Does Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orleans sound familiar to you? He was perceived to be this king who did not wear the scepter or the crown, but rather a king who would walk down the streets of Paris with a gray hat and umbrella. He projected a rather unkingly vibe, thus, triggered the people to lose that respect for him as their leader because they thought they could push their king around. As stated in the book, “Leaders who try to dissolve that distance through a false chumminess gradually lose the ability to inspire loyalty, fear or love.”
Christopher Columbus did otherwise. He was merely a son of a humble weaver; however, he was able to create that aura that he was destined for great things and that he was bound to a kind of royalty. In his voyage, he certainly was not qualified, but because of his boldness he was able to win the king’s favor. Columbus knew how to sell himself and charm the nobility which indeed worked to his advantage.
Trick here is to set your own price. If you value yourself that much and you believe that you are destined for greatness, it will reflect through how you choose to present yourself. Three things to ignite that fire: always make a bold demand, go after the highest person in the building in a dignified way to create the appearance of greatness, and give a gift to those above you to say the two of you are equal.
This is very promising isn’t it? But would you go too far as humiliating other people or completely denying who you really are to elevate yourself? Would you choose to be someone else you’re not? Think about it.
Rhea Entuna
Hi18-L
24 comments:
in light with my other comment of the same entry, i would just like to say that desire takes a big part in this law. if you truly want to become someone who you are not, risking your reputation than go but if you're not a risk taker than just be yourself. this law entails being very self centered. you will take necessary steps just to be who you want to be without really looking back at what you've gone through to get what you wanted. everything has a price and for what? attention.
good question --
to what extent do you present yourself as something more without actually losing touch with you are are, presently. and how do you determine if you're simple confident or you've gone overboard and become arrogant, tactless?
the law depends too much upon the inspection of the Others -- the audience, etc, and not enough on one's actual skills. Louis Philippe could've been a great Duke but his profile merely states that he lost respect for wanting to become like his people.
the trouble is, people can pretend to be something they're not. that sort of con is a skill in itself and, if this law holds true, then every good con artist can raise themselves up to the highest ranks, not on skill, but pagpapakitang-gilas.
kyra ballesteros Hi18 K
Believe it or not, confidence is the key trait in making this possible. For it is what helps you put aside all those fear of being judged the way you don't want to be judged. Personally, I really like this law because it says a lot about ordinary people who are able to emerge as powerful ones by knowing exactly how to draw people into their charms. When you go up the stage and you want people to hold you in high esteem, you need to own your audience. You don't ask or beg for respect, you COMMAND respect. Otherwise, that can easily be misinterpreted as lack of strength and courage.
Chua Rojas, Serica
HI18 -L
Summarizing the questions in the last paragraph: "How far will you go to get what you want?"
Well, in the quest for power, you'd go to all lengths, wouldn't you? These are the laws of power and if you are that power-hungry, you'd do whatever it takes to achieve whatever power you want. Whatever it takes. Everything it takes.
Reading the title of the law reminded me of Mean Girls (the movie starring Lindsay Lohan). Lindsay Lohan and her crew tried to discredit the most popular girl, Regina George. They tried to embarrass her and one of the ways they tried doing so was when they put two blotches of paint of whatever in her shirt in the breast area. Instead of being embarrassed, Regina George didn't care. She still believed she was all that, and well, she was. Wearing a shirt with 2 blotches in the breast are became a trend. She acted like a queen, and she was treated like one.
Another example I can think of is in a book I read before. The "cool" girls dressed really badly (because someone sabotaged them), but instead of the school laughing at them, they were awed and became a trend.
It's comparable to a line I read and it went something like "I thought she [popular girl] became a nerd, but she just changed the definition of cool and I still want to be like her."
If you believe in yourself, and believe you should be treated with respect, you will be. You don't grovel. Why should you? You're the man/"king".
