acocording to Clemens and Mayer, Machiavellian politics can easily be translated to encompass modern concerns. Machiavelli was, of course, the "first management thinker to actually bring power out of the closet" (Clemens and Mayer, 1987, p.105). even so power is rarely addressed and remains a kind of taboo in management. what do we personally think of power? would we rather be powerful or powerless?