The World's Best Book Summaries
Overview of Law #18: Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself—Isolation is Dangerous Never isolate yourself when you come under pressure. This just cuts you off from information you need and people who could help you, and when real danger arises you won’t see it coming. Instead, make a point of being outgoing. Contact with others increases your power. Isolation is dangerous.
Overview of Law #3: Conceal Your Intentions Always conceal your intentions. If you keep people off-balance and in the dark, they can’t counter your efforts. Send them down the wrong path with a red herring or create a smokescreen and by the time they realize what you’re up to, it will be too late for them to interfere.
Overview of Law #8: Make Other People Come to You—Use Bait if Necessary Make your opponent come to you. When you force others to act, you’re in control. Bait them, then attack. Make other people come to you—use bait if necessary.
Ever wonder how you can be mysterious? Or how being mysterious might benefit you in work and life? Mystery can bring you power. If you’re mysterious, people want to know more, and their lack of knowledge and desire to figure you out gives you power over them. Use the examples below to learn why and how to be mysterious to gain more power over others.
Overview of Law #14: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy Collecting information through spying is essential to wielding power. When you know your opponent’s secrets, you can predict his behavior and control him. You can enlist spies to gather intelligence for you, but it’s better to be a spy yourself. Adopt a friendly manner and you’ll get people to spill their plans and weaknesses. Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy.
Overview of Law #21: Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker Play a sucker. Make your intended victims feel as though they’re smarter than you are, and they won’t suspect you of having ulterior motives. Seem dumber than your mark.
Do you ever wonder how to be unpredictable? Do you wonder why you’d want to be? Learning how to be unpredictable can help you gain power by taking your enemy by surprise. We’ll cover how to be unpredictable, why you’d want to be unpredictable, and what history can teach us about the power of unpredictability.
Who was Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord? And how did the aristocrat manage to remain a powerful French diplomat and politician after the French Revolution brought down the monarchy? In particular, what can we learn by analyzing the Talleyrand-Napoleon relationship? The Talleyrand-Napoleon relationship was a complex one. Napoleon didn’t trust Talleyrand, but Talleyrand was too good an aide to give up. We’ll cover the 7 lessons about maintaining power we can learn from analyzing the Talleyrand-Napoleon relationship and Talleyrand’s canny diplomacy strategies.
Overview of Law #7: Get Others to Do the Work for You, but Always Take the Credit Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit. Use their skill, time, and energy to further your ambitions while taking full credit. You’ll be admired for your efficiency and accomplishments, while your helpers will be forgotten.
Overview of Law #16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor Once you’ve become well-known and admired, use absence to increase respect and honor. The more you’re seen and heard from after a certain point, the more you cheapen your brand. People will lose interest and respect for you. But if you make yourself scarce for a while, you’ll renew people’s respect and appreciation.