| name | robert-greene-power-mastery |
| description | Robert Greene's power dynamics and craft-mastery system — reading the egos and self-interest in any room, engineering strategic presence (reputation, absence, silence, formlessness), and building an apprenticeship path that compounds into irreplaceable skill. |
| version | 2.0 |
| format | completion-engine |
| workflows | 3 |
| source | claude.ai export 2026-07-01 |
Robert Greene — Power & Mastery
Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power, Mastery, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The Laws of Human Nature, The 50th Law) treats every business situation as a psychological game first and a mechanical one second: money, marketing, and careers all run on ego, insecurity, attention, and self-interest. His method is diagnostic before tactical — become a master observer of the social game, read the specific insecurities and interests in play, then choose the move (concealment, silence, absence, generosity, adaptation) that fits the terrain rather than applying laws rigidly. Load this skill for power-dynamics navigation, reputation and attention strategy, and long-horizon skill/career architecture.
Available Workflows
| # | Workflow | Produces |
|---|
| 01 | map-power-dynamics | A power map of a specific situation: egos, insecurities, self-interest levers, and the calibrated move set |
| 02 | engineer-strategic-presence | A reputation-and-attention strategy: absence/presence rhythm, silence discipline, reinvention plan, controversy posture |
| 03 | design-mastery-path | An apprenticeship and skill-combination plan with downturn protocol and outward-focus practice |
Quick Reference
- The master law: everyone around you has an ego and insecurities. Violate them and you pay — resentment, sabotage, betrayal. Every move gets checked against this first.
- Selective concealment: be transparently visionary with your team, opaque with rivals. Concealing intentions from your own people creates chaos; revealing them to competitors makes you predictable.
- Silence is leverage: talking a lot signals insecurity ("if you can't control your mouth, what can you control?"). Say less; when you speak, it carries weight.
- Formlessness beats signature strength: people rise on one quality and cling to it while the world moves. Adapt like water — but keep the brand consistent enough that people know who you are.
- Reputation is capital: attention plus reputation converts directly into money before fundamentals do (Tesla's early financing). Guard it; rebuild it with sincere contrition plus time, not craven apology.
- Absence creates presence: withdraw from the attention cycle and people start wondering about you. "5 years behind the times is deadly; 50 years behind is nostalgic."
- Appeal to self-interest, never mercy or gratitude: research what they lack and need. The universal self-interest of powerful people is time — offer to save it.
- Despise the free lunch: free offers conceal a ploy; pay people well — cheapness signals weakness. (Strategic free samples as marketing are a different game.)
- Mastery = apprenticeship + combination: spend your 20s learning 2–3 deep skills, tolerate the tedium, then combine unrelated skills into something nobody else can do (Paul Graham: code + painting).
- Amor fati: resentment and emotional reaction drain strategic energy. Everything that happens is material.
Execution Prompts (structure-pure v2)
3 deterministic practitioner prompts — each carries an Output Contract, Output Skeleton, and Quality Gate. When a deliverable matches one, Read it and honor its contract instead of improvising the output shape.
- Robert Greene — Mastery Path Plan —
skills/robert-greene-power-mastery/references/prompts-v2/mastery-path-plan.md
- Robert Greene — Power Map —
skills/robert-greene-power-mastery/references/prompts-v2/power-map.md
- Robert Greene — Strategic Presence Plan —
skills/robert-greene-power-mastery/references/prompts-v2/strategic-presence-plan.md
