The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

The Passive-Tyrant Strategy: The person you are working for
seems to be bubbling with energy, ideas, and charisma. They are a bit
disorganized, but that is normal—they have so much to do, so much
responsibility and so many plans, they can’t keep on top of it all. They
need your help, and you strain every fiber of your being to provide it.
You listen extra hard to their instructions and try to execute them.
Occasionally they praise you, and this keeps you going, but sometimes

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they rail at you for letting them down, and this sticks in your mind
more than the praise.
You can never feel comfortable or take your position for granted.
You have to try harder to avoid these nasty temperamental rants.
They’re such perfectionists, with such high standards, and you’re not
measuring up. You rack your brain to anticipate their needs and live in
terror of displeasing them. If they were actively ordering you around,
you would simply do what they asked. But by being somewhat passive
and moody, they force you to work doubly hard to please them.
This strategy is generally used by those in power on their
underlings, but it could be applied by people in relationships, one
partner tyrannizing the other by simply being impossible to please. The
strategy is based on the following logic: If people know what it is that
you want and how to get it for you, they have some power over you. If
they follow your instructions and do your bidding, you cannot criticize
them. If they are consistent, you can even grow dependent on their
work, and they can squeeze concessions out of you by threatening to
leave. But if they have no idea what actually works, if they can’t exactly
discern what kind of behavior draws praise and what draws
punishment, they have no power, no independence, and can be made
to do anything. As with a dog, an occasional pat on their shoulder will
deepen their submission. This was how Michael Eisner exercised
dictatorial control over everyone around him, including Jeffrey
Katzenberg (see chapter 11 for more on this).
If people quit on these tyrants, they are fine with that. This
demonstrates that the individual retains some independence, and they
will find a replacement who will be more submissive, at least for the
time being. They may also increase their difficult behavior to test
certain individuals and get them to quit or submit. Such tyrants may
try to act like helpless children. They are the temperamental artist or
genius type, so naturally brilliant and absentminded. Their pleas for
assistance from you and their urgent need for you to do more seem to
express their vulnerability. They use such feigned weakness to justify
the ugly nature of their tyranny.
It is very hard to strategize against such types, because most often
they are your superiors and have real power over you. They tend to be
hypersensitive and prone to anger, which makes any form of resistance
or inner detachment hard to maintain. Overt rebellion will only make

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the situation worse. You must first realize that this strategy of theirs is
more conscious than it appears. They are not weak and helpless but
cunning tyrants. Instead of lingering on anything positive they’ve said
or done, think only of their manipulations and harshness. Your ability
to detach from them emotionally will neutralize the obsessive presence
they try to instill. But in the end nothing really will work, because if, in
their hypersensitivity, they detect your distance, their behavior will
only get worse. The only real counter is to quit and recuperate. No
position is worth such abuse, for the damage to your self-esteem could
take years to recover from.