The King Role - Michael Teachings

The King Role

BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER

An action role, the King is directed toward exercising leadership over self, over other people, and over situations. The King is inherently fulfilled by being in positions where he has established dominion. He wants to be recognized as the master. The fulfillment of his nature is to "call the shots". The satisfaction of his essence is to be out in front of others, or ahead of the circumstances. A King sees himself as a sovereign, and other people as his subjects. The archetypal, naturally occurring instance of this is of course a literal king, monarch, prince, queen, potentate, or emperor.

Kings are the rarest of the Roles, according to Michael, and I also have found this to be so. But even so, there are not enough thrones available for each one of them. So where in modern society, where there are few actual thrones to be filled, could a King fulfill his Role? There are still many political and business positions that need the natural talent for administration that a King possesses. Quite often Kings run for public office because government is obviously the main arena of events wherein a King can exercise his initiative. Kings revel in the process of being first and foremost in making things happen, and the best place for this is in politics. The business world, especially big business, also fulfills the career desires of many a King. They love to work hard as they climb the corporate ladder, honing their natural ability to lead, till they arrive at the top executive position. Others, in other Roles, recognize this innate talent for rulership, and defer to it willingly. Even as children, Kings easily assume ascendancy over their peers, or are given leadership positions among their peers by their elders.

Besides government office (mayor, councilman, senator, president, and so on) and business administration (executive, chief operating officer, chairman of the board, and so on) and depending on his Overleaves and other personality factors, a King might find meaningful leadership possibilities in such careers as school principal, sports coach, hotel manager, orchestra conductor, team captain, military officer, airline pilot, office supervisor, sales manager, religious leader, church official, guru, sheriff or police chief, union steward, factory foreman, and so on. In whatever occupation a King finds himself, he will generally apply a measure of rulership and leadership to it, even if he is not in a position of authority. A King can fit into most any job situation where he has the potential to gain mastery over it. Otherwise he will not find it fulfilling.

"King" is an apt title given by Michael for this Role. Actual kings expect others to pay homage to them. When the subjects of the realm come into the presence of the king, they are expected to demonstrate their respect and allegiance. And so it is with Kings. Whether they realize it on a conscious level or not, they view the world as their kingdom, their principality, their domain. They see other people as their subjects who should be loyal and obedient. A King want to be "the leader of the pack". He wants to be "on top of the heap". If necessary to do this, he might find a smaller puddle for himself to be a bigger fish in.

Down through history, Kings and Warriors have been a complementary team when it came to running the empire. The Kings were in the leadership positions, whether on the throne or in some other governing body. They made the decisions about what should be done, and determined what the laws of the realm were. The job of implementing the decisions and enforcing the laws was given to the Warriors, the loyal and disciplined policemen and soldiers of the realm.

There is something about Kings that they feel they must always be first. If someone else should come up with an original idea for an activity, Kings tend to regard them as presumptuous usurpers and rebellious subjects seeking to overthrow them. A King will often ignore or impugn the attempts of others in his presence to assume leadership. After all, is it not they who have the natural right to this activity? In previous centuries this attitude was even formalized as the "divine right of kings" to rule. And yes, in fact it is their inherent prerogative in a cosmic sense. They are truly the essence of initiative, the Origination Process. Kings are, metaphorically speaking, the arms of the body of mankind. It is indeed their domain to direct the actions and events of life. Of the Roles, Kings are most in touch with the initiation of action, the influx of events, the incipient trends of life. They are in some sense the primary representatives of the Source, the Cause of events in the world. However, a wise King will know that he is not the only one who has this privilege, and will allow others their rights also. This is one of the differences between the Positive Pole of Mastery and the Negative Pole of Tyranny. A King in Mastery seeks triumph, victory and success in every life situation, but not at the expense of others. A King in Tyranny will walk over others, or climb over others, to get to the top. In either case, winning is the most important thing in a King's life — to be champion, to outrace, to surpass, to gain supremacy, to be crowned.

This need in a King to always be the master in any situation can be a source of frustration for others around him. Everybody else has to take a back seat to the man in the driver's seat. He controls, guides, and steers the vehicle where he wants it to go. A King in Tyranny may even set up roadblocks for other drivers who would seek to out-race him. No one else but the King himself (in Tyranny) is allowed to receive the credit for a novel suggestion. You can see how this might cause trouble in a family situation, with a mate or children who have some need to exercise their own initiative. To follow a tyrant might be acceptable for a totally passive personality, but few people are that weak.

If Kings have a typical physical appearance, it would be that their stature may be imposing or distinctive. This would obviously further their success-oriented nature. Even if they are not physically prominent or outstanding, they are still often regal in their bearing. There is something about them that commands one's respect and deference when one is in their presence. It is like coming before the throne of a literal royal personage. At least, Kings would like people to respond to them this way.

This inherent characteristic of a King shows up in the fact that, as indicated by Michael, he finds it very difficult to ask for help. He must almost become disabled before he will allow himself to receive assistance. A King is, after all, the master, isn't he? Above all, he must be strong and not show any weakness. Of the Roles, this one is most likely to be willful and headstrong. There is nothing that upsets a King more than to loose control of himself or his situation, and to have to ask for help.

On the other hand, this very quality of a King, to need to be in charge of everything, means that he takes responsibility well. He naturally assumes that he is the leader wherever he is. Therefore he blames himself when things under his supervision go wrong. The highest manifestation of the King is when he leads his followers in the right direction, and has learned to rule with knowledge, wisdom, compassion, intelligence, justice, and love. A matured King is the most likely Role to fulfill everyone's ideal of the archetypal father-figure.

In some sense, the King's goal and purpose in life is to exercise dominance, whether or not he has the Goal of Dominance. He is very much concerned with the issue of "who's in charge here", because he wants to be in charge wherever he is, and in whatever situation he finds himself. He will always seek to initiate the sequence of events. If he cannot do it with Leadership, he does it with Dictatorship. Likewise, a King usually exhibits behavior reminiscent of the Aggression Mode -dynamic, driving, forceful, and direct action. He propels himself to the head of the line with assertiveness and vitality. In his haste to be innovative and resourceful, a King often seems as if he has the Feature of Impatience. He can be rash and impetuous in his quest for ascendancy. Also, like a Realist, the King is attuned to what is new in the world. He pays much attention to the behavior of things and events. He sees the world as a constantly changing scenario, and he is in fashion with the current trends thereof. It is his nature to be at the forefront of events, if not the actual originator of the events. A King regards himself as the prime mover in the universe, which is very like the Moving Center. He takes responsibility for his own functions and the activities of those around him. He likes to keep physically busy at all times. The Origination Process manifests in life and willpower. The King is inherently gifted with an abundance of liveliness and vigorousness.

Michael said that Kings do not like it when they are females. As mentioned above, the King is the ultimate father-figure, the essence of masculinity. It is indeed difficult for women in our society, if they are inherently needful of exercising dominion as a King is, to find fulfillment of this desire in a woman's body. This activity is frustrated in our culture because it is considered masculine, not feminine. My use of the pronoun "he" in this section should not be construed as approval of this social attitude. It is merely a convenience and convention of our English language. It would not surprise me to learn that many of the leaders of the feminist movements in this and other times were Kings.

A number of famous individuals who are or were Kings, and very obviously so, includes: John F. Kennedy (president), Dwight Eisenhower (general), Thomas Jefferson (statesman), Lorenzo de Medici (patron), and Catherine the Great (queen).

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Phil Wittmeyer is a longtime Michael student and scholar of the teachings. He can be reached at: wittmeyer@hotmail.com