21 Remarkable People: Lessons for Personal Growth From The Secrets of Their Personalities: The Remarkables, #5

By Stewart Forsyth

This book describes 21 people who are notable for their contribution to the world. 

These people made their unique contributions in quite different ways.  They are unique personalities.  It is likely that any connection you feel with any of them reflects a match to your personality.

As well as doing amazing things these individuals also had issues.  Some examples:

Sometimes a strength can become a weakness.  Keith Park led a small air force to victory in the Battle of Britain.  Park was capable of organizing the great fighting response of his pilots.  This was based on the integrated efforts of ground crew, radar and other intelligence systems.  Trouble was, Park didn't have great social radar.  He won the Battle of Britain but was out-maneuvered by and lost the battle with the bureaucrats.

Sometimes a weakness can actually be a blessing in disguise.  The young Kiri Te Kanawa was distractable, not putting in the hours to learn her words, leaving things to the last minute.  The other aspect of her spontaneity was that she could tune into her audience, achieving incredible rapport and responsiveness.

You might notice similar issues.  Many things go very well.  But not always.

Here we look at the psychological profile of these wonderful people – looking into their  achievements and also things that didn't go so well to identify the secrets of their personality. 

If you want to check your feeling that you do have similarities to some of them there is a handy self-assessment to help you zoom in on such similarities.

We also (in a kind and positive way) look at how these individuals could have developed their personalities – developing supportive strengths, working with others to cover for gaps.  This is not generic self-help advice.  These suggestions are customized for these unique personalities.  No pressure – but some of these suggestions could be the personalized guidance that will help you – to live a richer, more fulfilling life.

These people, and of course most of us live our lives in habitual ways.  That is what personality is – patterns of thought, feelings and behaviour.  The radical thing is, people can and do change.  That includes you and me.  There is excellent evidence of these changes, sometimes planned and deliberate, other times people flexing in response to demands of jobs and other changes to circumstances.  We see this in ourselves and our children – new expectations, new responses.  This produces real (measurable even!) changes in personality.

This book provides deep studies of wonderful people – making clear the secrets of their personality.  It also provides the tools, based on the latest research, for how people can grow.  Of course, it's up to you to decide what changes, if any, would be priorities for you, and what you plan to do.

All the best for a rich life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stewart Forsyth
• Release date: Feb 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9780473564865

Book preview

The Personalities of the 21 Remarkable people in this book

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The World’s Fastest Personality Test

The Personalities of the 21 Remarkable people in this book

Kupe: Charismatic Leader

James Cook: Diligent

Tupaia: Intense

Charles Darwin: Anxious Performer

Winston Churchill: Advocate

Frances Hodgkins: Innovator

Jean Batten: Audacious

Nancy Wake: Charming

Keith Park: Self-reliant

Howard Kippenberger: Innovator

Charles Upham: Servant Leader

Ed Hillary: Driver

Kiri Te Kanawa: Performance Artist

Bruce McLaren: Charismatic Leader

Georgina Beyer: Performance Artist

Stephen Fry: Actor

Paul Callaghan: Connector

Richie McCaw: Diligent

Ashleigh Young: Curious

Jacinda Ardern: Warm Leader

Noeline Taurua: Driver

Thank you for reading this book

Stewart Forsyth

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Kupe: Charismatic Leader

It takes charisma to get people on board the waka for a perilous journey to an unknown destination. Kupe (and other charismatic leaders on other wakas) had inspirational charisma. A critical aspect of being effective, as well as charismatic, is to include risk assessment in your planning.

About 750 years ago, on a little island at the north end of Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island) – people gathered to manufacture stone tools, exchange resources, and of course, eat. They could be described as following the ‘see food (and eat it) diet’ – many different animals went into the hangi and the remains into the middens.¹

These people were new arrivals in Aotearoa (‘land of the long white cloud’, or New Zealand), inspired, according to a range of stories, by the legendary navigator Kupe – the first visitor to Aotearoa. Accompanied by Ngaki (or Ngahue) in another canoe, Kupe found the land (according to one story) while chasing an octopus. His legacy lives on in the names of islands and land around Te Moana-o-Raukawa (Cook Strait) and the Hokianga.² Kupe can still be seen – surveying Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour) from the waterfront, along with his wife Kuramārōtini (who, noting the clouds above the land, gave us the name of our country).

