{"id":1528,"date":"2008-10-01T19:45:18","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T19:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=1528"},"modified":"2021-07-28T20:22:36","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T20:22:36","slug":"john-mccain-three-factors-of-character-type","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/john-mccain-three-factors-of-character-type\/","title":{"rendered":"John McCain – Three Factors of Character Type"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"john_mccain

A Character Type is made up of three key factors: <\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Immediate Tactics:<\/strong> This is how a character reacts to a specific challenge, opportunity or threat.\u00a0 It is a character\u2019s immediate tactical response or maneuvers to deal with a specific problem or obstacle in the short-term.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Long-term Orientation:<\/strong> This is how the character views the world, sees his or her role in it and is what a character believes is true about life and love.\u00a0 It is a character\u2019s overarching personal philosophy and view of self.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Strategic Approach:<\/strong> This is how a character goes about leading or getting things done over the long haul.\u00a0 It is how a character works with others overall. It is how a character takes charge or commands to achieve a larger goal.\u00a0 Strategy deals with the art of of obtaining a grand overarching objective.<\/p>\n

Each of these key factors is motivated by the fight, flight or embrace\/submit response.\u00a0 These are the three possible biological reactions to anything.\u00a0 A character can confront something (fight).\u00a0 He or she can withdraw from something (flight).\u00a0 Or a character can embrace or submit to something.<\/p>\n

Today let\u2019s look at John McCain.\u00a0 He is a classic Power of Idealism character.<\/p>\n

1. Immediate Tactics<\/strong>: Power of Idealism characters embrace an opportunity, challenge or threat as a personal test of courage. They see difficulty or opportunity as an individual call of destiny. When presented with a challenge or threat, their first response is to move toward it as a mission or personal call to greatness.<\/p>\n

These characters believe their immediate tactic must be a grand gesture or bold move. They want to display individual heroism or do something uniquely dramatic. They believe their extraordinary actions will somehow inspire others to follow their lead.<\/p>\n

When confronted with a challenge, opportunity or threat, John McCain opts for a big \u201cgame-changing\u201d response. When financial crisis seemed inevitable, McCain boldly announced he was suspending his campaign. He parachuted into the middle of the crisis in Washington, calling for a Presidential level meeting of the candidates and Congressional leaders. He made a dire and dramatic pronouncement that \u201cthe country could be plunged into another Depression by Monday.\u201d He then claimed victory for himself as the leader of his party before the actual vote.<\/p>\n

2. Long-term Orientation<\/strong>: Power of Idealism characters view life through a very idiosyncratic lens. They withdraw from the crowd, popular opinion or conventional wisdom to protect or promote their own individuality and special distinctiveness. Their philosophy is to follow their own personal star or individual sense of destiny regardless of the cost.<\/p>\n

Noteworthiness, individuality or personal eccentricity is what these characters value most highly in themselves and others. John McCain proudly calls himself a maverick or an outsider. He is especially proud of his special or unique status as a Viet Nam POW.<\/p>\n

These characters are lone wolf heroes. If they must go down in flames to prove their heroism so be it. McCain has often said: \u201cI would rather lose a campaign than lose a war (in Iraq).\u201d He sees his position on an unpopular war as a heroic offer of personal sacrifice for the nation.<\/p>\n

McCain most often uses the word \u201cI\u201d in his campaign speeches. \u201cI would fire the SEC chairman.\u201d \u201cI am suspending my campaign.\u201d \u201cI will follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell.\u201d He sees leadership in terms of a singular heroic action leading the charge.<\/p>\n

These characters believe that passion is everything. At their worst, Power of Idealism characters suffer from delusions of grandeur. They can be self-destructive and\/or self-harming. In their Dark Side they are narcissistic, melancholy, self-pitying, cynical and embittered.<\/p>\n

3. Strategic Approach<\/strong>: A Power of Idealism character\u2019s overall method of working with others toward a goal is to step back or withdraw for personal reasons. These characters delay taking action until they are certain how they feel about something. They must feel sufficiently inspired, encouraged or affirmed in order to act or move forward.<\/p>\n

When impassioned or inspired, these characters lead best in short bursts of intense activity or creativity. They engage others by a personal appeal to valor and courage or a romantic call for patriotic action. But they are not overly concerned about the consequences of their bold gesture.<\/p>\n

They withdraw from the tedious small tasks involved in the daily execution of a command. These character\u2019s greatest liability as a leader is that they often lack the patience to see through the practical application of their dramatic appeal. They don\u2019t always adequately follow-up. They are often unprepared (or not inspired) to make the niggling, routine or ordinary small sacrifices long-term leadership requires.<\/p>\n

Power of Idealism characters are rarely interested in sticking around for the clean-up after their big moment is over. They would rather withdraw into the glorious memory of the grand occasion or glorious battle. These characters need to act in the normal and ordinary course of things. They need to learn that everything doesn\u2019t have to be individually suited to their personal sense of destiny or their passionate individual temperament.<\/p>\n

John McCain took a long time to recognize the financial crisis. When he felt a call to action was necessary, he took the problem on personally, made a grand gesture and then said very little in the Presidential level meeting he so urgently called. His bold interjection of personal Presidential politics actually derailed an early accord that was building in Congress.Then he withdrew and left it to others to complete the task.<\/p>\n

McCain\u2019s actions during the crisis seem erratic because the dynamic opposites of his Immediate Tactics (embrace) and his Strategic Approach (withdraw) pull him in two different directions. He has been criticized for a lot of \u201csound and fury\u201d that is followed by very little of the detail-oriented and painstaking leadership that solving a complex problem requires. He has admitted that the details of economic policy are not his strong suit. All of this has produced a whipsaw effect that makes him seem unstable.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow I will look at the dynamic opposites in Power of Imagination Barack Obama\u2019s Immediate Tactics and Strategic Approach. Interestingly, Obama\u2019s dynamics are exactly the same: Immediate Tactic (embrace) and Strategic Approach (withdraw). This combination manifests itself very differently because a Power of Imagination character\u2019s overarching personal philosophy and view of self is poles apart from that of the Power of Idealism character.<\/p>\n

Long-term Orientation is the prism through which a character sees everything. The same tactics and approach can create totally dissimilar strengths and weaknesses, problems and opportunities because the two characters view the world so differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The same tactics and approach can create totally dissimilar strengths and weaknesses, problems and opportunities because the two characters view the world so differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,47,134,55],"tags":[623,624,25,26,131,132,27,28,30,31,517,32,33,292,34,135,100,625,519,520,521,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42],"class_list":["post-1528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nine-character-types-development-script-screenwriting-movie-film-tv-video-online-scripted-drama","category-random-thoughts-pop-culture-political-movie-television-blog","category-politics","category-power-of-idealism","tag-623","tag-2008-presidential-election","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-current-affairs","tag-election","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-film","tag-films","tag-john-mccain","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-news","tag-nine-character-types","tag-politics","tag-power-of-idealism","tag-presidential-election","tag-republican","tag-republican-party","tag-republicans","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-tv","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image 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differently.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}