In this episode, Ben introduces the King's Reckoning, a truth-gathering exercise that will shatter your illusions about who you are.

This is a 360 review. But it's terrifying. And it's essential.

You Have a Completely False Idea of Who You Are Every man has blind spots. Not flaws. Just behaviors, energies, and patterns that are obvious to everyone else but invisible to you. Left unseen, they quietly govern your results.

The Blind Spot Rules You What you see clearly, you can remedy. What you avoid seeing will rule you. The King's Reckoning brings these blind spots into the light so they can be governed.

This Is Not Feedback This is a truth-gathering exercise. Not validation. Not criticism. Just truth. And truth is what allows you to change.

You Need Courage and Restraint You will not defend yourself. You will not explain yourself. You will not correct perceptions or argue context. You will listen. Record. Receive. Acknowledge. Reflect.

Assemble Your Council Six people total. Two who know you intimately (partner, close friend, confidant). Two who know you quite well but not deeply (colleague, peer, collaborator). Two who don't really know you at all (neighbor, stranger, brief interaction). This stretch is the point.

The Script Approach each person directly. Say: "I'm undertaking a personal audit to become more self-aware and identify blind spots in how I show up. I'm seeking honest, direct feedback to help me grow as a man and leader. Would you give me 15-20 minutes to answer a few questions? During this conversation, I'm not allowed to reject, defend, justify or dismiss anything you say. I'm only allowed to listen for clarity. Is that okay with you?"

If they say no, move on. Deal with rejection. Keep going until you get six yeses.

You may only ask these questions:

• What's your first experience of me at first glance?
• How would you describe my energy, body language and communication?
• What's my emotional state and stability?
• What are my professional strengths?
• What are my interpersonal strengths?

And clarifying questions only:

• Thank you
• Can you be more specific?
• Can you give me an example?
• Do you experience this as effective or ineffective?
• Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Silence is allowed. Discomfort is allowed. Defense is not.

Thank them sincerely. Leave. Don't explain later. Don't discuss it. Preserve the integrity of the session.

Record it (voice notes work). Send it to someone you trust if needed. Don't judge or interpret. Just review it.

What do you notice? What patterns repeat? What surprised you?

What was useful? What do you need to adjust in your declarations? What do you need to be aware of?

Who are you being? Is this who you want to be?

"Feedback is the breakfast of champions."

Most men avoid this challenge. And they miss a key part of the whole initiation process.

Because it's terrifying.

But that's the point.

To become a man you've never been, you must see what you've never seen. You must hear what you've been avoiding. You must face the blind spots that have been running your life.

How your blind spots quietly govern your results

Why you can't change what you can't see

The courage it takes to listen without defending

How to assemble a council of truth-tellers

What patterns repeat across all your conversations

This episode is for any man brave enough to see himself as others see him.

Because that's where real change begins.

In this episode, Ben introduces the King's Leadership Audit, the tool that reveals whether you're actually leading or just managing consequences.

This isn't about your business performance or your team's results. It's about you.

Why Self-Leadership Comes First No one will follow a man who cannot lead himself. Not your team. Not your children. Not your partner. They may comply. They may tolerate you. But they will never fully trust you. Self-leadership is the foundation of everything.

Your Standards Set the Ceiling Your mood sets the tone. Your standards set the ceiling of where you can get. Your behavior teaches more than your words ever could.

The Audit Removes Self-Deception This isn't about judgment. It's about measurement. It's about honest, objective assessment of where you actually are. No fantasies. Just truth.

Integrity: Are You a Man of Your Word? Score yourself 0-5. Do you mean what you say? Do you always honor it with action? Do you meet commitments and deadlines? Simple. But most men fail here.

Radical Responsibility: You Are the Final Authority Nothing is outsourced. You don't blame the weather, the market, or your people. When you fall short, you look at your decisions first. The state of your world always reflects the state of you.

Alignment: Your Actions Match Your Values You act in accordance with your inner truth. In business, you make decisions from principles, not approval. At home, you speak the truth early and hold boundaries without guilt.

