The word “King” in the title isn’t referring to a tyrant or a monarch. It’s symbolic of what I believe is the true definition of a leader: a person who looks out for others and offers safety and protection to those to their left and their right.

A leader is not just someone who is in charge, and it is definitely not someone who devotes their life to the acquisition of wealth. A leader is someone who devotes themselves to the well-being of others. A leader is someone people follow not because they have to, but because they choose to.

As you can see, he’s in a big extravagant room, and yet his only possession is a mattress on the floor.

And that’s because my intention in creating this image is to say that nothing quite teaches you how to be humble enough, caring enough, or compassionate enough to be a good leader as knowing what it’s like to have nothing. Knowing what it’s like to be in desperate need of that caring and compassionate presence of genuine leadership in your own life.

In other words: The virtues of struggle are the cradle of Kings.

- P.K. Benbow