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Books offering instruction on how to succeed in business have drawn inspiration from diverse sources. Recent titles include
Jesus CEO,
The Kabbalah of Money,
Zen and the Art of Making a Living, and of course,
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. Now comes a volume of career tips loosely based on the ideas of Niccolò Machiavelli. A citizen of Florence during the height of the Renaissance, Machiavelli scandalized moralists with his now-classic work of political theory,
The Prince. In it, he calmly describes and appears to justify the lies and cruelty of effective leaders. He may have been the world's first exponent of Realpolitik.
The New Machiavelli quotes liberally from The Prince and imitates its quaint style throughout. The book offers thoughtful perspectives on many modern business topics--starting a business, mounting an unfriendly takeover, managing people, controlling costs, handling public relations. Yet, Machiavellian it is not. Where the master endorsed dishonesty as though he had read Bill Clinton's popularity ratings, McAlpine warns would-be tycoons that cheaters never prosper. In The New Machiavelli, moralism lives.
Its imitation of Machiavelli's rhetorical style keeps it wonderfully free of modern management jargon. Occasionally its insights strike home with eloquence. Surely everyone in business has sometimes lain awake at night running spreadsheet numbers in his or her head. All will recognize the wisdom of McAlpine's advice, "Under no circumstances should the businessperson engage in mental arithmetic after sunset." --Barry Mitzman
Book Description
Ignore the latest buzz about the kinder, gentler world of new age, team-based management. It's dog-eat-dog out there, and the sooner you realize it, the better. The New Machiavelli mines Machiavelli's The Prince for the timeless rules and stratagems that can help today's business rulers survive and prosper in the jungle of greed and treachery that is commerce. Alistair McAlpine enriches Machiavelli's text with scenarios from modern business, offering keen new insight into what motivates people. You'll learn the reasons why:
* Loyalty is not a reliable factor in the workplace
* Great power is held by the "little people" in a business
* It is better to spread power than to centralize it
* You should never believe your own publicity
Fail to read it at your peril.
"For most of my lifetime politicians have been trying to tell businessmen how to go about their tasks ... Both groups, however, will enjoy this shrewd commentary on Machiavelli's timeless principles of skullduggery."-Margaret Thatcher
"Anyone working in corporate America who doesn't find, read, and master Alistair McAlpine's amazing new guidebook to the art of politics in business may soon find themselves self-employed." -Charles Saatchi, Partner, M&C Saatchi
"Written in a style, like Machiavelli's own, at once didactic and charming... A work which is a standing satirical reproof to the various management manuals which promise corporate success."-Times Literary Supplement
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