It is difficult to describe such a legendary figure, especially one who is the subject of so many stories passed down so many generations. But we can make some reasonable assumptions about Kupe – based on what we know about the people who gathered at what we now know as Te Pokohiwi (the Wairau Bar, which later subsumed the island).

Portrait of Kupe — International Art Centre.

The peopling of the Pacific by the Polynesians represents the final and most ambitious thrust of human colonisation in terms of distances covered – from the Tongan and Samoan island groups north to Hawaii (4,000 km), east to Rapanui (Easter Island, and on to the coast of South and Central America; respectively over 6,000 km, and then another 4,000 km) and south to Aotearoa (over 2,000 km to Hawaiki – the island group spanning Tahiti and the Cook Islands, and then more than 4,000 km for the final leap to Aotearoa). Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith provides startling evidence for the nature of this first colonisation.

Matisoo-Smith, working from mitochondrial DNA (passed down through the women’s line) collected from burials at Te Pokohiwi, estimates that there would have been a few hundred women in this, the earliest settlement of New Zealand yet studied.³ And where there are women (and food) there would also be men and children. That suggests mass migration in many twin-hulled ocean-going waka, sailing purposefully down from many locations in East Polynesia, known collectively as Hawaiki.

Building a twin-hulled, ocean-going waka is a significant enterprise. Stocking it with provisions for the journey, and with the plants and animals to establish a settlement in the new land is also a big job. But perhaps the toughest job is persuading men, women and children to get on board and head south-west. Kupe would have had his work cut out – pitching the story of the new land rich in resources, but over the horizon. Certainly, there were clues that he was right – the birds that flew south-west from the islands of Hawaiki had to go somewhere. But there was the very real chance that these voyagers would miss the new land, or be sunk by storms, or attacked by dangerous sea-creatures.

As Richard Walter and colleagues write – communicating the wonder and opportunity of this enterprise would have taken remarkable leadership: ‘individuals of extraordinary charisma, mana (authority) and ability to draw on deep-seated Polynesian traditions and structures to recruit others into their vision.’⁴

Charismatic

Leaders of such disruptive initiatives have a unique mix of traits. The qualities that inspire a break with tradition are not what makes for success during business as usual. Inspiring mass migration is very different from encouraging planting, fishing, paying dues to the elite and placating the gods. These activities are seasonal and predictable while sailing to a new world provides the opportunity for a new approach in a new country.

The modern analogy would be the radical changes in behaviour required to respond to the climate (and environmental) emergency. In a business, the analogy would be the need to pivot in response to a move by a competitor, the arrival of new technology, the stresses imposed by a pandemic, or all of these to survive and be positioned for future opportunities.

The evidence indicates that the leaders who inspire and energise change are more likely to have a Charismatic personality style. What shapes that personality? And how do the leadership behaviours of such Charismatics help their people make the change?

Kupe Statue on the Wellington Waterfront.

We will answer these questions with an illustrative example, and then the ‘meta-analyses’ – the reviews which statistically combine large numbers of studies, demonstrating the substance of these results.

In a study of the leaders identified by their followers as charismatic; how highly staff rated their managers for charismatic leadership was related to how the managers assessed themselves in terms of a mix of high extroversion and low nervousness. Fast forward 15 years, these initial personality self-ratings predicted the managers’ later income, number of subordinates, and (higher) level in the hierarchy.⁵

This was not a chance result. A meta-analysis of 26 studies indicates this combination of extroversion and emotional steadiness is indeed related to charismatic leadership (defined in terms of ‘idealised influence’ and ‘inspirational motivation’).⁶

It does seem that ‘extroversion minus nervousness’ contributes to the leader’s charisma. How about Charismatic Leaders’ ability to inspire and motivate change?

