POWER

Always Say Less Than Necessary

Power is in many ways a game of appearances, and when you say less than necessary, you inevitably appear greater and more powerful than you are. Your silence will make other people uncomfortable. Humans are machines of interpretation and explanation: they need to know what you are thinking. When you carefully control what you reveal, they can not pierce your intentions or your meaning.

Your short answers and silences will put them on the defensive, and they will jump in, nervously filling the silence with all kinds of comments, which will reveal valuable information about them and their weaknesses. They will leave a meeting with you feeling as if they had been robbed, and they will go home and ponder your every word. This extra attention to your brief comments will only add to your power.

As a young man, the artist Andy Warhol had the revelation that it was generally impossible to get people to do what you want them to do by talking to them. They would turn against you, subvert your wishes, disobey you out of sheer perversity. He once told a friend, "I learned that you actually have more power, when you shut up."

In his later life, Warhol employed this strategy with great success. His interviews were exercises in oracular speech. He would say something vague and ambiguous, and the interviewer would twist in circles trying to figure it out, imagining that there was something profound behind his often meaningless phrases. Warhol rarely talked about his work; he let others do the interpreting. The less he said about his work, the more people talked about it. And, the more they talked, the more valuable his work became.

By saying less than necessary, you create the appearance of meaning and power. Also, the less you say, the less you run the risk of saying something foolish, or dangerous. In 1825, a new czar, Nicholas 1, ascended the throne of Russia. A rebellion immediately broke out, led by liberals, who were demanding that the country modernize - that its industries and civil structure catch up with the rest of Europe. rutally crushing this rebellion ( the Decemberist Uprising) Nicholas 1 sentenced one of its leaders, Kondraty Ryleyev, to death. On the day of the execution, Ryleyev stood on the gallows, with the noose around his neck. The trapdoor opened - but as Ryleyev fell, the rope broke, dashing him to the ground. at the time, events like this were considered signs of providential or heavenly will, and a man saved from execution was usually pardoned. As Ryleyev got to his feet, bruised and dirtied but believing his neck had been saved, he cried out to the crowd, "You see, in Russia, they don't know how to do anything properly, not even how to make a rope!"

A messenger immediately went to the Winter Palace with news of the failed hanging. Vexed by this disappointing turn of events, Nicholas 1 began to sign the pardon. But then, he asked, "Did Ryleyev say anything after this miracle?" "Sire," the messenger replied, "he said that in Russia, they don't even know how to make a rope."

"In that case," said the Czar, "let us prove the contrary," and tore up the pardon. The next day Ryleyev was hanged again. This time the rope did not break.

Never start moving your lips and teeth before the subordinates do. The longer I keep quiet, the sooner others move their lips and teeth. As they move their lips and teeth, I can understand their real intentions... If the sovereign is not mysterious, the ministers will find opportunity to take and take. - Han Fei Tzu, 300B.C.
Learn the lesson: Once the words are out, you can not take them back. keep them under control. be particularly careful with sarcasm: The momentary satisfaction you gain with your biting words will be outweighed by the price you will pay.

Any questions??