First Chapter of “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene.

 Topic of the Chapter: Never Outshine your Master!

 

Now, the presupposition is that you work in a hierarchy.

With respect to your position in the hierarchy, there are three levels:

                    I.            People who are above you in rank.

                  II.            People who are of the same rank as you.

                III.            People are below you in rank.

We’ll take into account the three levels one by one.

 

I.            People who are above you in rank

 

At this level as well, with respect to your talents and abilities there are three kinds of people you will encounter:

 

a.      People who have reached this prominent level by working extremely hard throughout the years and thus are way more knowledgeable and capable than anyone around.

b.      People who have worked moderately hard and reached a good enough level and are good nonetheless, but not invincible.

c.      People who have somehow gotten at this prominent level with their art of survival through sycophancy, deception, or a million other ways and shapes in which we find successful people thirve. The ability level of these people can be reached even if one works nonchalantly through the years.

 

Now, the first chapter of the book deals with these three types of people in the (I) category. These are well known in your spheres as superiors. The bottom line is that all these people are vain and consider themselves to be at the center of the universe. This is particularly true when they are dealing with people like you, i.e., their inferiors, who are below than themselves in rank and order.

 

In this category, the people in sub-category (a) are extremely self aware and secure within themselves and are of strong character, while people in sub-categories (b) and (c) are very insecure and thus of weak character. Nonetheless, all of them suffer from the god-complex as already explicated above.

 

Your job while meeting and greeting these people to meet your ends is to make them feel comfortably superior to you. You transgrees this rule and you are heeding for trouble. Trouble which could even end up in getting yourself fired!

 

This (a) sub-category will feel comfortably superior albeit you don’t show some exceptional capability of yours in order to impress him without acknowledging his years of toil that has led him to the success he has today. If you take care his ego at first and then are wary of not getting above yourself, in showing your talents and capabilites in front of him-you’re fine.

 

However, while dealing with (b) and (c) categories’ people, you must take extreme caution, as you might even offend a person in these categories by not doing anything at all, because of your sheer charm, talents etc. Thus, with these kinds, you must appear meek and might even have to deliberately commit small mistakes which doesn’t hamper you in the long run. This is to give the impression that you need the help of his expertise to thrive. And that-you will!

 

Thus, with superiors, you have to let them outshine you as well as all the others!

 

 

II.            People who are of the same rank as you

 

Again, at your level as well, three categories of people will exist-who all, will believe that they are better than you-some would actually be, others are just insecure and unaware of the truth. However, the truth about you is what you show about yourself. Remember that all success is odious and brings about envy and unnecessary troubles along your way. So, your job, even with these people, is to find their better qualities and let them outshine you at trivial moments just to put them off guard. However, when important moments occur in-interviews, reviews, client meetings etc. You take the power among your contemporaries while still staying the most humble and yet showing your traits eloquently; at the places where real value matters.

 

 

III.            People who are below you in rank

 

Again, at this level as well there are people who are better than you, same as you, and worse than you, compared to what you were at their position.

Your job is to provide enough help to all these people so that they don’t think by themselves and never learn the work of the higher level. Thus, you jam their competence at their own level. And never let their level of competence rise above that of yours.

 

It is important in all these endeavours to be extremely patient and maintain an enigma of yours among all the people in the hierarchy as well as outside. This comes from gulping down your secrets and talents and bringing them about only inasmuch as is required for your own good. You must think about yourself-not the hierarcy! If you go way beyond, in espousing your abilities, it would definitely help the hierarchy but might ruin you!

So contain yourself, be patient-the time would definitely come for you to explicate your powers, until then, stay meek!