Robert Greene authored 48 Laws of power in 1998. I heard about it before reading. The first law seems like the most powerful and controversial. At first, I read and saw some limitations in the law, but the story of Louis XIV and finance minister Nicolas Fouquet clears all.
Loius is a powerful king in the 17th Century of France. His favourite quote was “L’etat, c’est moi!”, which means “I am the state”. He sees himself as the most powerful and Sunlight for everyone. And have the power to decide whatever he wants.
Nicolas Fouquet stood by the king and vowed to give him any service. And to please him enormously. In the 17 Century France, Nicolas Fouquet built his Chateau in his estate of Vaux-le-Vicomte and when the Prime minister of Paris died, the King dissolved the role instead of to replace it with Nicolas Fouquet.
So, Nicolas thought of a way to get the King's attention so he could get to the position of the Prime minister.
He made his Chateau looks exceedingly good than anyone in the city, even more beautiful than the King’s palace and called people including the King to see his mighty works. The King saw the reactions of the people and he was angry. Fouquet intension was different, but he unintentionally outshone his master and made the King feel insecure. He was arrested the following day for the missing of some funds from the country treasury account, and he spent twenty years in prison until his death. Though the accusation was false; he suffered the mistake of outshining the master.
This is a great lesson from the past, and it is still happening until this point. We could learn many lessons from this story and I will talk about them down the page.
Boss vs Leader
I have worked with bosses and leaders. There are different sets of people. If you are working with a boss, you got to be more careful when taking or showing your points in every matter. Both bosses and leaders could feel insecure when you seem to lead the table, but leaders could take some things lightly.
I will take a few from my experiences, and how I applied the rule and attained the same level as my boss at work, but he continued to feel superior.
I had a friend. He was working as the sectional manager of a company. He was doing pretty well there and was receiving, like, $700 a week. He used his connection to take me into the company. I joined as a lower staff and I did nothing without his approval. There was a time he would do some silly mistakes. He will reach out to me and I would help him get it fixed and he will take the Glory from the company.
There was a day they gave him an enormous task. He could not do it. He reached out to me and I finished the work for him. When he presented the work to the top Boss, he (the Boss) was marvelled, and he (my friend) was given a promotion for the work I helped him to do. He did not mention my name at all, but I was getting enormous benefits from him. It seemed like I was living in the shadow. But he knew how useful I was to him.
I called him “Boss”. I do tell him - “I know nothing, you taught me”. His reactions were always good. Sometimes he will say, “Mike, you are a smart guy. I know, stop telling me I taught you”. But I kept saying it because I knew he likes it. When it got to a time, a huge vacancy was open in the company. And it is a sectional manager of another part, like my friend.
He called me one day and said “Mike, would you like to fill in this place”, I told him, yes, and he talked to the top boss and they made me the sectional manager. And my salary was almost the same as his. Despite all, I call him Boss, and he continued to favour whatever I do.
Learning from these
Present your ideas in a way that shows your boss’s thoughts
Never let your boss feel you are smarter than them.
Give them credit for everything you do.
Also, while trying to be yourself, you can outshine your master and this will stir problems for you.
Never feel your master loves you and you can do anything you want.
Like I did, make this law to your advantage by flattering your master always. And let them continue to feel superior to you.
Have a great day!