Assessing Leaders at a Distanceical themes ingrained during adolescence that psychologically con-
tinue to influence throughout the life cycle. As has been emphasized,
dreams die hard, and pursuit of the dreams of glory formed during
adolescence can drive a leader throughout his lifetime, having special
force at the midlife transition and during the later years' transition.
A significant emphasis of the approach described for developing
the political personality profile is identifying stable and enduring
aspects of leader personality, including cognitive, affective, and
interpersonal elements. Implying a linkage between belief systems,
attitudes, and leadership style, the nature of personality puts con-
straints upon information processing and the nature of relationships
with the leadership circle. Leader personality importantly influences
negotiating behavior as well as crisis decision making. Because per-
sonality is stable over time, the longitudinal approach helps identify
enduring patterns of behavior.
Three important leader personality types—the narcissist, the
obsessive-compulsive, and the paranoid—and their implications for
political behavior have been described at length to illustrate this
important principle. These patterns are deeply ingrained and, when
present, permeate all aspects of political behavior—crisis decision
making, strategic decision making, negotiating behavior, world-
view, and relationships with the leadership circle. The centrality of
the self for the narcissist influences all aspects of political behavior.
The narcissist's sensitivity to slight and need to be seen as all know-
ing and perfect tends to lead to a sycophantic leadership circle. The
flexible conscience makes the narcissist's use of words instrumental,
with no organized belief system, and commitments can change as
circumstances change. For the obsessive-compulsive, there is a ten-
dency to get lost in details. The search for certainty can be particu-
larly troubling in crisis situations, leading to procrastination and
indecisiveness. The centrality of intellectual processes and the strong
conscience of the obsessive-compulsive have important implications
for negotiations, as well as the ability to identify central beliefs from
language. The dominance of paranoid individuals' conviction that
enemies surround them colors not only their view of political adver-
saries but also interferes with their capacity to trust their own advis-
ers. Because these personality patterns are so deeply ingrained, they
can be detected early in a political career and can reliably be pre-