ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with Niccolò Machiavelli’s notion of leadership, and advances some thoughts about its relation to educational leadership for universities. Writing about Machiavelli is like reconstructing a mosaic: the tiles are all there, but it is easy to argue about their individual placement. One needs a guiding principle, and in Machiavelli the fi l rouge is the analysis of leadership. The right leaders, who operate according to Machiavellian virtù, understand what surrounds them, are realistic about it, prepare for the twists and turns of Fortuna, are not afraid to act as both the fox and the lion, can adapt actions to changing conditions, and can elevate the city from a state of corruption to a state of ‘good laws.’ Today, to apply his precepts we must extrapolate the normative rules from the implementation processes. Mass executions have no place in democracies, but the concept of getting rid of those administrators who may hinder the smooth running of the political process is surely refl ected in the spoils’ system.