Accountability: You Restore What You Break When something breaks, you fix it without delay. You don't hide. You don't deflect. You own your mistakes openly and your behavior change is visible. Repair isn't verbal theater. It's lived.

Courage: You Advance in Spite of Fear You acknowledge fear, but you never obey it. In business, you make hard calls and have difficult conversations even when the outcome is uncertain.

0 = Broken. Not there at all. 1 = Inconsistent. You show up sometimes. 2 = Improving. Working on it. 3 = Solid. Your baseline. 4 = Strong. Who you are most of the time. 5 = Unshakable. Non-negotiable for you.

20-25: You're leading yourself well. Guard your standards.

15-19: You're functional but leaking authority. Tighten up discipline.

10-14: Inconsistent. Others are feeling it.

Below 10: You're managing consequences. Start implementing these traits in who you're being.

Score yourself honestly on each trait: Integrity, Radical Responsibility, Alignment, Accountability, and Courage. Add up your total. Be objective. No excuses.

Then ask: Where are my gaps? Where do I need to tighten up in the next 90 days?

This is where the real work begins.

"Your behavior teaches everybody around you more than you can say."

If you want your team to have integrity, you need integrity. If you want your children to be courageous, you need courage. If you want your partner to trust you, you need to lead yourself first.

There is no shortcut. There is only you, leading yourself, day after day, choice after choice.

The five traits that separate real leaders from managers

Why external accountability is a trap

How to score yourself honestly without self-deception

What your leadership audit reveals about your authority

Why your standards determine your ceiling

This episode is for any man ready to stop managing consequences and start leading himself. Because that's where everything begins.

In this episode, Ben walks through the Kingmaker Journal and explores the question that determines everything: Who are you? Why are you here?

This isn't abstract philosophy. This is the foundation of your initiation.

Why Most People Get This Wrong You think your identity is your job, your role, your achievements. But there's something deeper underneath. Something truer. This episode shows you how to find it.

The Power of Declarations A declaration isn't an affirmation you fake until you feel it. It's a statement of who you actually are, backed by evidence from your life. Ben shares his own declarations and explains how they became part of his nervous system.

How Your "I Am" Statements Shape Your Reality The lens through which you see the world determines what you see. If you say "I am a smoker," you notice smoking everywhere. If you say "I am loving, capable, joyful," you start noticing that instead. Your words create your world.

The False Identity You've Been Building You weren't born bad at relationships. Weren't born incapable. Weren't born a smoker or a drinker or someone "no good at leading." But you've spent years gathering evidence to prove these false declarations true. And the longer you've collected that evidence, the harder it becomes to reverse.

It Can Still Be Reversed No matter how long you've been telling yourself the wrong story, you can change it. You can go back to who you actually are underneath the ego, the roles, and the bullshit.

How to Create Your Document Start with your wins from the last 90 days. What positive traits do they reveal? Create declarations one at a time. Get clear on who you actually are. This may take a couple of years. That's okay.

Speaking It Into Existence Once you have Version One, speak your declarations out loud twice a day. Not in your head. Out loud. It makes a difference. Then start dropping them into conversation, replacing the old story with the new one.

The Reckoning You'll ask other people who they think you are. You'll clarify your grand vision and who you need to be to create it. Every time you do this work, your declarations deepen and become more true.

Shadows Are Still There Even after you clarify your real identity, old patterns will still pop up. You'll still get triggered. But eventually, the shadow becomes smaller while your true identity becomes bigger.

"I am loved, loving and joyful. I am disciplined, focused, calm, efficient, capable, grounded, passionate, open-minded and playful. I am a king, a warrior, a magician, a lover. I am a gatherer of men and a world-class, life-changing coach. I am here to help guide men, to initiate men, to raise capable sons and to protect the natural world."

If you only take one thing from the entire Kingmaker Journal, let it be this: Answer the question of who you are and why you're here.

Because everything flows from that answer.

Your behaviours. Your relationships. Your business. Your peace. Your power.

