We all know Machiavelli and his book “The Prince”. People become fixated with the theme of “the end justifies the means” but there are so many more lessons in leadership from him.
3 of my favorite and most useful quotes from Machiavelli are:
“A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savor of it.”
“When nations have been acquired as stated have been accustomed to live under their own laws and in freedom, there are three courses for those who wish to hold them: the first is to ruin them, the next is to reside there in person, the third is to permit them to live under their own laws, drawing a tribute, and establishing within it an oligarchy which will keep it friendly to you.”
“Now, as the fact of becoming a prince from a private station presupposes either ability or fortune, it is clear that one or other of these things will mitigate in some degree many difficulties. Nevertheless, he who has relied least on fortune is established the strongest. Further, it facilitates matters when the prince, having no other state, is compelled to reside there in person.”
Excerpt From: Machiavelli, Niccolò. “The Prince.” iBooks.
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What it translates to and comes down to is this-
- A GOOD leader follows the path that other GREAT leaders have gone down before. If you follow the path, and you do not achieve greatness, you will at least be GOOD.
- The best leaders are the ones who struggle and live along with those who they lead.
- The people you are leading need to believe you don’t have a fall back plan. That this job, this gym, the team is IT. That you will fight for it.
If you are going to be a good leader in your gym as a business or as a coach look at what GREAT coaches and business leaders have done.
There is no job too small, too dirty or too big for you to work on or at least try to do. Your staff will respect your effort. They will see that you are struggling right there next to them.
Show up! Much of my gym related business these days is done on a computer. I could do this work anywhere. At home, at a cafe, even in a bar that has WIFI. But I show up at the gyms everyday I am in town.
How much do you know about the people you work with? What are they struggling with? What was the best part of their day yesterday? What’s going on in their life?
How much do they know about you? I am NEVER one to share too much about things in my life. This has backfired on more than one occasion. I would caution you not to cross the line into whining but it is ok to be human.
