The 48 Laws of Power in Practice

Law 11: Learn to keep people dependent on you

The more you are relied upon, the more power and the more freedom you have. Never teach people enough so that they no longer need you.

Application -

The book recommends finding a weak leader and becoming indispensable to them; strong leaders may not need the help. That way you gain power and importance, but you are also shielded from attacks. Be careful of following weak leaders for too long, however, as they fall out of favor with other powerful people.

There is a corporate saying that goes "everyone is disposable. Though that is true, there is an order in which people are let go based on how essential they are to the business. My friend who works for a big corporation(that you all would know) was the only person on his team that did not get let go during the pandemic. He was a mid-level manager and was not the most senior person, but he was the one that could continue the work when they fired everyone else.

Loyal to a fault -

On a Monday afternoon, they sat us all down in a conference room. The COO broke the news to us gently that our small company had been acquired. We were able to meet the owners of the new parent company, who seemed like nice enough guys. They reassured everyone that they were just there to get to know us all, "nothing will change," they said. People were on edge from that day forward, and for good reason.

A month later, I was sitting in my office on the phone on a Friday afternoon. All of the offices had glass facades so you could see out into the common areas and the other offices. One after another, I started to see co-workers walking through the common areas. Then I realized that security was with them and they were being escorted out of the building. I could barely finish my phone call. Without knowing what to do, I tried to keep working as I waited for them to come for me. They never did. I later found out they let go of half the company that day.

At around the same time, I landed another opportunity. What better time to make a move than in the face of uncertainty? Once I put in my two weeks notice, it's like I became a fly on the wall. I got pulled into meetings with the COO and new owners to help with the transition. Since I was on my way out, they spoke freely around me about other employees including their salary vs contribution. I heard the name of one of my coworkers who had been with the company for more than 30 years. At that moment, I surprised myself by speaking up. I explained that he was the most loyal person in the company, and he deserved to be given a new opportunity. And no matter what happened next, I said he should be treated with dignity. They nodded silently.

Months after I left, I found that they let go of almost everyone in the business. This included the loyal coworker, and surprisingly also the COO.

Our business was acquired for its contracts and intellectual property. They had their big team to keep things running. So only a handful of people were able to entrench themselves with the new management. Loyalty and cooperation do not matter. In the end, you are there only because they need you.