All of it.

Listen to discover:

How to move from the identity you inherited to the identity you choose

Why your past doesn't determine your future

How to build evidence for who you actually are instead of against yourself

The practice that rewires your nervous system

Why speaking your declarations out loud changes everything

This episode is for any man tired of playing small, tired of the false identity, and ready to step into who he actually is.

In this episode, Ben tackles one of the biggest blind spots in entrepreneurship: the inability to see progress.

Most business owners feel like they're not making progress. They feel behind. They feel like they're failing.

But the truth is, they're just not acknowledging what's actually working.

Why Seeing Gaps Becomes a Liability The skill that got you here (spotting problems and fixing them) becomes your biggest obstacle. It keeps you focused on what's wrong instead of what's working. And that creates frustration, overwhelm, and paralysis.

The Nervous System Effect How you think creates how you feel, which comes from your identity. When you're frustrated, you don't make constructive decisions. You spiral. You stall. You stop moving forward.

What Got You Here Won't Get You There Fear and urgency got you to where you are. But they won't get you to the next level. If you're stalling, your evidence is right in front of you.

The Record of Victory A simple but powerful tool: list your wins, gains, and moments of gratitude from the last 90 days. But don't stop there. Identify what each win says about you. Then make it real through acknowledgement.

Acknowledgement is Kingly A true leader doesn't posture, fake it, or become a tyrant. A leader acknowledges. Acknowledgement locks progress into your nervous system. It builds evidence of the positive. It creates confidence.

What is Appreciated Appreciates What is not acknowledged depreciates. This applies to fitness, relationships, money, employees, customers, everything. Unacknowledged effort erodes confidence. Both yours and theirs.

Self-Acknowledgement is Essential You're at the top of the pyramid. No one else is going to give you a thumbs up. You have to do it. Most entrepreneurs don't. Most engage in self-effacing behavior instead. That's a cultural problem. Fix it.

Loyalty Follows Recognition Your team doesn't give their best to those who overlook them. When effort is acknowledged, it's appreciated. When it's appreciated, it grows.

Win or gain or gratitude from the last 90 days. What does it say about you? How do you make it real?

Example: Your girlfriend looked after the kids while you were away.

What it says about you: I picked a great partner. I have the ability to choose well.

How to make it real: Write her a note of gratitude.

Example: Your men's camp sold out.

What it says about you: I am a gatherer of men and community.

How to make it real: Send a message to all attendees expressing gratitude.

Three to five wins per week. Keep topping it up. When business is down and you feel like everything's failing, go back and read your record of victory. It fills you with confidence.

Or do acknowledgement for someone else instead of wallowing.

"An unacknowledged effort erodes confidence."

Most men forget how far they've come because they never acknowledged themselves, their family, or their team.

A king who honours his progress and appreciates his people does not need to posture. Does not need to fake it. Does not need to become a tyrant.

He just needs to acknowledge.

Listen to discover why your biggest barrier to progress isn't external. It's your inability to see what's actually working.

This episode is for any entrepreneur tired of feeling behind and ready to build confidence through evidence.

In this episode, Ben the Kingmaker Journal, a tool he's developed to help entrepreneurs and leaders build the structure, energy and flexibility needed for sustainable success.

But this isn't about productivity hacks or business strategies.

It's about who you're being.

The Three Elements of Success Energy, flexibility, and structure. Most entrepreneurs have plenty of energy but lack structure. This creates chaos. Ben shows why balance is essential.

The Brainwashing We Don't See We're all living someone else's definition of success. Ben uses the example of interviewing a suicide bomber to show how stories shape identity. Your version of success may not actually be yours.

Identity is the Key Whether you want to build a bigger business, improve your relationships, or get healthier, the question isn't "What should I do?" It's "Who do I need to be?" Ben shares his own transformation from being a smoker to running an Ironman, not through willpower or tactics, but through changing his identity.

The Four Archetypes The Warrior, the Magician, the Lover, and the King. Most men try to become the King before developing the others. Ben explains why the order matters.

