The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Lead from the front: the Tone.
As the leader, you must be seen working
as hard as or even harder than everyone else. You set the highest
standards for yourself. You are consistent and accountable. If there are
sacrifices that need to be made, you are the first to make them for the
good of the group. This sets the proper tone. The members will feel
compelled to raise themselves up to your level and gain your approval,
much like Elizabeth’s ministers. They will internalize your values and
subtly imitate you. You will not have to yell and lecture them to make
them work harder. They will want to.
It is important that you set this tone from the beginning. First
impressions are critical. If you try later on to show you want to lead
from the front, it will look forced and lack credibility. Equally
important is to show some initial toughness; if people get the
impression early on that they can maneuver you, they will do so
mercilessly. You set limits that are fair. If members don’t rise to the
high levels you uphold, you punish them. Your tone in speaking or
writing is peremptory and bold. People always respect strength in the
leader, as long as it does not stir up fears of the abuse of power. If such
toughness is not natural to you, develop it, or you will not last very
long in the position. You will always have plenty of time to reveal that
softer, kinder side that is really you, but if you start soft, you signal that
you are a pushover.
Begin this early on in your career by developing the highest possible
standards for your own work (see the next section for more on this)
and by training yourself to be constantly aware of how your manner
and tone affect people in the subtlest of ways.
Stir conflicting emotions: the Aura.
Most people are too predictable. To
mix well in social situations, they assume a persona that is consistent—
jovial, pleasing, bold, sensitive. They try to hide other qualities that
they are afraid to show. As the leader, you want to be more mysterious,
to establish a presence that fascinates people. By sending mixed

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signals, by showing qualities that are ever so slightly contrary, you
cause people to pause in their instant categorizations and to think
about who you really are. The more they think about you, the larger
and more authoritative your presence.
So, for instance, you are generally kind and sensitive, but you show
an undertone of harshness, of intolerance toward certain types of
behavior. This is the pose of parents, who demonstrate their love while
indicating limits and boundaries. The child is trapped between
affection and a touch of fear, and from that tension comes respect. In
general, try to keep your bursts of anger or recriminations as
infrequent as possible. Because you are mostly quiet and empathetic,
when your anger flares, it really stands out and has the power to make
people truly intimidated and contrite.
You can mix prudence with an undertone of boldness that you
occasionally display. You deliberate long on problems, but once a
decision is made, you act with great energy and audacity. Such
boldness comes out of nowhere and creates a strong impression. Or
you can blend the spiritual with an undertone of earthy pragmatism.
Those were the paradoxical qualities of Martin Luther King Jr. that
fascinated people. Or you can be folksy and regal, like Queen Elizabeth
I. Or you can blend the masculine and the feminine. (See chapter 12 for
more on this.)
Related to this, you must learn to balance presence and absence. If
you are too present and familiar, always available and visible, you
seem too banal. You give people no room to idealize you. But if you are
too aloof, people cannot identify with you. In general, it is best to lean
slightly more in the direction of absence, so that when you do appear
before the group, you generate excitement and drama. If done right, in
those moments when you are not available, people will be thinking of
you. Today people have lost this art. They are far too present and
familiar, their every move displayed on social media. That might make
you relatable, but it also makes you seem just like everyone else, and it
is impossible to project authority with such an ordinary presence.
Keep in mind that talking too much is a type of overpresence that
grates and reveals weakness. Silence is a form of absence and
withdrawal that draws attention; it spells self-control and power; when
you do talk, it has a greater effect. In a similar fashion, if you commit a
mistake, do not overexplain and overapologize. You make it clear you

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accept responsibility and are accountable for any failures, and then you
move on. Your contrition should be relatively quiet; your subsequent
actions will show you have learned the lesson. Avoid appearing
defensive and whiny if attacked. You are above that.
Develop this aura early on, as a way to enthrall people. Do not make
the mix too strong, or you will seem insane. It is an undertone that
makes people wonder in a good way. It is a matter not of faking
qualities you do not have, but rather of bringing out more of your
natural complexity.