| How To Obtain Power: The Formula For Domination |
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| Written by Stan Pratt |
| Monday, 11 April 2011 10:42 |
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I've read 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli so many times I've lost count. In graduate school we studied this text as the Bible to all things strategy for its tactical and strategic concepts for how to obtain leadership at the highest levels, how to manipulate people and situations for an outcome that is favorable to the underlined agenda. People will rise, people will fall but those who understand the purest concepts of power, I mean the molecular intricacies of the contributors, stabilizers and ongoing expansion of real power are able to stay in control regardless of who the public figure is to the overall strategy.
I've read 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli so many times I've lost count. In graduate school we studied this text as the Bible to all things strategy for its tactical and strategic concepts for how to obtain leadership at the highest levels, how to manipulate people and situations for an outcome that is favorable to the underlined agenda. People will rise, people will fall but those who understand the purest concepts of power, I mean the molecular intricacies of the contributors, stabilizers and ongoing expansion of real power are able to stay in control regardless of who the public figure is to the overall strategy. John D. Rockefeller said, "I want to own nothing but control everything". He was a man that understood power as this is the ability to influence, capitalize and control everything without the liability of ownership. When I say liability I don't mean just legal but also social and reputation. In a modern world legislation has been held hostage by politicians out for control but with the reverse method of what actually works. History shows that those who insist on being the face to a movement, concept or power pyramid succeed in short term power traction only and soon become the first to go as the face to a structure is typically the first to be removed when controversy hits an organization. University intellectuals, politicians and most corporate executives lack the foundation and applicable knowledge to succeed long term in their efforts to create a legacy of power that withstands the test of time, conspiracy and upstarts who attempt a power grab with defamation. In Manhattan there is a consultant known on a first name basis to only a few but the vibrations of his invisible hand can be felt in economies that span the globe. James Scott is lead consultant and founder for a company called Princeton Corporate Solutions. Chances are, you've never heard of him or his virtually invisible boutique firm but I can almost guarantee that you're existence has been affected by decisions he's made at the apex of the economic power pyramid. His ability for psychological profile building on targeted populations to predict buying triggers and how to implement seeds to incubate in the minds subconscious to be called on in the form of 'cues' is beyond what you'll read in the confines of a text book, blog or podcast entry on iTunes and more like something out of a World War two propaganda study or CIA conspiracy file. His track record of influence is spooky, terrifying and has become my new obsession. He has mastered the concepts that the ancients have defined and proven to be the necessities for power at a level where the control and influence is automated with strategic implementation of tactics that are formulated from emotional profiles, case history, lineage of target, economic level of the future descendants of the target and many other formulas that have labeled him the 'New Machiavelli' by the most elite regional economic turnaround, globalization and power broker consultants in the world. For months I tried to find him with exhaustive web searches where I found lots of theories about him but no pictures, there are informational videos with his voice walking the viewer through obscure tangents on Regulation D and other oddities that only represent a minuscule fraction of what he actual does as a profession. Finally, a friend of a friend's father's friend (or something like that) is a member of the AEI (American Enterprise Institute) and the Manhattan Institute, where coincidentally James Scott is also a member and after a few weeks I was able to secure a sit down interview with him at 'The W' across from the Waldorf Astoria. Sometimes blogs can sum up the realities of meeting a person like this. I knew he was supposedly young, distinguished, articulate and those that helped me set up this meeting gave me insight as to the responses, words, body language and other things that set him off, "If you do something that makes him even slightly uncomfortable he will just get up and leave" is what everyone told me. When I met him he was sitting with two congressmen (who did not give me permission to mention them and I don't want the baggage of making them angry so I'll just leave it at that) who I recognized immediately from CNN and FOX. They were just drinking and relaxing. I sat down, the politicians left and there we were. One can never be fully prepared for a meeting like this. It didn't matter how much time and research I put into this I knew when my butt hit the chair that I was absolutely out of my league. I could feel his eyes running over my body analyzing my body language, when I spoke I knew he was listening more to my intonation, vocabulary rather than my actual ideas or questions. His eyes were deep, his face was without expression and in a room of fifty people or more I felt as if I was sitting on a chair only inches above an ocean of lava as I began to sweat. "Mr. Scott", I stammered, "I've read about you for quite some time and I have to ask you, why is it that you make yourself so difficult to get in touch with? I mean, why all the secrecy? It's only led to conspiracies about your intentions..." I didn't even finish my sentence because I literally ran out of air in my lungs. He leaned back, put one arm on top of the chair to his right and crossed his legs and in a matter of only a few minutes gave me an education in power and influence that defies what you'll read in "The Prince", "The Art of War" or any Robert Green book. "After all the work you put into this meeting, that's your question?" he said, "What is it that you're trying to accomplish? What is it that you want to know?" My mind literally went blank. I couldn't think and I couldn't speak so I glanced down at my pad and just said the two words that I had underlined on the page, "Power and control". He grinned and with a philosophical twist he began, "Well, power can only be had if control is established beforehand." He continued, "I was told that you are trying to understand the concepts that lead to influence in a way that is both scalable and stable and my advice isn't as technical as you may be anticipating so you may be disappointed." "No, please continue" I said. "Well" he started, "control is first established when a clear cut definition of the target has been established. The intricacies of individual emotional elements that contribute to a response and then fine tuning those elements so that the outcome of the response is aligned with a desired outcome are typically the initial benchmarks for establishing control. Once this is done, you must build a psychological profile on the targets which will encompass all of the characteristics, personal history, emotions, sorrows, successes and fears that contribute to who they are." I'll admit, by this time I had completely lost him and the only reason can I put this information on paper is because I had a recorder in my pocket that helped me retain this wisdom. He stopped speaking as if waiting for a response or counter to his formula but I sat there and the only words I could come up with were, "OK, why is it that you insist on staying behind the scenes? You don't allow your picture to be taken and you only associate with a handful of people. What's wrong with showing the public what you do? I mean why all the secrecy?" He laughed, "Well, I have a few responses to that; with exposure comes liability and with liability comes the need for explanations and with explanations the structure of real influence is lost" at this part I just remember wondering how he could have come up with such a complete definition so fast. He continued, "As for secrecy, you make it sound like some silly conspiracy or something but the truth is, what you call secrecy I call reserved because economics is like a poker tournament and in this world, the losers are slaughtered." "You need to have something that each side desperately wants and needs for happiness" he continued, "You need to fill the voids that are not satisfied by religion or things within their control. You need to be the outside force that sums up the solution to everything that makes them whole because once they've experienced this all-encompassing fulfillment they can't be without it." Careful to enunciate his next words he spoke slower, "and the ability to take away this fulfillment is where real power begins. You want to be the one that can supply it and take it away". A Zen-like explosion was going off in my mind, the dots were connecting and just as a flurry of questions made it to my lips I was interrupted by, "OK, well it was nice meeting you but I have to run". He shook my hand and before I could ask him for a second meeting he was getting in the back of a black sedan and gone. My ten minutes with James Scott changed my thinking process on corporate management, influence and implementing strategies that stay in place during the ups and downs of the global market place. I don't look at people the same. For better or worse I'm trying to stick to the principles learned in this meeting and studied online with Scott's writings. I can now understand the relevance of invisible hands reaching out and controlling the paths of the masses, I can't exactly say I know how to do it but when I watch the news and read journals I can't help but wonder if what they are saying was based on their own research or if they too have fallen prey to powers beyond their grasp who consider them nothing more than a human lab experiment. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice. Niccolo Machiavelli, and t Stanford Pages are great place to study leadership and influence |