Theresa Rosario Tan
hi18k
A certain sense of arrogance is of course needed to portray a certain image... but then again too much of it will just lead to insults and negative criticism from the audience. Of course it goes to say that if u wanna be the part, look the part, act the part. To get what? Attention? (sure, why not). Or maybe even respect? (a definite must have).
Jame N. Say
Hi18 K
To be regal and pomp is one thing, to be recognize a King and a ruler another. Your example of Louis Philippe is only one particular case yet there are also examples of great rulers who live and experience the life of a commoner and in doing so knew what must be done to rule his empire properly. An example of this would be the great Qin Emperor Kangxi who went around dressed as a commoner or sometimes even a peasant in order to know and deal with the true problems of his empire. His reign was one of the most prosperous in Chinese history and he is also considered to be one of China's most beloved emperor despite being a Manchu(tribe residing in Manchuria who would later conquer china and established the Qing Dynasty) a most hated barbarian to the eyes of the of the Chinese Han majority.
Aaron Chan Hi18K
@ Aaron
You do have a point. Maybe what's missing also in this law is the element of how the people regard you or how they take you. It just deemed upon me that there are people who act that they are boss but the people take it as if he or she is assuming - in our words: "feeling great, hindi naman great."
Rhea Entuna
Hi-K
oops! Section L pala!
hahaha
Rhea Entuna
This is an important key to gaining respect from other people, which one needs if he truly wants to be powerful... Everything depends on how you present yourself.
I don't think you need to humiliate other people or deny who you really are in following this law. You just need to "act like a king" right? Actually, you shouldn't humiliate others, because these are the same "others" you are trying to gain respect from. And also, you're not denying who you really are, since that's already who you really are - that's who you think you are (a king or whatever).
on what Kyra Ballesteros said, i think "pagpapakitang-gilas" is important for this law. It's all about image,right? Show people what you can do, and be thoroughly good in doing it. That's part of the "king" act...I mean, if those con artists suddenly decide not just to con people, but to gain higher ranks, i think they'd really be successful.
Chris Macalinao
Hi18 - L
I think this law goes hand in hand with law 28,which is to enter action with boldness. You determine the way you will be treated by other people. If you seem confident, others would think that there are reason behind your confidence, which most likely is having talents / knowledge worth bragging.
I liked the part where it was mentioned that the "trick is to set
your own price". We have to believe and love ourselves first, then, others would do the same. We have to value ourselves. To answer the last questions, I think it is good to think positive of oneself but humiliating other people to elevate oneself is not recommendable. I think balance is important in everything and anything.
Yu Chin Hong
Hi18-K
To your last question, I think that a certain amount of pretension is required if one wishes to build an image of royalty and power. A leader must appear spotless and perfect and unflawed to be able to project an image of trustworthiness. I think that leaders--even in small aspects--have to pretend to be someone that they're not.
The danger to applying this law is that not all people can be fooled by pretension. And sooner or later, one's flaws will be exposed. An image is just an image, after all, and as soon as people see past the front, a leader who relies on his image will certainly lose power.
Chio Cebrero
Hi 18 L
I cant help but remember the movie A Knight's Tale when the late Heath Ledger did a noble act of challenging a feared duke in a jousting match when no one else would. He acted like a king and thus received help from the duke later on in the movie. Acting like one long enough could eventually lead one to actually believe he IS a king.
Denis Flores
Hi 18k
This law for me is very essential. To be treated like royalty, act like royalty. Being born to be a king doesn't necessarily bring you the outmost respect that the people can give. sure you will be respected but not in a way like other do. you have to emit a certain aura that when people see you, they can be stunned by awe.
Villamor Dagamac Jr. L
It’s all about confidence. You have to exclude yourself from the norm and stand out. Now the extent you do it depends on how greatly you want to be treated. Like how Theresa summarizes the questions in the article “How far will you go to get what you want?” The amount of respect and greatness is directly proportional to how much you put into it. You have to know what do though. Continue acting great by showing your own assets, or acting great and royal to others’ expense?
