The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

I have the golden touch.
Those with heightened grandiosity will try to
create the legend that they have never really failed. If there were
failures or setbacks in their career, it was always the fault of others
who betrayed them. U.S. Army general Douglas MacArthur was a
genius at deflecting blame; to hear him say it, in his long career he had
never lost a battle, although in fact he had lost many. But by
trumpeting his successes and finding endless excuses, such as
betrayals, for his losses, he created the myth of his magical battlefield
powers. Grandiose leaders inevitably resort to such marketing magic.
Related to this is the belief that they can easily transfer their skills—
a movie executive can become a theme park designer, a businessman
can become the leader of a nation. Because they are magically gifted,
they can try their hand at anything that attracts them. This is often a
fatal move on their part, as they attempt things beyond their expertise
and quickly become overwhelmed with the complexity and chaos that
come from their lack of experience. In dealing with such types, look
carefully at their record and notice how many glaring failures they
have had. Although people under the influence of their grandiosity will
probably not listen, publicize the truth of their record in as neutral a
manner as possible.
I’m invulnerable.
The grandiose leader takes risks. This is what often
attracts attention in the first place, and combined with the success that
often attends the bold, they seem larger than life. But this boldness is
not really under control. They must take actions that create a splash in
order to keep the attention coming that feeds their high self-opinion.
They cannot rest or retreat, because that would cause a lapse in
publicity. To make things worse, they come to feel invulnerable
because so many times in the past they have gotten away with risky
maneuvers, and if they faced setbacks, they managed to overcome
them through more audacity. Furthermore, these daring activities
make them feel alive and on edge. It becomes a drug. They need bigger
stakes and rewards to maintain the feeling of godlike invulnerability.
They can work twenty hours a day when under this form of pressure.
They can walk through fire.
In fact they are rather invulnerable, until that fatal hubristic
maneuver in which they finally go too far and it all crashes down. This
could be MacArthur’s grandiose tour of the United States after the
Korean War, in which his irrational need for attention became
painfully apparent; or Mao’s fatal decision to unleash the Cultural

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Revolution; or Stan O’Neal, CEO of Merrill Lynch, sticking with
mortgage-backed securities when everyone else was getting out,
essentially destroying one of the oldest financial institutions in the
country. Suddenly the aura of being invulnerable is shattered. This
occurs because their decisions are determined not by rational
considerations but by the need for attention and glory, and eventually
reality catches up, in one hard blow.
In general, in dealing with the grandiose leader, you want to try to
deflate the sacred, glorious image they have forged. They will overreact
and their followers will become rabid, but slowly a few followers may
have second thoughts. Creating a viral disenchantment is your best
hope.