Affirmation, Repetition, Contagion and Prestige are identified as the ‘Means of Action’ of a Leader by Gustave Le Bon in his book, ´The Crowd´. Affirmation need not be entirely factual, but must be simple and concise.  Affirmations seemingly cultivated on the lower socio-economic end of society tend to work best.  An affirmation is nothing if it is not repeated, Le Bon suggests that Napoleon once stated, ´there is only one figure in rhetoric of serious importance, namely, Repetition´.  Repetition of the affirmation ideally becomes repeated in the subjects unconscious mind until the original author is forgotten and the affirmation is accepted an incontrovertible truth, at this point, a ´Current of Opinion´ has been formed.

Once the Leader´s desired direction for the crowd has been establish via Affirmation, Repetition and Contagion, the Leader still needs ´Prestige´.  The Prestige of a person, thing or idea inflicts a sense of awe on a crowd, paralyzing their critical judgement.  Le Bon identifies two general types of Prestige; Acquired Prestige and Personal Prestige.  Acquired Prestige results from a person´s position, rank, uniform, fortune etc… this exogenous from the person. Personal Prestige inherently of that individual; resulting from acts, accomplishments or even simple charisma.  Acquired Prestige is hierarchical, where as a leader with Personal Prestige needs no formal hierarchy.  A leader should prefer to have both since either can be taken away.