By: John S. Morlu II, CPA
The lion side is obvious: dominance, power, and the ability to scare your enemies (or employees) into silence. Think of Elon Musk firing entire departments overnight like a lion swiping at gazelles. Or Jeff Bezos bulldozing bookstores with the roar of Amazon Prime. The lion doesn’t negotiate; it eats first.
Fun Fact: Lions sleep 20 hours a day. So, in real life, being a lion is less about constant aggression and more about strategic laziness. You don’t fight every battle—just the ones that matter. Napoleon didn’t fight every skirmish personally; he let his marshals sweat it out while he plotted Europe’s chessboard. That’s lion energy.
The Fox: Deception, Wit, and Knowing When to Smile While Stabbing
The fox is the slick operator. It’s Steve Jobs convincing you that paying $1,000 for a rectangle with no buttons is visionary. It’s politicians promising “change” while changing only the wallpaper in parliament. It’s Warren Buffett smiling grandfatherly on CNBC while quietly buying up half of Nebraska.
Interesting Tidbit: Foxes can hear a mouse squeak under two feet of snow. Translation: the fox notices everything—tiny signals, market shifts, people’s weaknesses. That’s why they always survive. Kodak was all lion—big, roaring, unbeatable. Then the foxes (hello, Apple) came along and snapped them out of existence.
Real-Life Mashups: The Lion-Fox Combo Meal
- Julius Caesar: A lion in war, a fox in politics. He conquered Gaul by brute force but strolled into Rome as “defender of the Republic.” Spoiler: he wasn’t.
- Oprah Winfrey: Lion when she built a billion-dollar media empire, fox when she sold you diet books while serving bread baskets on set.
- Vladimir Putin: A lion shirtless on horseback, a fox planting trolls on Facebook.
- Taylor Swift: Lion when she drags her exes in songs, fox when she re-records her albums and makes fans buy them twice.
Common Sense Takeaway
People who are only lions get eaten by lawyers. People who are only foxes get eaten by life itself. You need both. Be the lion when someone questions your invoice. Be the fox when you’re about to send that 2AM text.
Example: In corporate life, the lion says, “We need this report by Monday!” The fox quietly delegates it to the intern, takes credit, and books a golf trip. Both get promoted, but only the lion-fox hybrid ends up CEO.
Satirical Punchline
If you’re only a lion, you end up roaring in a zoo while kids throw peanuts at you. If you’re only a fox, you end up as roadkill on the highway. But if you master both, congratulations—you just became Machiavelli’s dream: the manipulative zoo owner selling tickets to both.
Machiavelli’s Modern Playbook
Rule #1: Roar Loud Enough to Be Noticed, Then Whisper Like You’re Innocent
- The Lion Move: Announce big, bold, scary things. Example: Elon Musk saying he’ll colonize Mars before fixing Twitter.
- The Fox Twist: Quietly shift the goalposts. When Mars doesn’t happen, rebrand it as “building hype for innovation.” People clap anyway.
👉 Lesson: Loud entrances get attention, but clever pivots keep reputations intact.
Rule #2: Hide the Claws Behind Gucci Gloves
- The Lion Move: CEOs slashing 20% of staff. Brutal, decisive, efficient.
- The Fox Twist: Calling it “rightsizing” and offering a free therapy hotline. Suddenly the massacre looks like a wellness retreat.
👉 Fun Fact: The Roman Emperor Augustus once exiled his enemies instead of killing them—same outcome, fewer riots.
Rule #3: Build Alliances, Not Friendships
- The Lion Move: Demand loyalty. Make your allies swear oaths, sign NDAs, and tattoo your logo if possible.
- The Fox Twist: Keep them close with benefits, gossip, or mutual secrets. People who owe you can’t betray you—at least not cheaply.
👉 Real-Life Example: Netflix’s password-sharing “crackdown.” First, they let everyone freeload (fox). Then, once addicted, they charged everyone double (lion). Result? Record profits.
Rule #4: Master the Art of Strategic Laziness
- The Lion Move: Strike fear by doing less. Lions sleep 20 hours—yet nobody forgets they’re the king.
- The Fox Twist: Make inactivity look like strategy. Buffett sits on piles of cash while everyone panics. Later, he swoops in cheap and calls it “patience.”
👉 Common Sense Tip: Sometimes not responding to that email is the most Machiavellian thing you can do.
Rule #5: Manipulate Narratives Like a Netflix Scriptwriter
- The Lion Move: Dominate headlines. Trump did this by yelling so loudly that silence itself felt suspicious.
- The Fox Twist: Control the storyline. Taylor Swift doesn’t just drop an album; she plants Easter eggs so fans write their own fan theories. She sells you work you did yourself.
👉 Satirical Punchline: Be the headline, then be the footnote that rewrites the headline.
Rule #6: Fear is Currency—Spend It Wisely
- The Lion Move: Scare rivals. Remember Genghis Khan? People surrendered to rumors of his brutality before he even arrived.
- The Fox Twist: Use fear sparingly. A boss who always screams gets tuned out. The smart boss screams once a year—people write LinkedIn think-pieces about their “visionary leadership.”
Rule #7: Always Have a Scapegoat in Your Back Pocket
- The Lion Move: Never admit mistakes.
- The Fox Twist: Blame “market conditions,” “the algorithm,” or “global supply chain disruptions.” Bonus points if nobody knows what those mean.
👉 Example: Every airline: “We’re not incompetent; it’s the weather.” Even when the sun is shining.
Rule #8: Appear Virtuous, Stay Dangerous
Machiavelli said it’s not necessary to be good—just look good.
- The Lion Move: Post a photo feeding orphans in Africa.
- The Fox Twist: Deduct it as a “marketing expense.”
👉 Fun Fact: The Medici Bank sponsored art and churches, not because they loved Jesus, but because it covered up their loansharking business.
Final Word: The Lion-Fox Hybrid Is Basically the CEO Archetype
- Only Lion? You’re WeWork’s Adam Neumann: loud, overbearing, eventually ousted.
- Only Fox? You’re Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes: sly, sneaky, eventually jailed.
- Lion + Fox? You’re Rockefeller, Oprah, or Taylor Swift. People hate you, fear you, admire you—and still buy tickets.
🔥 In 2025, being a fox gets you followers, being a lion gets you funding. But being both? That gets you a documentary called “The Genius Nobody Saw Coming.”
Author: John S. Morlu II, CPA is the CEO and Chief Strategist of JS Morlu, leads a globally recognized public accounting and management consultancy firm. Under his visionary leadership, JS Morlu has become a pioneer in developing cutting-edge technologies across B2B, B2C, P2P, and B2G verticals. The firm’s groundbreaking innovations include AI-powered reconciliation software (ReckSoft.com) and advanced cloud accounting solutions (FinovatePro.com), setting new industry standards for efficiency, accuracy, and technological excellence.