergence 13
References 15

Chapter
Introduction
1

This is the world of uncertainty where the world economic downturn has made its presence dominant. Globalisation has made companies re-evaluate their ways of doing things in order to survive. To cope with the fast and changing needs of the marketplace, businesses must have clear-cut strategies and capable people of running the everyday operations. Leadership has become the rule offering a chance of escape to a world where we know the rules and what is expected of us. Leadership appears to be very active and is changing rapidly. Change is rapid and never complete. Leaders can no longer turn to convenient role models in search of inspiration. Of fundamental importance to modern leaders has become an understanding of people, their needs, what motivates them, how they think and how they react and furthermore, how they react as



References: 2.1 Leadership Defined Coffey and Cook (1994) argue that leadership is the process of providing direction, energizing and motivating people and obtaining their commitment to the leader’s cause Position power (Daft, 2000: 511-512). According to the approach, the relationship-oriented leader performs better in situations where human relations skills are important 2.3 The Dyadic Approach Lussier and Achua (2010) argue that the dyadic approach focuses on the dual relationship between leaders and followers Routinisation (Mindtools, 2013: 1). Role-taking occurs when the group is formed and comes together under the directions of the group leader

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This is a significant analysis of Niccolo Machiavelli’s book The Prince. This book explores multiple concepts on leadership and governance for a Prince to legislate on his road to success. Therefore, I will bring a compelling conclusion on how Russian President Vladimir Putin is a modern Machiavelli. To get a full understanding towards Niccolo Machiavelli’s political theory, we must first examine what’s managed to inspire his view of an ideal government. In the book, The Prince, Machiavelli introduces insightful claims on how the Roman Empire’s legitimacy brought a secure and stable society. In fact, presenting the Roman Empire’s platform helped the reader to thoroughly understand Machiavelli’s political theory regarding governance and the…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli was an author and an aspiring political figure who had a strong influence on several aspects of Europe’s government. Due to his critical writings in The Prince, many historians see Machiavelli as a cruel and diabolical political figure whose true intentions were to gain power for himself. However, after looking further into Machiavelli’s political past, one can see that Machiavelli is in fact an intelligent man who possesses a hidden motive to write his novel. In his work, he covered several topics that were used by future city-state leaders to help them become successful. Machiavelli proves to be an astute political mind who used his political experience to assess the actions of famous princes and to write The Prince as a noteworthy…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trait-based perspectives of leadership have been an enduring topic throughout history. The actual inception of leadership and trait-based perspectives is arguable. However, there is no denying its evolution, as seen through research. Zaccaro (2007) stated the analysis of leadership and traits dates back to Galton’s (1869) Hereditary Genius, which articulated two distinct and important points. First, a definition of leadership, which describes exclusive and unique characteristics, possessed by individuals. These individuals were so compelling they were capable of changing the path of events with their judgment and decisions (Zaccaro, 2007). This point while antiquated and dated appeared to be the pioneer of the transformational leadership,…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Machiavelli 's "The Prince" is a highly unique manuscript that outlines Machiavelli 's views on effective leadership. This piece was meant to serve as a guide for what characteristics the ideal prince should possess. Machiavelli never stated who the actually "Prince" is but rather gives advice and examples on how someone would become the perfect ruler. The Prince was written in the early 1500s where "Popes were leading armies, and wealthy city-states of Italy were falling one after another into the hands of foreign power" (Wikipedia). It was a time of shifting alliances, politics, and the mentality of a larger army size would equate to a stronger country. We can observe with the drastic lives they lived, Machiavelli was partly influenced by his lifestyle. As an individual Machiavelli was naturally cynical about the human race and that profoundly influenced his work.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this part of the section by Vincent Barnett, he simplifies what Machiavelli's main point was writing "The Prince". Throughout this entire section Barnett shows the readers that Machiavelli was only describing what all rulers do an how the end justifies the means. He also tells us that a good ruler would balance how much his citizens feared and loved him. In this section it shows how modern rulers act like the rulers they had many years ago.…

    • 164 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Niccolo Machiavelli’s, The Prince is used as a guide for ruling and maintaining control. This book was essential in aiding prince of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici, to help solidify the union in Italy. Machiavelli created it in an effort to gain the position of Lorenzo’s political advisor. As a result of the book, Machiavelli was appointed Lorenzo’s political advisor demonstrating how concrete his claims and supporting evidence were in gaining and maintaining control. Despite being principles established in the past, it is still relevant to businesses today.…

