This was originally a reply to a thread that was now deleted but there are some things about "being alpha" that I wanted to share that I learned over the years. I see a lot of people here talking about it as simply being your own man and not letting others walk all over you but I think that it's much more than that. Explanation below in my original comment:

ITT: Teenager/Young adult with a chip on his shoulder and one of the most pathetic God complexes I've ever seen. I mean you, OP.

Took a look at your post history and as I thought, you spew nothing but venom while adding negative value to nearly any discussion.

You are nothing but an amateur wanna be full of hot air. Empty words with nothing to back them and you are utterly transparent to me and many people here.

You know jack shit about being an alpha. Alphas are leaders of men and society and shepherds over their flock. Not mindless buffoons pushing others down because they think they are such hot shit (humble yourself because there are at least 1,000,000 people better and more capable than you - and I'm being very conservative.) and desperately need to remind themselves lest they have to face who they really are.

Being an alpha extends far beyond bedding women, lifting, and telling people to fuck off. I can easily tell that you have no real leadership experience and couldn't gain the respect of a group of 5 year olds. I have experience successfully leading large organizations and I care a lot about my people and do everything I can to make sure that they prosper under my leadership. I've run multiple businesses and if times were hard, my salary would always be the first to go. Only once have I had to cut benefits and at that point I hadn't taken a salary for months. You lead by example and if they don't eat YOU don't eat. I don't get support and respect from them by calling them stupid or belittling them. I earn it.

I couldn't let you keep beating your chest proclaiming how "alpha" you were and giving impressionable people who don't know better some warped ideas of what it means to be a man/alpha. Alphas inspire everyone in the group to be their best. They take care of them and give them direction in exchange for their loyalty and resources. It is a social contract and comes with real responsibilities. They must be the strength in difficult times, bear the burdens of leadership, and make the hard choices and sacrifices it entails. Human success relies on our cooperation with each other. Alphas NEED betas and vice-versa in order to prosper. Our entire civilization is built on these concepts.

Your plans of being a world leader or CEO are going to be very disappointing if you don't learn to start treating others with respect and working on YOUR emotional intelligence.

Normally, I am not this condescending but your attitude deserves a real life ass whooping to bring you back to reality. Hopefully, you'll actually learn something but your ego is likely far too fragile to allow it.

Tl;dr Real alphas are leaders responsible for the well being and success of their group. Their respect is earned and well deserved. Their relationship with betas is symbiotic and necessary for the success of civilization. Anyone can learn alpha behavior to benefit themselves but it takes a true alpha to rise to the challenge and sacrifice required to lead and provide strength to others.

I expect people to disagree with me but I welcome your ideas and contributions.