The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

The Grandiose Leader
If people with high levels of grandiosity also possess some talent and a
lot of assertive energy, they can rise to positions of great power. Their
boldness and confidence attract attention and give them a larger-than-
life presence. Mesmerized by their image, we often fail to see the
underlying irrationality in their decision-making process and so follow
them straight into some disaster. They can be very destructive.
You must realize a simple fact about these types—they depend on
the attention we give them. Without our attention, without being
adored by the public, they cannot have their high self-opinion
validated, and in such cases the very confidence they depend on
withers. To awe us and distract us from the reality, they employ certain
theatrical devices. It is imperative for us to see through their stage
tricks, to demythologize them and scale them back down to human

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size. In doing so, we can resist their allure and avoid the dangers they
represent. The following are six common illusions they like to create.
I am destined.
Grandiose leaders often try to give the impression that
they were somehow destined for greatness. They tell stories of their
childhood and youth that indicate their uniqueness, as if fate had
singled them out. They highlight events that showed from early on
their unusual toughness or creativity, either making such stories up or
reinterpreting the past. They relate tales from earlier in their career in
which they overcame impossible odds. The future great leader was
already in gestation at a young age, or so they make it seem. When you
hear such things you must become skeptical. They are trying to forge a
myth, which they themselves probably have come to believe in. Look
for the more mundane facts behind the tales of destiny and, if possible,
publicize them.