Keeping Your Kingdom in Order Your body, mind, work, family, relationships, finances, energy and time are all part of your kingdom. The King doesn't do everything himself, but he's responsible for everything.

Why Most Personal Development Fails It operates at the level of behavior (what to do) instead of identity (who to be). When identity shifts, behavior follows naturally. When it doesn't, you're just grinding.

"You don't see things as they are. You see things as you are."

If you're not getting the results you want in business, relationships, health, or life, you need to change the filter through which you're seeing the world.

That happens through initiation. Through understanding who you actually are. Through identifying the stories and beliefs that are running your life without your permission.

The Kingmaker Journal is the tool. The camps are where the real work happens.

Why your biggest obstacle isn't external

How to shift identity instead of forcing behavior change

The three forbidden topics in real community

Why most entrepreneurs are living in a fantasy world

How to rule your kingdom from a grounded, clear and focused place

This episode is for any man ready to stop grinding and start becoming.

The Questions Every Man Never Learns to Answer

There is an architecture to masculine development. It is not random. It does not happen at random times for random people. There are questions your nervous system has been asking since before you could walk and most men go to their grave without ever answering them.

In this episode, Ben Price maps the developmental stages of a man's life, from infancy to old age, and names the unanswered questions that are quietly running the show.

Why the 47-year-old founder with a six-million-pound business still doesn't feel like a man. Why the contract lands and the emptiness remains. Why success built on an old wound never heals the wound.

Ben covers

• The question your nervous system asked from birth — and what happens when it never got answered
• Why most men are still trying to earn love from a father who demanded performance
• What masculine initiation actually is, and why its absence is behind male suicide, knife crime, and the rise of extremism
• The most dangerous stage of a man's life — and why most men either grow from it or descend into it
• What it means to finally stop performing and start leading

This is not a motivation episode. It is a map. One that most men needed at twelve and are only finding now.

If something in this lands, go to coachbenprice.com.

In this episode, Ben Price sits down with coach, mentor, and guide Ian Price to dissect the hidden psychological barriers that keep even the most successful entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential.

From the "wrong narratives" we inherit in childhood to the sophisticated ways we sabotage our own growth, Ian explores why million-pound business owners still struggle with imposter syndrome and the paralyzing cycle of overthinking or what Ben calls "mental masturbation."

• The Early Conditioning: How subtle childhood experiences like a parent’s "top-to-bottom scan" before you left the house manifest as deep-seated "not enoughness" in the boardroom.
• Emotions vs. Data: Why "trusting your gut" is a double-edged sword and how to balance logical rationalism with emotional intelligence.
• The Anatomy of a Decision: Ian live-coaches Ben through a real business dilemma, breaking down the process of triangulation, red-teaming, and pilot testing to remove the fear of "irrevocable" choices.
• The Bias Trap: A deep dive into the cognitive biases that plague leadership:
  • Optimism Bias: Why you might be up-weighting one "good" opinion while ignoring nine warnings.
  • Urgency Bias: The false sense that you must act now or lose out forever.
  • Authority Bias: Overvaluing the opinions of "experts" without testing the market.

Featured Guest: Ian Price

Ian is a high-level coach and mentor based in the Chichester area, leading exclusive peer groups for established entrepreneurs. His philosophy centers on caring, courage, and curiosity, helping leaders move from ruminating in the dark to scaling in the light.

Connect with Ian:

• Website: ianpricenewplace.co.uk
• LinkedIn: Ian Price
• Email: [email protected]

"Lose, but don't lose the lesson." — Ian Price

80% of all suicides are male. Boys are falling behind girls at every academic level. 90% of girls in British schools report sexual harassment. These are not separate problems.

Ben Price — former British Army Intelligence Corps soldier, father of two sons, men's coach and initiator — makes the case that every crisis of young men in Britain today traces back to the same missing thing: initiation.

