Law 42 of 48
Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep Will Scatter.
Target the leader or central figure in a group or organization to disrupt its cohesion or influence. By removing or neutralizing the leader, you can undermine the unity and effectiveness of the entire group, leading to disarray or dissolution.
Independent commentary on a principle popularised in The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors or their publishers.
What it actually means
Persistent trouble in a group usually traces to one source, and answering the ripples one at a time never ends. This cuts both ways: it also explains why a hostile person aims at whoever holds a group together. Look for the cause, and notice when someone is working on yours.
Where you would have seen it
A team turns sour and everyone blames the workload. In fact one person is briefing against each colleague privately. Nothing improves until someone stops patching the symptoms and raises it with that person directly.
Try it today
Take one complaint you keep patching and trace it to its source today. Deal with the source once instead of the symptom again.
Where this shows up
Law 42 tends to come up in these parts of life. Follow a path to read the other laws that belong with it:
Laws that go with it
If law 42 landed, these are the entries people usually read next — they cover overlapping ground: law 1, law 7, law 11.
Never Outshine the Master.
Competence is rarely the problem; displaying it in front of someone whose position rests on being the capable one is.
At WorkLeading PeopleLaw 7Get Others to Do the Work, but Always Take the Credit.
Read plainly this is theft, and it is worth understanding mainly because it will be done to you.
At WorkLeading PeopleLaw 11Learn to Keep People Dependent on You.
Being needed is not the same as being valued, and a deliberate bottleneck is the weakest security there is: the moment you are indispensable in one narrow place, you are also unpromotable.
At WorkLeading People