Ayn Rand, in her article "Anatomy of Compromise" in her book "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal", identifies three important principles regarding the operation of principles;

"1. In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins.

"2. In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.

"3. When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side, when they are not clearly identified, but are hidden and evaded, it works to the advantage of the irrational side."

She goes on to explain and give examples of these three cases. She did not name these cases but I did. #1 The Leadership Principle, #2 The Sanction Principle and #3 I call The Sunshine Principle. Most people are vague and unclear on what exactly they mean by leadership but this one article is worthy of deep study to get clear in your mind what leadership is and what it means to be a leader.

On a related note, you need to be clear in your mind what do you stand for, what are your goals and values and if are they compatible with the people you work with, etc. This is why thinking for yourself and clearly defining your own values is so important. That task cannot be done with others, it is strictly a selfish task to be done in solitude and failure to define who you are first will lead you to failure and unhappiness. Here is an article on that aspect of leadership.

https://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/#.VUc...