"The Character of Leadership"--a review
...iavelli’s observations. Furthermore, they said nonprofit leaders must learn to use practical and principled politics and look not at the world through rose-colored glasses, but as it really is if they would desire to succeed as leaders. They termed this practice as the Machiavelli Principle. According to the authors, this principle advocates that leaders “must take…realistic politics seriously.” (pg. 5) Moreover, political idealism will not further the leader’s cause; instead, if leaders dispose of that which is actually happening in the world in favor of a Utopian dream that exists only in our imaginations, they are sure to face “only frustration and ruin.” (p. 3). Through his observations, Machiavelli came to believe that appropriate qualities of character, what he termed “virtù”, could be taught and learned. These qualities--integrity, courage, flexibility, talent, and prudence – define humans as who they are, how they behave, how they feel, what they think, and what choices they make. It determines our paths. Machiavelli’s definition of virtù, however, is not necessarily synonymous with the contemporary definition of virtue and morality or the leader’s ability to “conform to professional and social codes, or to avoid transgressing certain professional or personal taboos.” (p.104) Instead, it is a political quality, a person who...