Discovered by YouTube

Marquese Scott can dance.  You can find 100+ of his dancing videos here.

He came to Google today, and I think I like his story as much as I do his videos.

He started dancing at age 12 in a skating rink in Indonesia  and quickly became engrossed.  After high school, he joined the US Navy for four years sailing around the world, but dancing still consumed his every other thought.

After finishing his service, he knew what he needed to do.  He moved to Atlanta with hopes to dance professionally.  He made videos dancing in parking lots, mostly to rap & hip-hop music (see here) and put them up online to get critiqued.  He usually got a few hundred views from other dancing fanatics.

On Sept 23, 2011, he put up this video and his life changed. 

Overnight, it received 200K views.  It now has 94M on YouTube -- that's more people than the total population of Germany or the Philippines.

He became, literally, an overnight sensation:

"Simply mind-blowing" - CBS

"Incredible" - Ellen Degenres

"Seriously, this guy makes Michael Jackson's moonwalk look like a stroll in the park" - Perez Hilton

He now invests in others.

He bought a house in Atlanta where he lives with 13 other "high potential" dancers.  He covers all their living costs so they can practice dance full-time.

Isn't that nice?

PS - If you wanna dance like him, check this site out: http://danceinayear.com/

A Machiavelli Streak in Management

You've likely heard of Machiavellianism.  It's seldom used positively.

It originated from the book, The Prince, written in 1532 about the rise of a new leader; it's considered the first example of modern political philosophy.  The book explores the philosophy that the ends (glory and survival) may justify immoral means (corruption and killing) for rulers.

Since then, the term Machiavellianism has been used by psychologists to describe a person's tendency to be unemotional, and therefore able to detach him or herself from conventional morality. By doing so, one can deceive and manipulate others for their own gain without feeling guilty for their actions.

In the experiment illustrated above, psychologists separated participants into 2 groups.

• Group 1 was made to feel like they "were in a high power position" 
• Group 2 was made to feel like they "were in a low power position"  

They were then asked to draw "Es" on their foreheads.

Participants in high-power Group 1 were 3x as likely to draw the E on their forehead so it was forwards for themselves but backwards for others, suggesting they are less likely to consider other people's views (more here).

In order to obtain power, people usually need a high level of social intelligence.  They also exhibit dynamic and engaging personalities.  It's once they achieve power that things change...

Studies show that once people assume positions of power, they tend to act more selfish, impulsive and aggressive (Source: Dacher Keltner, The Power Paradox) and have a harder time viewing the world "empathetically" (i.e., a more "Machiavellian mindset," drawing Es on their foreheads that look like 3s to everyone else).

What you see is a paradox of power:
The skills used to obtain power and lead effectively (i.e., high EQ) tend to evaporate once someone actually achieves power.

Luckily, people usually revolt against or leave this type of leader... it's only a matter of time.

Instead, it might be better to follow Lao-Tzu's advice:
"To lead the people, walk behind them."