Do You Have a Machiavellian Boss?
By: Christine Hammond LMHC Morgan had not noticed the book, The Prince , sitting predominately on her bosses’ credenza. Perhaps she hadn’t previously been in the office long enough to look around, but now seeing the book, everything became clear. Her boss had a common saying during meetings, “The end always justifies the means,” and expected everyone to operate on that philosophy. “The end,” for her boss, was all about the bottom line and making the deal whatever the cost. While she didn’t directly encourage lying, cheating, stealing, and manipulating, it was clear from the team meetings that those who did were rewarded. It had been a while since Morgan read the book. She recalled being mortified by it but decided to give it a try again. One quote from Prince Machiavelli stood out, “ Anyone compelled to choose will find far greater security in being feared than in being loved.” This is one of the guiding principles of Machiavellians. Now Morgan could see why he