LAW 34: Be Royal in Your Own Fashion: Act Like a King to Be Treated Like One

Law 34 of The 48 Laws of Pow­er empha­sizes the impor­tance of pro­ject­ing a regal demeanor, argu­ing that how one car­ries them­selves sig­nif­i­cant­ly impacts how oth­ers per­ceive and treat them. Robert Greene asserts that when you adopt an air of con­fi­dence and com­po­sure, you sig­nal to the world that you are wor­thy of respect and atten­tion. This law posits that act­ing like a king—even if you are not one—can help you com­mand respect, open doors to influ­ence, and posi­tion your­self in such a way that oth­ers feel com­pelled to treat you with the dig­ni­ty you project. This prin­ci­ple high­lights the pow­er of self-pre­sen­ta­tion and the role that con­fi­dence plays in shap­ing one’s real­i­ty and oppor­tu­ni­ties.

One of the most strik­ing exam­ples Greene presents is the sto­ry of Louis-Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, who rose to pow­er dur­ing a tumul­tuous peri­od in France. Louis-Philippe, instead of embrac­ing the tra­di­tion­al sym­bols and behav­iors asso­ci­at­ed with monar­chy, made the deci­sion to down­play his roy­al sta­tus, attempt­ing to align him­self with the mid­dle class. He sought to make him­self more relat­able and acces­si­ble, hop­ing to win favor with the bour­geoisie and busi­ness­men who had helped him gain pow­er. How­ev­er, this deci­sion proved to be his down­fall. By attempt­ing to appear hum­ble and ordi­nary, he lost the respect of both the aris­toc­ra­cy and the com­mon peo­ple, alien­at­ing all social stra­ta. His fail­ure to embody a strong, regal pres­ence dimin­ished his legit­i­ma­cy and author­i­ty, lead­ing to his abdi­ca­tion and exile. Louis-Philippe’s sto­ry under­scores the cru­cial les­son that those in posi­tions of pow­er must main­tain respect­ful, dig­ni­fied appear­ances if they hope to retain author­i­ty and avoid being under­mined by their own inabil­i­ty to com­mand respect.

In stark con­trast, Christo­pher Colum­bus pro­vides an exam­ple of some­one who, despite hum­ble begin­nings, suc­ceed­ed in using his con­fi­dence and bold self-pre­sen­ta­tion to gain immense influ­ence and achieve his goals. Colum­bus, although not of noble birth, pro­ject­ed him­self as a man of stature and impor­tance, which enabled him to win over the Span­ish mon­archs Fer­di­nand and Isabel­la. His strate­gic dis­play of confidence—coupled with his insis­tence on receiv­ing treat­ment befit­ting a nobleman—helped secure the finan­cial back­ing he need­ed to embark on his ground­break­ing voy­ages. Colum­bus’s abil­i­ty to act as if he were roy­al­ty, despite his lack of title or wealth, demon­strates how pro­ject­ing con­fi­dence and treat­ing one­self with the dig­ni­ty of a king can open doors and attract the sup­port of pow­er­ful fig­ures. His abil­i­ty to align his image with nobil­i­ty helped him secure a place in his­to­ry, illus­trat­ing how effec­tive the strate­gic use of self-image can be in achiev­ing sig­nif­i­cant suc­cess.

Greene argues that one’s suc­cess is often deter­mined not only by their exter­nal cir­cum­stances but also by how they per­ceive them­selves and how effec­tive­ly they project this self-per­cep­tion. Peo­ple who act con­fi­dent­ly, car­ry­ing them­selves with dig­ni­ty and grace, are more like­ly to be respect­ed and giv­en oppor­tu­ni­ties, while those who appear unsure or self-effac­ing often find them­selves dis­re­gard­ed. Self-pre­sen­ta­tion is about act­ing the part you wish to play, not only in pri­vate but espe­cial­ly in the eyes of oth­ers. Greene high­lights that true pow­er lies in being able to believe in your worth and dis­play it con­fi­dent­ly, regard­less of your cur­rent stand­ing. By hold­ing your­self in high regard and pro­ject­ing that through your actions, you auto­mat­i­cal­ly ele­vate your sta­tus and inspire oth­ers to rec­og­nize your val­ue. This prin­ci­ple is fun­da­men­tal to under­stand­ing how charis­ma and con­fi­dence can trans­late into gen­uine pow­er.

The chap­ter also cau­tions against the dan­ger of arro­gance, which is often mis­tak­en for con­fi­dence but is actu­al­ly a sign of inse­cu­ri­ty. Arro­gance often stems from defen­sive­ness, where­as true con­fi­dence emanates from calm self-assur­ance. The key dif­fer­ence is that a regal demeanor doesn’t seek val­i­da­tion or atten­tion but rather projects an aura of self-suf­fi­cien­cy and dig­ni­ty. Greene sug­gests that main­tain­ing dig­ni­ty and self-respect is more cru­cial than attempt­ing to assert supe­ri­or­i­ty over oth­ers. The most influ­en­tial indi­vid­u­als are those who exude an effort­less and calm confidence—not those who try too hard to appear supe­ri­or.

Greene also empha­sizes that pow­er often lies in per­cep­tion. The way peo­ple see you can often be more impor­tant than what you actu­al­ly have. If you present your­self as a leader, as some­one wor­thy of respect, oth­ers will fol­low suit. Self-assur­ance, com­bined with the right social cues, can project an image of author­i­ty, open­ing doors and oppor­tu­ni­ties that might oth­er­wise remain closed. In a world where per­cep­tion is often real­i­ty, the way you car­ry your­self can dic­tate your suc­cess. This prin­ci­ple is espe­cial­ly rel­e­vant in mod­ern times, where brand image and pub­lic per­sona often play a sig­nif­i­cant role in a person’s career and influ­ence.

Ulti­mate­ly, Law 34 advo­cates for self-empow­er­ment through the art of self-pre­sen­ta­tion. By embody­ing the qual­i­ties of a king—confidence, dig­ni­ty, and composure—you inspire respect and ele­vate your stand­ing. This doesn’t require actu­al nobil­i­ty or wealth; rather, it is about pre­sent­ing your­self as some­one wor­thy of those things. Con­fi­dence and self-respect are pow­er­ful tools that can shape how oth­ers per­ceive you, ensur­ing that you rise to your right­ful place of author­i­ty and influ­ence. As Greene advis­es, treat your­self with the dig­ni­ty of a king, and oth­ers will be com­pelled to treat you as one.