The 50th Law - 50 Cent [57]
Understand: a group of any size must have goals and long-term objectives to function properly. But human nature serves as a great impediment to this. We are naturally consumed by immediate battles and problems; we find it very difficult, if not unnatural, to focus with any depth on the future. Thinking ahead requires a particular thought process that comes with practice. It means seeing something practical and achievable several years down the road, and mapping out how this goal can be achieved. It means thinking in branches, coming up with several paths to get there, depending on circumstances. It means being emotionally attached to this idea, so that when a thousand distractions and interruptions seem to push you off course, you have the strength and purpose to keep at it.
Without one person on top who charts the way to this larger goal, the group will wander here and there, grasping at schemes for quick money, or be moved by the narrow political aspirations of one member or another. It will never accomplish anything great. You as the leader are the only bulwark against this endless wandering. You must have the strength to stamp the group with your own personality and vision, giving it a core and an identity. If you lose sight of the larger picture, then only bad things will ensue.
You must play this visionary role with some dramatic flair, like Edison who was a consummate performer and promoter. He would give dazzling presentations of his ideas, and stage events to get on the front page of newspapers. Like Moses describing the Promised Land, he could paint an alluring picture of the future that his inventions would help create. This drew in money from investors and inspired his researchers to work even harder. Your own level of excitement and self-belief will convince people that you know where you are going and should be followed.
THE UNIFIER
When Louis XIV began ruling France in 1661, he inherited an almost impossible situation. The feudal dukes and lords of France maintained tight control over their various realms. Recent ministers such as the Duke de Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin had made most of the important decisions that lay outside the control of the lords. The king had been mostly a figurehead, presiding over a deeply fractured country whose power in Europe had been on the decline for quite some time.
Louis was determined to reverse all of this, and his method was powerful and dramatic. At first he kept his intentions to himself, and then suddenly he announced to one and all that he would not appoint a minister to run the country—from now on that would be his task. Next, he ordered the aristocracy to take up residence in the palace of Versailles that he had recently constructed. The closer they lived to him in the palace, the more influence they would have; if they remained in their duchies, to conspire against him, they would find themselves isolated from the new center of power he had created.
His most brilliant maneuver, however, was the most subtle one of all. He created a cause for the French people to believe in—the greatness and glory of France itself, which had as its mission to be the center of civilization and refinement, the model for all of Europe. For this purpose, he led the country into various wars to extend France’s political might. He became the preeminent patron of the arts, making France the cultural envy of Europe. He created impressive spectacles to delight and distract the public from his power moves. The nobility were not fighting for Louis but for the greatness of the nation. In this way, he transformed a deeply divided, almost chaotic country into the