An illustrative example of the role of such leaders is a study across teams in an Australian research institution. Teams led by Charismatic Leaders were rated as more innovative.⁷ In a comprehensive review of 112 studies across 31 countries (including New Zealand), the two highest impact leadership styles were – ‘organisational visioning’ and ‘motivational communication’. That is – visionary leaders were able to ‘depict a future that is credible, realistic, attractive, inspiring and better than the status quo’. These leaders expressed ‘positive and encouraging messages about the organisation that builds motivation and confidence.’⁸

It is a long shot to guess what leaders were doing in Hawaiki 750 years ago to inspire and motivate people to build, provision and get on board the wakas. But it is likely that as a group they would have been extroverted and emotionally stable.⁹

Maori carved house post from Tanenuiarangi meeting house, Waipapa marae, University of Auckland.

Extroversion would contribute to their articulation of the vision of an incredibly rich new land, while emotional stability (the inverse of nervousness) would have been useful in downplaying the personal risks involved. Extroversion would energise the drive to make this radical move while low nervousness would have prevented being knocked off course by the challenges of this amazing but dangerous venture.

Extroversion is related to migration. Or rather, the genes associated with novelty-seeking (a facet of extroversion) are more prevalent the further out of Africa human populations have moved. It seems that aspects of extroversion such as exploratory behaviour, novelty-seeking, and risk-taking are more common in those taking the lead in migration.¹⁰

If you are a present-day Charismatic Leader, aspiring to support groups making radical change – what are the implications for making an ongoing, sustainable contribution?

Does the current endeavour have a future? Are you promoting an illusion? it is vital to understand the context, the issues, and as much of the complexities as is possible to get to know. You need all the evidence you can get hold of. Are you informed by a source as credible as Kupe? And do you have a reality check on that story? The equivalent of Kupe’s buddy Ngaki who can corroborate the story.

If you are inspired to follow a Charismatic Leader, you need to be aware of their inclination to see opportunities as positive and their bias to action. The cost-benefit calculations they make might have more positive assumptions for the upside and fewer concerns about the downside than you would allow. What works for the Charismatic Leader might not compute for you.

The leaders who navigated waka from Hawaiki had the key responsibility of getting their people to their new land. Probably some onboard felt sea-sick or home-sick, but individual needs or goals had to be bent to the group objectives. To get technical about this, Charismatic leaders are better at motivating group results than the outputs of individuals.¹¹ An important consideration before you follow where the Charismatic Leader is going is the extent that your goals fit with the goals the leader is outlining for the team. Is heading over the horizon to a new land meaningful enough for you to put up with the hardships involved?

Kupe and his contemporaries were possibly inspired by Polynesian folk hero Māui. Sailing out of sight of land for weeks¹² it would have been comforting to know that Māui, who is credited with fishing habitable islands up out of the sea,¹³ had previously shown the Polynesian people (and their ancestors) the way east (and north and south). The stories about him can be traced back to the islands north of Papua New Guinea, and describe a larger than life character who was exuberant, fun and thrill-seeking.¹⁴ Quite a good role-model for the Charismatic Leader of change and innovation.

Portrait of Captain Cook.

James Cook: Diligent

Steady, resourceful and self-assured, Cook was a superb commander. However, his self-confidence led him to revert to previous solutions, oblivious to the potential contribution of others.

The Māori of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (later named Poverty Bay) watched the brightly coloured figures leave the sailing ship (which they saw as a huge bird, with the sails its wings), boarding the pinnace and yawl (unfledged birds because they were boats without sails).¹⁵

The Māori scattered into the bush as the boats were rowed in, except for three or four who hid in the tussock on the shore. Four boys were left to watch the pinnace while the marines stayed by the yawl. James Cook, Joseph Banks and Dr Solander followed a path up to a village – deserted. They checked out the empty huts, fishing gear and an image on a plinth near a garden.

The Māoris emerged from the tussock and approached the boys, who called the marines for back-up. One of the Māori, Tumaru, gestured with his wooden taiaha (fighting staff) – was he threatening them, or making a statement of ownership?

