You don't need a bunch of male friends as you get older. Nor do you need to lead any other guys. After high school (or maybe college), it's every man for themself. Don't kid yourself.
This has been my experience as well. I only
thought other men were encouraging, supportive, etc, but that turned out to be way off base. The majority of guys want to be the best and aren't interested in seeing others doing better than them -- especially not much better. A lot of people are phony and only pretend to have the answers, when they're just as insecure and competitive as the rest. Especially the ones that make a lot of noise.
All the successful guys (and girls) I knew went solo. Yeah they had a lot of acquaintances but not close friendships, and they didn't bring other people along or seek their guidance. They didn't trust anyone -- and now I see why. The most success I had was being solo as well. But I thought there was more I needed which other guys could help with. lol. Which they also convinced me of, in using my insecurities / weaknesses against me. But they just got in the way, tried to one-up and compete, sabotage any success, and really had nothing to offer other than smoke and mirrors. All while prancing around like they were king ****. They couldn't attract any decent women, and didn't want anyone else to either. The more malicious ones spread lies like wildfire to destroy my reputation, tried to isolate and control me, and so on.
Even within friendship groups, there's a lot of backstabbing, drama, one-upping, competing, etc. They all want to maintain their position on the social ladder and aren't interested in seeing others change theirs.
The worst part is, none of this helped with getting or attracting women in any way. You can be very social and confident, look great, etc without needing a bunch of close friendships.
