The 48 Laws Of Power

288 LAW 34

Haile

Selassie,

rulerof

Ethiopia

for

forty

orso

yearsbeginning

in

1930,

wasoncea

young

mannamed

Lij

Tafari.Hecamefromanoble

family,

but

therewasnorealchanceofhim

coming

to

power,

forhewasfardownthe

lineofsuccessionfromthe

king

thenonthe

throne,

MenelikII.Neverthe-

less,

froman

earlyage

heexhibitedaself~coufidenceanda

royalbearing

that

surprisedeveryone

aroundhim.

Atthe

age

of

fourteen,

Tafariwent

toliveatthe

court,

whereheimme—

diatelyimpressed

Menelikandbecamehis

favorite.Tafarfs

grace

under

fire,

his

patience,

andhiscalmselflassurancefascinatedthe

king.

Theother

young

nobles,

arrogant,

blustery,

and

envious,

would

push

this

slight,

bookish

teenager

around.Buthenever

gotangry-—-that

wouldhave

been

a

sign

of

insecurity,

to

whichhe

wouldnot

stoop.

Therewere

alreadypeople

aroundhimwhofelthewould

someday

risetothe

top,

forheactedasifhe

were

already

there.

Years

later,

in

1936,

whentheItalianFascistshadtakenover

Ethiopia

and

Tafari,

nowcalledHaile

Selassie,

wasin

exile,

headdressedthe

League

ofNationsto

plead

his

country’s

case.TheItaliansinthe

audienceheckled

him

with

vulgar

abuse,

buthemaintainedhis

dignifiedpose,

asifcom-

pletely

unaffected.Thiselevatedhimwhile

making

his

opponents

look

even

uglier.Dignity,

in

fact,

is

invariably

themasktoassumeunderdifficult

circumstances:Itisasif

nothing

canaffect

you,

and

you

haveallthetime

intheworldto

respond.

Thisisan

extremelypowerfulpose.

A

royal

demeanorhasother

uses.Conartistshave

long

knownthe

valueofanaristocratic

front;

iteitherdisazms

people

andmakesthemless

suspicious,

orelse

it

intimidatesthemand

puts

themonthedefensive———and

asCountVictor

Lustig

knew,

once

youput

asuckeronthedefensiveheis

doomed.TheconmanYellowKid

Well,too,

wouldoftenassumethe

trap

pings

ofamanof

wealth,

along

with

the

nonchalancethat

goes

withthem.

Alluding

to

some

magical

methodof

makingmoney,

hewouldstand

aloof,

like

a

king,exuding

confidenceasifhe

really

were

fabulously

rich.The

suckerswould

beg

tobeinonthe

con,

tohaveachanceatthewealththat

heso

clearlydisplayed.

Finally,

to

reinforcethe

inner

psychological

tricksinvolvedin

project-

ing

a

royal

demeanor,

thereareoutward

strategies

to

helpyou

createthe

effect.

First,

theColumbus

Strategy:Always

makeabolddemand.Set

your

pricehigh

anddonotwaver.

Second,

ina

dignifiedway,go

afterthe

high-

est

person

inthe

building.

This

immediatelyputsyou

onthesame

plane

as

thechiefexecutive

you

are

attacking.

ItistheDavidandGoliath

Strategy:

Bychoosing

a

greatopponent,you

createthe

appearance

of

greatness.

Third,

give

a

gift

ofsomesorttothoseabove

you.

Thisisthe

strategy

ofthosewhohavea

patron:

By

givingyourpatron

a

gift,you

are

essentially

saying

thatthetwoof

you

are

equal.

Itistheoldcon

game

of

giving

so

that

you

cantake.When theRenaissancewriterPietroAretinowantedthe

DukeofMantuaashisnerd

patron,

heknewthatifhewasslavishand

sycophantic,

thedukewouldthinkhim

unworthy;

sohe

approached

the

dukewith

gifts,

inthiscase

paintingsby

thewn‘ter’s

good

friendTitian.