The cockswain fired two warning shots and then killed Tumaru with a shot in his chest. Tumaru’s companions paused, presumably confused at the cause of his death, then hauled his body up the village path and headed into the bush.

Cook and entourage heard shots and came back to the beach, discovering the body – the first Māori killed by the English.

Was Cook overly adventurous? Why didn’t he bring Tupaia for this first landing of the English on Aotearoa New Zealand? The Polynesian priest and navigator had come on board the Endeavour in Tahiti and might have given advice, perhaps even mediated with these people.

Diligent

The stand-out aspect of Cook’s personality is his highly conscientious, follow the plan approach. Less obvious but a significant contribution to his behaviour was his emotional steadiness. These combine to produce the Diligent personality compound.

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The Diligent personality blends conscientious inclination to get things done with a readiness to discount risk, resulting in a bias to action. We will see that Cook was decisive and inclined towards straightforward short-term results rather than completing the calculus of all the possibilities.

This just-do-it approach got in the way of him pausing and saying hello on arriving in Aotearoa.

Diligent people are the epitome of steady – self-controlled, hardworking and unflappable. You can count on them to get things done while coping with immediate and obvious issues. The sort of issues that the commander of a sailing ship needs to be on top of when sailing to the other side of the world.

This steadiness provides a known quantity to colleagues. This person can be trusted to do the right thing.

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If over-used, or when under pressure the Diligent person may miss the signals that the priorities have changed; that persisting with an established plan might not be useful.

Diligent people are likely to live long and healthy lives. They persist with healthy routines – eating regular rations of ‘sour krout’ helped Cook and his crew avoid scurvy.

Cook stuck to his default take-charge approach when Hawaiians stole his ship’s boats. As he had done before, he took a high ranking chief prisoner and held him to ransom. Return the boats, and I’ll let him free. This time the situation exploded, and in the melee, Cook was attacked and killed. Sticking with the over-used approach led to disaster.

In the next sections, we explore Cook’s conscientiousness and emotional stability further, and also investigate the other three personality traits of the Big Five.

Focused-Openminded

Cook was an excellent surveyor, his charts still in use years after he completed them. He learned trigonometry from an early commander and learned further surveying skills from an army lieutenant when in the Gulf of St Lawrence. During the winter of 1759, stuck on a ship going nowhere Cook read Euclid and studied astronomy.

Cook was also capable of seeing the bigger picture, so long as it was to do with the geography of land, sea or sky. Arriving in New Zealand, Banks was sure that this was the coast of the Terra Australis Incognita (the Great Southern Continent proposed to balance the northern continents at the other end of the globe). Banks continued to write this in his journal even after they had sailed around the top of the North Island, with latitude and longitude matching those recorded by Tasman in 1642. Cook was confident, based on matching his positioning with Tasman’s records that this was the land Tasman had called New Zealand.

Cook collected evidence and learned from experience. He was less inclined to make predictions without recourse to his sextant and charts. He needed to see Tupaia act as a mediator with Māori before relying on his skills. He was not especially open-minded.

Death of Captain Cook by John Cleveley.

Spontaneous-Conscientious

As a young man, Cook moved from apprentice retailer to apprentice seaman. He left a secure position as Mate on a collier delivering coal from northern England to London for the lowly position of a seaman in the Royal Navy. These were risky but strategic career moves. A war with France was imminent and there were going to be opportunities in the Navy. Cook was promoted to full master after two years in the service.

From the son of a Scottish farm-hand to master in the Royal Navy was impressive. With further astute career moves Cook would have the opportunity to become a famous explorer. First, he had to put in 10 years charting the east coast of the North Americas.

Cook worked hard, developing his surveying skills, putting in long years in tough conditions. His superiors described Cook as having ‘indefatigable industry’ and ‘unwearied assiduity’ in terms of his surveying work around Newfoundland.¹⁶

Replica of the sailing ship Endeavor by James Cook.

While surveying in Newfoundland Cook used his mathematical skills to observe an eclipse of the sun and reported this to the Royal Society. When the opportunity came for the Royal Society and the Royal Navy to organise a joint venture to the other side of the world and observe the transit of Venus across the