Loyalists are your Praetorian Guard, the devoted foot soldiers whose first duty is to their Emperor. They are bound to you in some way personally and identify your success with their own. Because of this they can be trusted to pursue your agenda (i.e. you) without the need for elaborate containment strategies. Moreover, you can be more open with Loyalists about the agenda. As Extensions replicate your actions, so Loyalists replicate your ego, image and attitudes.
Image has a far greater impact on your chances of getting ahead than mere substance, and so Loyalists are therefore extremely valuable, so valuable in fact, that it is worth spending significant effort on creating and maintaining Loyalists and loyalty. The next post looks at ways of achieving this.
Image has a far greater impact on your chances of getting ahead than mere substance, and so Loyalists are therefore extremely valuable, so valuable in fact, that it is worth spending significant effort on creating and maintaining Loyalists and loyalty. The next post looks at ways of achieving this.
A quick glance at a history book, however, will reveal that at least a quarter of Roman Emperors were actually murdered, or at least deposed, by their Praetorian Guard. What went wrong? The answer lies in a more careful study of the reasons for their disloyalty. In every case, the Emperors failed to distinguish clearly between two kinds of Loyalists, each motivated differently. These are Prateorians and Dependents.
Praetorians are those who (correctly) perceive that by clinging on to your coat-tails, they will get ahead of the game themselves. Although they are loyal to you personally, this loyalty is motivated by self-interest. When you are no longer able to serve their interests, their loyalties are suspect and they should be treated as normal Extensions, Inferiors, Minions or Specialists accordingly.
Dependents need you personally, as parent-figure, proxy-object-of-desire, rock or some similar motivation. They are devoted to you for reasons not grounded rationally. Unless you openly betray their dependence, they are unquestioningly loyal, even when it is not necessarily in their interests to do so.
To return to our Roman Emperors for a moment, they too often failed to perceive that their Praetorians were mostly interested in the ability of the Emperor to deliver money and gifts, the ancient equivalents of workplace salary-rises and promotions, and/or failed to ensure that the Commanders of the Praetorian Guard were Dependents. The result: suspect loyalties.
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