Obama the Narcissist

All politicians are narcissistic, I suppose. Who else wants to stand up in front of people, sense their opinion, and repeat it back to them as it were your own. The benefits of having all those eyes on you must be very large for such people. When Obama was 35, he wrote a memoir, as if being head of Harvard Law Review is something that makes your childhood really interesting to a wide audience. That's chutzpah. Now as president, he says "I" a lot.

When asked about running car companies:

I don't want to run auto companies. I don't want to run banks. I've got two wars I've got to run already. I've got more than enough to do.

From yesterday's speech on torture:

As commander in chief, I see the intelligence. I bear the responsibility for keeping this country safe.

It's not about you, Barry. You don't run the car company, or the war, so don't act as if you do. You don't 'see' the intelligence, it is filter for you by like-minded people in your administration. You are their chief spokesman, but don't kid yourself that you are micromanaging things. They hated Bush for saying "I'm the decider", so it goes both ways.

In the 1990's when I was speaking once on something I was doing at a company, a colleague pulled me aside and said, "that was great, but don't use 'I' so much, it's we." My initial reaction was: "player hater!" I did some neat things, had neat ideas. They were mine. But over time I learned he was exactly right. In any large organization where you are selling something connected to a brand, it's not about just you, you are part of a team, and need them more than they need you. Humility is a very useful virtue. Of course, you don't want the humility of slaves, or timidity, and anything great takes a little chutzpah.

Moderation in all things, including the opposites humility and pride. This starts with not using the "I" word when talking about national policy.