The man who would be king

“Because a man plays a king superbly well does not mean that he would make a good king.” 
Louis L’Amour

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Once upon a time (all fairy tales start like this), a little boy was born into an affluent family. He was of course well taken care of and grew up to be a tall, pleasant looking young man.
But with wealth comes privilege and sadly the young man became accustomed to having the right to anything he desired.

With the help of his father he grew richer but also with an exaggerated feeling of self-importance.
He soon became the GMNL/CEO (Give Me No Lip/Chief Executive Officer) of a large conglomerate, and like a conquering warlord he took to affix his coat of arms on everything he acquired.

After a long series of ups and downs, spurred by ego and driven by machismo he managed the unlikely feat of becoming the leader of a large country. This surprised many people and probably the man himself who during his scorched earth campaign constantly raged that the whole thing was “rigged”.

But once on the throne, he soon learned that the job of a CEO is quite a bit different from the job of a president.
A CEO very seldom hears the word “no”. It is even doubtful that he knows the meaning of it. He is is usually surrounded by sycophants who know better than giving this answer to their boss. They know from experience that this two-letter word is far more offensive than a four-letter word.

For a GMNL/CEO, a refusal to agree with him is synonymous to treason, and treason has to be punished. Underlings know that such a man holds them in servitude and they will stoop to anything to avoid hearing “you are fired!”

A wise president on the other hand, surrounds himself with advisers who are not afraid to disagree with him and won’t be punished for dissenting.

Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one. Diogenes

A CEO’s decisions might affect a few thousands people whereas a president’s resolve has an impact on the entire nation and the stability of the entire world.

The new king proved to be an impulsive man prone to send angry courier-pigeons messages to those who disagreed with him. Many people thought that it was not very kingly, but it proved very difficult to recall a pigeon once in flight.

One day a wandering soothsayer approached the King and whispered: Beware the Ides of March, Caesar!
The king who had no idea what that meant brushed him off and walked away surrounded by his minions.

With March fast approaching, a prudent man should always keep in mind that the Tarpeian Rock  is close to the Capitol.

Alain ??

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