The One?

A lot of political, business leaders are, were of this type: Angela Merkel of Germany, Sarkozy, Chavez, Steve Jobs, Erdogan (of Turkey), J. F. Kennedy to name a few. As is obvious from the list, with the exception of perhaps Merkel, most people in this list are on psychologically shaky / unbalanced ground, some are near crackheads.

But all of this is not the subject of this article: There is another aspect we did not mention before.

Time and time again I hear these people say they feel that “they are special”, or “they are chosen for something”, etc.. It is a very odd thing to hear, at first, because it doesnt sound like a comment that’d be compatible with what is known about this type. Yet it is somehow there. I thought a lot about why this could be, and finally landed at an explanation.

First one more observation: whenever LtCB steps forward in anything, others in the same area seem to step back and let them run the show. It is the weirdest thing. Yet this also happens, everytime. Why? Maybe this is why: “Others” around LtCB feel their need for success, and a certain hunger associated with it that they step back and let “the kid have a try at it” because for others, psychologically, it might be more of an effort to get motivated, whereas LtCB already is (if they overcame their fears that is).

Now the “specialness”: IMO, the root of that feeling could be summarized as follows: since LtCB is clumsy on a lot of things and feels like a newcomer in try / be responsible / succeed game, any task they they take will turn into something of biblical proportions. That has to be it. Combine that with others stepping back when they step in, this can give the illusion that they are somehow special.

In many ways they are. But the root of it all is driven by something they lack, not some positive preexisting condition. One could say “ah let them live like this, if it makes them succeed, why let them live this way”, then the feeling becomes psychological equivalent of placebo - you believe in it, because you do, it happens. Well, call me a conservative but I’d like to err on the side of less delusion, not more. There are other LtCBs first of all (nearly 10% of the population), so prophetic specialness needs to be watched with care.

In terms of MBTI, LtCB mixes well with STJ (Merkel), NTJ (a great researcher I know), NTP (both Google founders). SPs would have a much, much harder time.