I stumbled across a book:<\/p>\n
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene<\/p>\n
I found it as an audiobook at the library, but I think it would be best as a corner office bookshelf book. It’s the sort of thing you could pick up and open anywhere to read anecdotes supporting any of the 48 laws Greene outlines. It’s a fun read because of all the stories from history. Napoleon, P.T. Barnum, Kissinger, and animals in Chinese or African folk tales illustrate his laws.<\/p>\n
There are a lot of laws and so far, some of them are contradictory.<\/p>\n
But that’s how power works.<\/p>\n
As he tells the stories of how people have used power, I realize power is very prepositional.<\/p>\n
Power to…<\/p>\n
Power for…<\/p>\n
Power by…<\/p>\n
Power in…<\/p>\n
Power from…<\/p>\n
Power against…<\/p>\n
Power over…<\/p>\n
Power is in motion, and power has an object.<\/p>\n
Which makes it intrinsically unstable. It’s always in flux, and it does not sustain itself.<\/p>\n
One of the folk tales, I don’t even know where it originates, is the story of the strong tree, which mocks the weak reed.<\/p>\n
The tree stays fast, but the reed bends with every wind.<\/p>\n
Until<\/p>\n
The strong storm comes. And the wind is too terrible for the mighty tree, which topples.<\/p>\n
The reed remains.<\/p>\n
The power of the reed?<\/p>\n
Resiliency.<\/p>\n
And resilience is self-sustaining. Resiliency can be perfectly still. And it does not need any object.<\/p>\n
It’s reflexive, keeping to its own.<\/p>\n
To survive power, the powerful must remember themselves through it all. With humility and as much humor as possible.<\/p>\n
Power is fleeting. But we will always have our selves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I stumbled across a book: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene I found it as an audiobook at the library, but I think it would be best as a corner office bookshelf book. It’s the sort of thing … Continue reading