The Prince · Part 3, The people around you · Idea 9 of 12

Judged by Your Circle

Machiavelli on why people judge a leader by the people around them. From The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, 1513.

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Where it comes from.

For fourteen years, from 1498 to 1512, Niccolò Machiavelli served Florence as a secretary. He wrote its letters, went on its missions and watched rulers up close.

Then the Medici returned to power, and he lost his post. In 1513, writing The Prince, he gave one chapter to the advisers a ruler keeps close. He knew that job from the inside.

3 more screens in the appThe rest of the story, and where it turns up in your own week.
The idea in short

In chapter 22 of The Prince, Machiavelli wrote that the first guess at a ruler’s mind comes from the people around him. Anyone who knew Antonio da Venafro thought his master, Pandolfo Petrucci of Siena, clever for choosing him. You need not have every idea yourself, he said, if you can tell good advice from bad.

People judge your mind by the minds you keep close. Practical advice: before you hire or lean on someone, ask what that choice says about your judgment.

Well established · checked against 6 sources

Make it yours.

Make it your step

List the three people you rely on most, and what choosing them says about you.

Ask your council

“I’m about to hire my first team member. How can I tell good judgment from a good interview?”

Sources.

  1. The Prince, translated by W. K. Marriott, Niccolò Machiavelli (Project Gutenberg), 1513The text
  2. Niccolò Machiavelli, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019
  3. Venafro, Antonio da, Enciclopedia machiavelliana (Treccani), 2014
  4. Petrucci, Pandolfo, Enciclopedia machiavelliana (Treccani), 2014
  5. Niccolò Machiavelli, Wikipedia, 2026
  6. Machiavelli, Niccolò (Giorgio Inglese), Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Treccani), 2006

The Prince, in 12 ideas.

  1. 1
    See It As It IsMachiavelli on how people really live, not how they ought to
  2. 2
    Catch the Fever EarlyMachiavelli on dealing with trouble while it is still small
  3. 3
    Change Has Lukewarm FriendsMachiavelli on why change has fierce enemies and lukewarm friends
  4. 4
    Build Banks in Calm WeatherMachiavelli on fortune as a flooding river, and the banks you can build
  5. 5
    Feared, Never HatedMachiavelli on whether to be loved or feared
  6. 6
    Be the Lion and the FoxMachiavelli on the lion that misses traps and the fox that cannot fight
  7. 7
    Make the Decision StickMachiavelli on why leaders who waver end up despised
  8. 8
    Bad News All at OnceMachiavelli on doing hard things at once and good things slowly
  9. 9
    Judged by Your CircleMachiavelli on why people judge a leader by the people around them
  10. 10
    Ask Widely, Decide AloneMachiavelli on taking advice without losing your own mind
  11. 11
    Get Off the FenceMachiavelli on why staying neutral rarely keeps you safe
  12. 12
    Fight in Your Own ArmorMachiavelli on why borrowed strength lets you down
PreviousBad News All at Once
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Read the rest in Counsel.

Judged by Your Circle and the other 11 ideas of The Prince, a minute at a time.

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Every idea is drawn from the public-domain text, and its names, dates and quotes are checked against the sources listed with it. The paintings are made for Counsel; they show the scene, not a historical record.

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