Mara Liboro
Hi18-K
To look on the other side of things, acting all elegant and above who you really are may cause people to really hate you if they see what you're doing. The important thing is, if you're portraying yourself as something you're not, be sure that at least you're working towards it and it's not just a mere mask you're wearing. Maybe then, you can generate the respect you're trying to gain. But once people see that it's just a facade, you lose more. You lose not just the respect you're trying to gain, but also the respect they had for you at the start.
Now, the question of how high you can set your standard is very tricky. It could spell the differences between realistic, ambitious, determined, and delusional. Therefore I also think that the image you want to portray cannot be too far from your real self at the present.
Ayo Canlas
Hi 18 L
I totally agree with this law. Image is everything. To gain respect from the people, you must give off an aura of greatness; an aura that states that you can become a great man. If you have this, I believe that many people will follow you. Take for example, Alexander the Great. He gave off an aura that he is destined for greatness. Because of this, he was able to gain the loyalty of his men. Soon, he nearly conquered the whole world.
Sean Co
Hi18 K
I just commented on the similar entry below. Good leadership needs to be substantiated with other qualities such as kindness, flexibility, understanding, and the like. Louis-Philippe's intentions to live in equality with his subjects may have been good, but I guess he forgot that his leadership responsibilities to them really did make him different, and that he had to function accordingly.
Peep Warren
Hi18-L
this works to a certain extent. it DOES make an enormous difference and can be enough to convince people when you act a certain way. it can't always work though. there's got to be more to you than what people are shown at first. otherwise, the truth (if you aren't really the way you pretend to be or show people that you are), will come out and no one will believe you anymore. it does make sense though that.. in order to be respected/trusted/loved/feared/whatever-ed, you must first know that you are worthy of such a feeling. if you yourself are not convinced, how can you expect others to be?
krsitina tan
hi18 k
@ kristina
Really good point. Conviction in what one deserves will spell out the difference. You have to have that deep sense of self-regard and believe that you are worthy of that kind of regard. We should always remember that we become worthy, first by believing that we are worthy.
Rhea Entuna
section L
The external manifestation of how we present ourselves will more often than not, be the basis for how people judge us. If people don't know you personally, they'd most likely treat you according to the demeanor you present. With all this in mind, it is important that one generates, as Rhea said, an aura of respect by presenting ourselves in a way that shows greatness (which can be done in many ways).
I agree with what most people replied; consistency in upholding an image is important in trying to attain respect. If the "character" we are trying to show others is far off from who we really are, there would be trouble. There are people who could see through this, so it would be best that we don't stray to far off from who we try to be.
Paolo Banaga
Hi 18-L
It's unjust to go far as to humiliating others. I believe that the only way you choose something you're not is if it was given to you forcefully or you have no other choice. However, if it is something you've been dreaming of your whole life then that case just means you are destined (or at least you worked your way up) to be better and greater than you were.
I was just wondering though, what was Louis Phillipe's point in doing such thing? Was he unhappy or not content?
Czarina Kathryne Masagca
Hi18-L
One must go through certain heights and obstacles in order to gain success and power. Unfortunately this law hold as a stepping stone to gain both. It is difficult to act as if your somebody else in order to gain power. More often than not people reject this law because of moral ethics towards others. Personally, I think that there is a way to find a perfect balance with this law does does not necessarily lead to one changing his or herself completely.
Richard Hahn
L
I like this law because I like how it gives people the option to be royal "in your own fashion." For some this may mean literally dressing in purple or in modern day times, wearing the latest designer outfits. Some may take this as being powerful or having many connections, while others may just adopt the air that is often associated with royalty.
@ Yu Chin- I agree that you are responsible for how you are treated and regarded by others and that this law related with Law 28. Being treated like a king can also have its downfalls which happens when a leader isn't ready for the responsibilities that subjects often bestow upon their king.
Regina A. Yulo
Hi 18 L
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