Darth Vader on Leadership

6 January 2009

| Peter Klein |

The Dark Lord’s leadership secrets, sure to become a staple of future MBA courses:

  1. Use fear.
  2. Don’t tolerate dissent.
  3. Punish incompetence.
  4. Deal exclusively on your terms.
  5. Use loyalty judiciously.
  6. Always look for talent.
  7. Know that power is what matters.
  8. Get out there and lead. [Remember the end of Episode IV: Vader ended up better than Grand Moff Tarkin.]
  9. Finally, always remember that an elaborate, far-reaching plan, which relies on people reacting exactly how you plan for them to react, is always better than a simple plan.

Full story here (via Art). Can’t wait for the book.


Entry Filed under: - Klein -, Ephemera. .

2 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Donald A. Coffin  |  7 January 2009 at 3:10 pm

    I think it’s useful, at this point, to post a link to a set of rules for evil overlords:

    http://www.netjeff.com/humor/item.cgi?file=evil.overlord.txt

  • 2. Fred Thompson  |  7 January 2009 at 4:24 pm

    The first 7 rules worked for Hitler, Mao, Stalin (it was evidently piloted for him during the revolution by Lenin & Trotsky), and Pol Pot. One might add, suck up to powerful allies on the way up, stab them in the back when you get a chance and then squash them like toads, or, periodically encourage dissent so you can identify independent thinkers and liquidate them in the next round of purges. Always hold something over the folks you rely on. Look for talent, but it’s best if your thugs and aren’t too smart or too ambitious.

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