Machiavelli\'s Concept of the Prince

Machiavelli's concept of the Prince and Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching are intriguing facets that touch on many aspects of leadership. These facets deal with human life and existence in the world. From the study reiterated on the relation between the two bodies of knowledge, it is evident to find commonalities and differences that exist between them. Machiavelli's concept of the Prince and Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching are rudimentary to human virtuous existence, stability of political and social themes, and equitable leadership and power of the leaders over the people. This piece of study has endeavoured to explore on the relationship between Machiavelli's concept of the Prince and Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching.

The two passionate individuals portray ancient inceptions up to the present day avenues of power. The paper analyzes the political ideals and precepts connotative to the Prince and Tao Te Ching. This is a political situation concept that relays the perceptions, intentions, suggestions, activities, and knowledge concerning how to manage and exist within a hand of a political movement. Machiavelli's concept of the Prince and Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching have given differing and similar perceptions and thoughts. These perceptions and thoughts depend on different political avenues and agreements in the world. This piece of writing attempts to exemplify all of these facets and bodies of knowledge (Wren, 1995).

Machiavelli's concept of the Prince and its political ideals

According to Machiavelli, "since it is difficult for a ruler to be feared and loved, it is much safer to be feared than loved if one of the two must be lacking."Machiavelli has a firm form of leadership and management in the world. According to Machiavelli's concept of the Prince, the end is a clear justification of the means. This is what Machiavelli believed when he expressed his opinions on the Prince. He admitted that hard times were being experienced by many people in the world due to the kinds of leadership they explored. According to Machiavelli's concept of the Prince, it is crucial for leaders to show certain levels of shrewdness and hardness to the people. Machiavelli expressed sentiments of cruelty and hardship in leadership. He accepted many peripheries of leadership and management as long as they did brought a good result or ending. Many people give limited attentions as they view Machiavelli's concept of leadership and political exemplification. They take him to be genuine and giving credit to the existence and dominance of certain political and traditional perceptions in the societies.

Machiavelli's concept of the Prince advocates for sheer determination and compassionate establishment of leadership practices among leaders in the world. According to Machiavelli, future leadership trends depend on the present perceptions and comparative approaches used by the present leaders. In Machiavelli's concept of the Prince, the present trends of leadership should not be lenient or of sheer honesty and likeness of the people. Machiavelli perceives that similarity of the index should depict a high level of performance rather than trying to please every person. Future leaders perceive fruits from the methods of leadership exemplified by the past leaders. According to Machiavelli, it is pointless to have a mass of people perishing in dominance by other nations as they try to embrace their lenient subtexts and explanations of relating to them. This is where Machiavelli's concept of the Prince reiterates the importance of a leader to be shrewd and cruel in order to mark and keep his boundaries in the world (Machiavelli, 1988).

In most of his connotations and advocacies, Machiavelli is in full support of a republican mode of leadership among leaders. He is particularly sceptical when it comes to use of virtues and other facets that try to bring cohesion and equitable management of people and property within a nation. Attainment of principality is not a guarantee. This applies even when leaders try to embrace a number of facets that are perceived to be virtuous and relevant to a good leadership pattern. According to Machiavelli in his writing of the Prince, principles do not come easy as thought by many leaders and constitutional builders. Machiavelli decides to take a cruel and shrewd perception and intention of leadership. He is regarded as sceptical to any form of virtuous existence. He predicts dominance of a republican mode of leadership over principality.

In his perception of the principality and republican natures of leadership, being republican enables a leader to adapt to a diversity of circumstances. Lao Tzu voices this idea. Principality is only associated with a planned and perceived plan of actions and implementation of ideas. Failure of principles in implementing a given set of principles relays a narrowed mind and subsequent destruction or defeat by the opponent parties. According to Machiavelli's concept of the Prince, this cannot happen with ease under the dominance of republicanism. According to an understanding of the Machiavelli's concept of the Prince, human perceptions and believes are rooted in a stable and invariant character.

Leadership and dominion by a single man cannot be handled for the last time. Rather, this precept will keep its connotations and values to every society. Man is intrinsically precarious and unable to change its old ways of leadership and management in the society. According to Machiavelli, it is better to adapt and relate to a diverse environment full of differing circumstances other than a prince who perceives and wishes for diversity from its citizens.

Various historical injustices and happenings were rampant during the time of Machiavelli and the writing of his book on the Prince. One of the firm examples given by Machiavelli is that of the Roman military evolution strategy that was directed at the Hannibal. When the circumstances changed for the worse, the leaders who had taken charge were able to shift their styles of dominance and approach of the enemy. Change of approaches from those that looked to be aggressive to those of calm and endurance enabled these leaders to live within their capabilities and dominance of shape. The leaders who managed to embrace such leadership trend, like Fabius Maximus, became successful in keeping the enemy at bay. With such an example, Machiavelli was able to reiterate that change of events requires flexible responses from the leaders. Such leaders need to be republican and not principled in nature.