In this episode, Ben explains what initiation actually is and why every culture in human history has understood its necessity — until ours. He walks through the three-stage structure that has moved boys into manhood across every functioning civilisation: separation, ordeal and teaching, and the return with recognition. He explains what boys get from it that they cannot get from a phone, a school trip, or the manosphere. And he lays out, in precise terms, what a school can do about it within one academic year.

This is not theory. This is a former soldier who once interviewed a suicide bomber in Helmand Province, spent years working with men at the identity level, and woke up as a father of two boys with something urgent to offer.

Boys are not broken. They are unbuilt. This is about building them.

Most men were never shown the way. No rite of passage. No elder. No moment where someone looked them in the eye and said, you're ready.

Ben Price is a men's coach, former British Army Intelligence Corps officer, and founder of The Kingmaker Initiation Programme. He works with entrepreneurial men who are outwardly successful but know something is missing.

This podcast is that conversation. The one that changes things.

Each episode Ben goes deep with men who have done the work, therapists, coaches, warriors, and everyday heroes, on identity, leadership, fatherhood, masculinity, and what it actually takes to become the man you were built to be.

No performance. No motivational fluff. Just honest conversations for men who are ready to stop running and start becoming.

1. THE CROSSING - Men, Initiation and the Second Half of Life

Most successful men hit their 40s with everything they were told to want. And feel nothing. This conversation with Ori Latter, men's coach, former Israeli soldier and single dad, goes into why achievement without initiation leaves men hollow and what the crossing into the second half of life actually demands.

Key soundbites:

• 00:02 "A lot of men spend their entire lives never daring to know themselves"
• 19:30 "I was picking up male role models to follow. Only to find out this man would ultimately let me down"
• 43:00 "One of the gateway emotions to becoming a king is joy. A real elder can zoom out and just giggle at the whole thing"

2. LEVEL UP - What High Achieving Men Get Wrong About Growth

More revenue. Better systems. Optimised everything. Still something's missing. Ben and Ori break down why the next level for most successful men isn't found in the business, it's found inside themselves. And why that's the hardest climb they'll ever attempt.

Key soundbites:

• 05:30 "I thought I was masculine. Years later I realised I was just trying to prove something"
• 30:00 "In the last six years I've developed more than I could have ever asked for. You'd never learn this in any university course"
• 56:30 "It's very hard to have time for self pity when we are consciously doing something for someone else"

3. THE ELDER WITHIN - Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Man

We have plenty of older men. Almost no elders. Ori and Ben dig into what we lost when we dismantled the structures that used to guide men through life's hardest crossings, and what it's going to take to rebuild them.

Key soundbites:

• 22:20 "We no longer have genuine men who we can collectively agree are worthy of being male role models"
• 44:50 "Mentorship goes both ways. There's a lot we can learn from the people we mentor"
• 58:40 "Long before therapists were around, the village, the elders, everybody took care of each other. We didn't need them"

4. OPEN HEART, STRONG BACK - Leadership, Fatherhood and Becoming

For the man who's strong on the outside and quietly starving on the inside. Ori unpacks what it means to lead with an open heart and a strong back as a father, a coach and a man still very much in the process of becoming.

Key soundbites:

• 38:00 "The open heart is the willingness to be vulnerable. The strong back is the values, where I draw the line and say this is where I end and you begin"
• 41:50 "Every challenge my daughter puts me on is a door opening for me to step into the next level"
• 43:00 "A real elder can zoom out and just giggle at the whole mad thing"

5. THE UNINITIATED - Why Successful Men Are Still Lost

Success without initiation is just a well-decorated cage. Ben and Ori go deep on why so many high-achieving men, entrepreneurs, fathers, leaders, are still fundamentally lost, and what the path up actually looks like.

Key soundbites:

• 02:00 "Men follow someone else's map and at some point wake up and say, what am I doing this for? This is not me"
• 21:00 "We end up with substitute role models. Pop culture figures who we can't actually learn from"
• 53:20 "Men translate major life changes as, it will always be this bad. And when we don't have an emotional vocabulary to process that, things get dark fast"