Throughout world history, there have been countless examples of triumphant and failed leaders whose ideas and forms of governing a nation, state, or community of people varied considerably. Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat and political philosopher of the late 1400s, taught that to be a good leader, your people must fear you. He also believed that leaders “should have no other object, no other thought, nor undertake any other profession than that of war” (Machiavelli). While Lao Tzu, a 6th century philosopher and father of Taoism, taught that good leaders must “learn to follow” their people and trust that they will make the right decision (Tzu). I believe Machiavelli's idea of ​​ruling by fear is not good and this; “Simplicity, patience and compassion” are the greatest values ​​a leader can have. In the book “The Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli he writes about power: how to obtain it and how to maintain it. In it he makes the analogy of two men and says: "It is not reasonable that one who is armed should willingly obey one who is unarmed" (Machiavelli). Machiavelli is right here; an armed or feared leader would not have to worry about his people stepping out of line because harsh punishment, such as death, would precede it. However, this concept of leadership overlooks the fact that the person who holds the most power over others will inevitably not do what is right or necessary for his or her people. Machiavelli famously professed that if great rulers want to maintain their power, they must learn to "not be good." In today's world, Niccolò Machiavelli's teachings on how to lead would not work because the world is not as chaotic as it was in the past. his time. Italy, d...... middle of paper ......to have little or nothing in common but beneath the surface they share an important characteristic: patience. The Tao teaches that if a leader is “patient with both friends and enemies, they will come to terms with the way things are” (Tzu). John F Kennedy appears to have taken this page directly from Tzu's book on 16 October 1962; the first day of the Cuban Missile Crisis. JFK received intelligence from U-2 planes flying over Cuba of Soviet soldiers setting up nuclear missiles. It was calculated at the time that if a crisis led both sides to launch nuclear weapons, “all humans in the Northern Hemisphere could die” (May). For fourteen stressful days, JFK had no choice but to hold his breath and wait patiently to see what would unfold from this difficult situation. Thanks to President John F. Kennedy's extreme patience and caution, the world escaped nuclear war.