Closing Words

Machiavelli is not an easy companion. He saw the world with cold, clear eyes, and some of the advice he gave to rulers is advice no decent person should follow. Yet I have found him, again and again, to be a useful one. He refused to pretend that the world works the way it ought to. He paid close attention to what people actually do. He knew that chance plays a large part in every life, and he insisted that our own effort and preparation still matter. And in his own worst years, without power or position, he did his finest work.

This book has tried to read him as an ordinary worker might: someone who will never rule a state, but who must govern the small territory of their own working life every day. In that territory, his clear eyes are a gift. They help us see where decisions are really made, which problems are small enough to fix today, who is flattering us and who is telling us the truth, when the times have changed and when it is time to return to our first reasons.

What this book has added to Machiavelli is the other half of the picture: honesty, fairness and care. The quiet prince sees traps but does not set them. Leads with respect, not fear. Builds a good name through deeds, not images. Keeps the same spirit in good and bad fortune. I believe that this combination is not only kinder than Machiavelli's own advice, but, in the long run of a working life, wiser.

If you take one thing from this book, let it be the habit of looking at your working life as it really is, and then acting well within it. Clear eyes and a decent heart are a strong combination. They will not protect you from every flood. But they will help you build good embankments, choose honest advisers and keep your footing when the river rises.

About Machiavelli and His Works

Niccolò Machiavelli was born in 1469 and died in 1527. For about fourteen years, from 1498 to 1512, he served his city-republic as a senior official and envoy. When the republic fell in 1512, he lost his posts. In 1513 he was imprisoned and harshly questioned on suspicion of a plot, and then released. He spent most of his remaining years in reduced circumstances, writing, keeping in touch with friends and hoping to return to public service.

The Prince was written in 1513 and published in 1532, after his death. It is a short book in twenty-six chapters, addressed to a young ruler, about how rulers gain and keep their states. In this book, it is cited by chapter, for example "The Prince, chapter 25".

The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy were written in the years after The Prince. They are a long reflection, in three books, on the history of the ancient Roman republic as described by the Roman historian Livy, and on what that history teaches about how free states are founded, kept and renewed. In this book, they are cited by book and chapter, for example "Discourses, Book 3, chapter 1".

Machiavelli also wrote a famous letter to a friend in December 1513, describing his days on his small farm and his evenings of study, in which he first mentions The Prince. All passages from Machiavelli's writings in this book are given in my own plain paraphrase, not in quotation. Where Machiavelli recommended deception, cruelty or rule by fear, this book has said so plainly and has not followed him.

The Questions of This Book in One Place

Every chapter of this book is built around one question about working life. Here is the full list, for quick reference.

Chapter 1: How does my work actually function, as opposed to how it ought to function?

Chapter 2: What embankments can I build in this calm week?

Chapter 3: Which of my strengths are my own, and which are borrowed?

Chapter 4: How does this look from the valley, and how does it look from the hill?

Chapter 5: Is there a trap here, and how can I stand firm without setting one?

Chapter 6: Am I fair, consistent and decisive, or at risk of contempt or hatred?

Chapter 7: Am I asking for advice, or only for agreement?

Chapter 8: Who gains, who loses and how can I create solid experience of this change?

Chapter 9: Which small problem here could grow?

Chapter 10: Does my way of working match these times?

Chapter 11: Can I keep giving this for a whole year?

Chapter 12: Is this disagreement being voiced openly, or in whispers?

Chapter 13: What do my deeds show, beyond what I hope people say?

Chapter 14: What has the loss not taken from me?

Chapter 15: Why did I begin, and how can I bring that reason into today?

Using This Book With Others

Many of the ideas in this book work well when discussed with colleagues, friends or a small reading group. You might read one chapter each week and talk about how its question applies to your working lives. If you do, a few simple agreements can help. Speak about your own experience rather than about colleagues who are not present. Keep what others share private. Nobody has to answer a question they would rather leave alone.

Teams can also use some of the exercises together: the embankment plan in Chapter 2, the rules for disagreeing in Chapter 12 and the conversation about first reasons in Chapter 15 are especially suited to groups. When a team uses them, it helps if the leader takes part as an equal, sharing their own answers honestly.

A reading group or team discussion is not the place to judge individuals or to settle serious disputes. If a conversation reveals that someone is being treated unfairly or is struggling seriously, the kindest step may be to talk with them privately afterwards and help them find the right support.

About the Author

The author first read Machiavelli at a time of change and uncertainty at work, expecting to dislike him, and found instead a sharp and strangely companionable observer of ordinary human behaviour. Over many years of working in different jobs, some of his observations proved again and again to be true, and some of his advice proved again and again to be wrong. This book was written in the hope of passing on what is useful in him, and leaving behind what is not, for anyone trying to govern their own working life with clear eyes and a decent heart.

A Note on Care

If you have questions about your rights at work, your contract, your pay or unfair treatment, please find out your rights from a trusted official source or seek qualified advice. If you are being bullied, harassed or threatened at work, please seek support and use the proper channels to report it.

If work stress, worry or low mood is affecting your sleep, your health or your life for a long time, please talk to a doctor or another qualified professional. If you ever feel that you might hurt yourself, or if you are in danger, contact a helpline or a medical facility right away. In immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

The people in the examples of this book are imagined. Their situations are common ones, but their names and lives are invented, and any resemblance to real people is not intended.