James Xander

A framework for spotting outliers: 1) Obsession to a level you do not see in any normal human. This is someone who, after a 10-hr day, opens their laptop at 10pmand reads payment regulations until 3am. They tune out most other things in their life. 2) Most make you uncomfortable in the first few minutes of meeting them; they are not rude but there is an intensity to how they talk that sits outside the range of a normal conversation. You get the sense this person is wired tighter than most, almost to the point of being unhinged, but not so unhinged that they stop listening to feedback. 3) They have incredibly quirky/unusual personalities (not always chalked up to neurodivergence). They are into music, sports, books most people have never heard of. Their career paths don’t always make sense and are often highly non-linear. 4) A history of hardship: Immigrant households or children raised by single parents, or people who grew up watching a sibling/parent fall seriously ill. The hardship itself does not cause the success, but it gives the person a relationship with risk that 99% of people cannot handle. 5) They have a strong desire to prove a specific person wrong; A teacher who told them they would not amount to much, or a classmate or a coach or an ex-boss who made it clear they did not belong. One CEO we met keeps a framed letter from their 6th-grade teacher on the office wall explaining why they would never amount to anything as an adult.