    • 1939 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ldr 531

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Leadership can be defined as a process by which one individual influences others toward the attainment of group or organizational goals. There are three points about leadership that should be emphasized. First, leadership is a social influence process. Leadership cannot exist without a leader and one or more followers. Second, leadership elicits voluntary action on the part of followers. The voluntary nature of compliance separates leadership from other types of influence based on formal authority. Finally, leadership results in followers ' behavior that is purposeful and goal-directed in some sort of organized setting. Many although not all, studies of leadership focus on the nature of leadership in the workplace (Advameg Inc., 2010).…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, Machiavelli advises leaders in the mid 1500’s on how to be efficient and effective leaders. Machiavelli explains to these rulers different strategies on how to maintain their position, handle the problems that often arise in their state, protect their land, and how to express themselves in front of their citizens. Machiavelli is debatably one of the most famous political figures ever to arise in Europe. His opinions on how to run a country are both liked and disliked by the reader, making it one of the most famous works of European literature ever.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Prince, Machiavelli writes about the ways in which a prince should rule and serve up to his expectations. Many rulers look towards The Prince as a guidebook that enables them to experience the ruling systems of the past and incorporating these principles to their period of time. Even though Machiavelli wrote The Prince primarily due to the situation that his city of Florence was currently in, his advice and suggestions reach distances far apart from Florence, rather, it reaches the entire world as seen by the situations of rulers in Rome and in Western Europe. However, despite all of these differences in ruling, there are universal principles in which a prince must follow in order to form the true qualities of a successful leadership…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Lumby& Coleman 2007:1 ( as cited in Lumby & Morrison,2010:6) define leadership as “the conduct of emotions, thought and actions which are designed to influence others in a chosen direction”.…

    • 2878 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Prince” is an extraordinary work by Nicolo Machiavelli that is timeless in its discussion on ruling nations. The fundamental question branches out to much of the discussion in “The Prince” is whether it is better for a ruler to be feared or loved. According to Machiavelli, it would be desired for a ruler to be able to balance his or her level of love and hatred from the country. However, Machiavelli believes that the nature of man is “ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, [and] covetous.” Therefore, Machiavelli says that it is safer to be feared. Yet, he does still give tremendous merit towards being loved. The final matter is that no matter what approach a ruler decides to take, he or she must remain faithful to that approach, make…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Leadership Theories

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Historical Evolution of Leadership Thought since 1900’s To Present Leadership is defined as “an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.” (Daft, 2005, p.31). This influence has been periodically evaluated through indicators like quality and results (Maxwell, 2004, p.48) influencing the different approaches. Because an effective vision within leadership directly stimulates the achievement of a common goal (Northouse, 2007, p.3), Maxwell unmistakably states that “failure or success depend on leadership” (Maxwell, 2004, p.35). The requisite of an outstanding leader who can communicate a shared vision towards motivated followers is, therefore, maximized. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the progressive theories of leadership, as well as motivating leaders to continue influencing positively a constantly evolving environment. Great Man Theories (GMT) GMT, the earliest approach (Daft, 2005, p.23), was popularized by Carlyle (1840’s) and influenced by assuming that the ability of leadership is inherit to a “Great Man” who would upsurge as a great need, equal to his capacities, would rise. This protagonist role was “reserved for male sex” (Daft, 2005,…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr Soler Leadership Model

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As Kouzes and Posner (2003) wrote for a person to become a leader there must be a relationship between those who want to lead and those individuals who decide to follow the leader. Relationship is imperative to have a successful leader.…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fielders Model

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Leader-member relations: The regard with which the leader and the group members hold one another determines, in part, the ability of the leader to influence the group and the conditions under which he or she can do so. A leader who is accepted by the group members is in a more favorable situation than one who is not. Task structure: Factors that determine task structure are 1.) can a decision be demonstrated as correct, 2.) are the requirements of the task understood by everyone, 3.) is there more than one way to accomplish the task, and 4.) is there more than one correct solution. If the group’s task is unstructured, and if the leader is no more knowledgeable that the group about how to accomplish the task, the situation is unfavorable. Leader…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Relationship-driven leaders are more empathetic, patient and tolerant. They approach decision-making subjectively, using personal values as a guide and examining how each option will impact others. Yet, while they are adept at listening and forging personal connections, they can sometimes appear too concerned about what others think or too weak to make tough decision.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays