Five hundred years ago, Niccolò Machiavelli said of leadership that “it is better to be feared than loved.”

Machiavelli was a philosopher, a politician, a diplomat, as well as a historian and a playwright. He is known for writing several comedies as well as carnival songs which thrilled audiences in his day.

I make no effort in this column to praise or disparage any specific leader by name, but rather to examine Machiavelli’s contention that given the choice between the two, fearing a leader is better than loving one.

A recent study on the qualities of leadership noted 10 characteristics of a good leader. At the top of the list was good communication followed by good listening skills, passion and commitment, positivity and innovation. The study also noted that good leaders excel at collaboration with those under their charge. Honesty is very highly rated as well as empathy and humility.

Those who serve military officers, business bosses and government leaders want to believe that the man or woman in charge understands their level of life, is not condescending or belittling, and does not abuse the power entrusted to them by their title.

The 34th President of the United States, Dwight. D. Eisenhower, once said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader. How can you expect your followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself? Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs, and without ethics, this will not be possible.”

Inspiring others may be the most difficult challenge for a leader. As John Quincy Adams put it, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Another quality is accountability. Successful businessman Arnold H. Glasgow said, “A good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his share of the credit.” He also said, “One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”

Business writer Geoffrey James said, “Treating your employees well is ultimately more profitable than squeezing them into misery.” James referenced the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America,” and statistics prove to him these businesses outperformed their Machiavellian competitors.

Empowerment of those a leader serves can also be essential to their performance. When leaders trust in their team’s decision-making and problem solving, they receive the best in performance and desired results. Writer Sarmad Hasan said, “Provide them with all the resources and support they need to achieve the objective and give them a chance to bear the responsibility.”

Hasan added, “Leaders should develop empathy with their followers. Unfortunately, most leaders follow a dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to this, they fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding the problems of your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an effective leader.”

I worked under several principals and administrators during my tenure as a high school educator. Only one was highly effective. The students feared him; the staff loved him. He was tough on discipline with the kids, but fair and empowering to his faculty. He never tried to clone a particular instructional style. He praised the unique differences in each teacher and encouraged us to teach in our own style and from our own comfort zone.

I also worked under a principal who the students loved because they got slaps on the wrists when they broke the rules. In time, this principal lost control of the school and was replaced.

Then I taught under a principal who micromanaged every detail that had little to do with student achievement. As the morale of the staff worsened, he became even more dictatorial, threatening to write negative evaluations for teachers who didn’t do everything his way. He did not support his staff upon resolving a conflict.

A colleague of mine gave an honors student an “F” on her research paper for plagiarizing much of it. After he proved this to her parents and to the principal, they asked if she could write the paper over again. The teacher said no because he had warned his class that plagiarism was automatic failure. The principal overruled the teacher, permitted the student to do the paper again, and then gave her a “B” after the teacher refused to grade the rewrite.

Sometimes the best leaders are those who do not seek the title or the authority.

J.K. Rowling, in her book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” wrote, “It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”

Machiavelli believed in rigid authority. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.” Spell out the consequences of failure and lead by intimidation, he said, but President Abraham Lincoln defined leadership by a moral code.

“Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong,” said Lincoln.

Winston Churchill agreed with Lincoln in that a great leader makes a decision trusting his heart more than his head.

“Before you can inspire with emotion,” said Churchill, “you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself, believe.”

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.