After learning of several pitfalls of being a good leader, Machiavelli decided to keep in stands with the need for the Borgia family to move in with power and seize its power and property. Here, Machiavelli relies the need for leaders to learn to "not be good" in order to keep a balance of power towards people. Lao Tzu explores this idea and explains the need for leaders to be diverse in order to respond to differing circumstances. According to his book on "The Prince," Machiavelli states that it is necessary for leaders to start learning on how to offer power even without ethical considerations and perceptions. Such a move will try to establish stability of state since people are of varying characters and intentions. According to Machiavelli, a king is supposed to be a real primate whose responsibilities should be thought to come from a supreme being. This idea shocked many people who had not thought Machiavelli to embrace perceptions of that nature. The prince is a true mockery of the existence and dominance of ethics and morality in many societies.

As forwarded by Machiavelli, it is worthwhile to have leaders who embrace cruelty and hardship in order to usher balance of state affairs in a country. According to Machiavelli, many good leaders fail to respond to circumstances and challenges because they have decided to embrace a stable principled leadership that could be inflexible in one way or the other. According to Machiavelli in the Prince, most successful leaders are not those who acted in accordance to the ethical perceptions, law dictates, and truthful conscience and justice. According to Machiavelli's concept of the Prince, good leaders can only be successful if they engage in every way possible to bring sanity and stability of a state. The Machiavelli's concept of the Prince is a total mockery of the fact that leaders should dominate a noble character.

Nonetheless, Machiavelli perceives this as a noble character that ensures the preservation of the leader's power and stability of the nation as a whole. Moreover, the Machiavelli's concept of the Prince illustrates equitable stands that were used by many leaders and rulers in the world. The cosmological perceptions of many leaders are not a warranty of successful and happy leadership paradigms. Nonetheless, Machiavelli perceives that people are of varying intentions and perceptions. This calls for variance in the styles of leadership and dominance in the societies. The existence of laws and ethical considerations does not warrant equitable leadership. In many cases, it is beneficial to have a stand of legible leadership that shifts its attentions depending on the nature of the circumstances just to make sure that power has been kept stabilized together with sovereignty of the nation.

Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching

The Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching is fundamental to leadership and management in various societies of the world. Lao Tzu exemplifies various responses and characteristics that should be dominant in every leader. As compared to the modern approaches used by Machiavelli, Lao Tzu has increasingly ushered a number of steps that should be used by a leader in relaying justice and equitable living. According to Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching, a ruler is supposed to be wise and with the intention of manipulating the public. Lao Tzu proposes that any ruler should exemplify cases of unselfishness, sage, and corporate thinking skills where he or she thinks of his people as a priority. According to Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching, leaders should have the ability to appear invisible and quietly in order to lead people through minute interventions that have no conflict in nature.

According to Lao Tzu, leadership is about taking the superior hand in order to have the fragments are acquainted to the mechanisms of existence and dominance. In most cases, it becomes imperative to have a superior leader who follows a given platform of operation and hence gets things done. According to Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching, leader superiority is a measure of how a leader imparts responsibility and delivery of instructions to its subordinate members and workers. Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching exemplifies various connotations required of a leader who takes after the safety and rule of a nation. In most cases, it becomes easy for an individual to be a superior and hence have the other departments of growth and production live within a specified body of knowledge and skills. According to Lao Tzu, many leaders in the world are superior. This facet coincides with the initial steps taken by Machiavelli when he asserted that leaders should strive to live and act within the dictates of law, regulations, and ethical universals.

Lao Tzu exemplifies that leaders should have an innate responsibility of using little efforts and motions in order to achieve the set objectives. Leaders should be positioned to lead as an example. With equitable demonstration of leadership qualities and assignments, a leader will be able to impart change on an individual or group of people. According to Lao Tzu, it is import for a political leader to be wise and act according to the rules and regulations. Such steps will enable people to be viewed as the first in the list of priorities. Moreover, Lao-Tzu's concept of Tao Te Ching advocates for anarchism and no use of force or coerce attributes for governance. This is contrary to the last thoughts supported by Machiavelli.

As advocated by Machiavelli in his writings of "The Prince," Lao Tzu discourages moral knowledge in leadership and dominance. Machiavelli supported the idea of a primitive and moral society. Lao Tzu exemplifies that moral teachings are responsible for diverting one from Tao. Moreover, Lao Tzu notes that morality is a good facet in any political movement. Nonetheless, it becomes easy for any organization or political movement to live under ethical and moral teachings without involving other attributes that forge for a communal existence of the components of a political movement. Such a perception is similar to Machiavelli's perception that a leader should be cruel and unethical at some instances in order to manage certain circumstances that threaten the existence and stability of the state at hand (Laozi & Lee, 2000).