THE MAN WHO ‘DISCOVERED’ AMERICA: When Christopher Columbus was trying to find funding for his legendary voyages, many around him believed he came from the Italian aristocracy. This view was passed into history through a biography written after the explorer’s death by his son, which describes him as a descendant of a Count Colombo of the castle of Cucaro in Montferra. Colombo, in turn, was said to be descended from the legendary Roman general Colonius, and two of his first cousins were supposedly direct descendants of an emperor of Constantinople. An illustrious background indeed. But it was nothing more than illustrious fantasy, for Columbus was actually the son of Domenico Colombo, a humble weaver who had opened a wine shop when Christopher was a young man and who then made his living by selling cheese. Columbus himself had created the myth of his noble background because from early on he felt that destiny had singled him out for great things and that he had a kind of royalty in his blood. Accordingly, he acted as if he were indeed descended from noble stock.

After an uneventful career as a merchant on a commercial vessel, Columbus, originally from Genoa, settled in Lisbon. Using the fabricated story of his noble background, he married into an established Lisbon family that had excellent connections with Portuguese royalty. Through his in-laws, Columbus finagled a meeting with the king of Portugal, Joel II, whom he petitioned to finance a westward voyage aimed at discovering a shorter route to Asia. In return for announcing that any discoveries he achieved would be made in the king’s name, Columbus wanted a series of rights: the title Grand Admiral of the Ocean Sea, the office of Viceroy over any lands he found, and 10% of the future commerce with such lands. All of these were to be hereditary and for all time. Columbus made these demands. Even though he had previously been a mere merchant, he knew almost nothing about navigation, he could not work a quadrant, and he had never led a group of men. In short, he had absolutely no qualifications for the journey he proposed. Furthermore, his petition included no details as to how he would accomplish his plans, just vague promises.

When Columbus finished his pitch, Joel II smiled. He politely declined the offer but left the door open for the future. Here, Columbus must have noticed something he would never forget. Even as the king turned down the sailor’s demands, he treated them as legitimate. He neither laughed at Columbus nor questioned his background and credentials. In fact, the king was impressed by the boldness of Columbus’s requests and clearly felt comfortable in the company of a man who acted so confidently. The meeting must have convinced Columbus that his instincts were correct. By asking for the Moon, he had instantly raised his own status, for the king assumed that unless a man who set such a high price on himself were mad, which Columbus did not appear to be, he must somehow be worth it.

A few years later, Columbus moved to Spain. Using his Portuguese connections, he moved in elevated circles at the Spanish court, receiving subsidies from illustrious financiers and sharing tables with dukes and princes. To all these men, he repeated his request for financing for a voyage to the west and also for the rights he had demanded from Joel II. Some, such as the powerful Duke of Medina, wanted to help but could not since they lacked the power to grant him the titles and rights he wanted. But Columbus would not back down. He soon realized that only one person could meet his demands: Queen Isabella. In 1487, he finally managed a meeting with the queen, and although he could not convince her to finance the voyage, he completely charmed her and became a frequent guest in the palace.

In 1492, the Spanish finally expelled the Moorish invaders who centuries earlier had seized parts of the country. With the wartime burden on her treasury lifted, Isabella felt she could finally respond to the demands of her explorer friend, and she decided to pay for three ships, equipment, the salaries of the crew, and a modest stipend for Columbus. More important, she had a contract drawn up that granted Columbus the titles and rights on which she had insisted. The only one she denied, and only in the contract’s fine print, was the 10% of all revenues from any lands discovered. An absurd demand since he wanted no time limit on it. Had the clause been left in, it would eventually have made Columbus and his heirs the wealthiest family on the planet. Columbus never read the fine print. Satisfied that his demands had been met, Columbus set sail that same year in search of the passage to Asia. Before he left, he was careful to hire the best navigator he could find to help get him there. The mission failed to find such a passage.

Yet when Columbus petitioned the queen to finance an even more ambitious voyage the following year, she agreed. By then, she had come to see Columbus as destined for great things. Interpretation: Columbus had an amazing power to charm the nobility, and it all came from the way he carried himself. He projected a sense of confidence that was completely out of proportion to his means. Nor was his confidence the aggressive, ugly self-promotion of an upstart. It was a quiet and calm self-assurance. In fact, it was the same confidence usually shown by the nobility themselves. The powerful in the old-style aristocracies felt no need to prove or assert themselves. Being noble, they knew they always deserved more and asked for it. With Columbus, then, they felt an instant affinity for he carried himself just the way they did – elevated above the crowd, destined for greatness. Understand it is within your power to set your own price. How you carry yourself reflects what you think of yourself. If you ask for little, shuffle your feet and lower your head, people will assume this reflects your character. But this behavior is not you. It is only how you have chosen to present yourself to other people. You can just as easily present the Columbus front: buoyancy, confidence, and the feeling that you were born to wear a crown, Robert Greene writes in his spectacular book, ‘The 48 Laws of Power’. I recommend it.