WestDad

I recently posted the following on another site as my answer to the question "What makes a good Master?"  This is my philosophy, in my own words.

A Master is someone who recognizes, accepts and embraces his responsibility to and responsibility for his submissive boy that come with the title.  

A Master understands that for Dom/sub to be healthy, the title 'Master' identifies a Teacher, Mentor and Guide and not a brutish and selfish overlord.  A brutish or selfish man has no right to call himself a "Master".

A Master thinks beyond himself and consistently acts and makes choices in the best interest of his submissive boy: genuinely, considerately and intentionally fostering the submissive boy's growth through their interactions. 

A Master is self-aware, mature and patient, and strives to maintain a consistent and trustworthy posture in all his interactions with a submissive boy; recognizing that by doing so the Master creates the safe and nurturing environment that a submissive boy deeply craves and in which the boy thrives: freed to be genuinely submissive without inhibition or fear.

A Master speaks honestly, and freely acknowledges and sincerely apologizes for error, understanding that this only deepens the submissive boy's trust in his Master.

A Master is emotionally available and seeks to open a boy to being emotionally available as well, recognizing how important deep, honest and real connection is to every human, but even more so to a submissive boy.

A Master inherently understands that a submissive boy is a peer who happens to be submissive in the same way that the Master happens to be dominant.  A Master recognizes that submission is a CHOICE made by the boy and that it is in the Master's and the boy's mutual best interest for the Master to consistently create an environment which inspires and rewards that choice.  

I have found that the submissive devotion which accrues to such a Master is its own reward.