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“There are 10 kinds of people in the world.

Those who understand binary numbers and those who do not.”

Math jokes aside, anyone who thinks there are only two kinds of people in the world is mistaken, if not delusional. It might sound good to divide the world into two parts – saints and sinners, good and evil, successful and unsuccessful, and so on – but reality isn’t that convenient. Classifications soon become blurry. Labels soon become terms of estrangement rather than endearment.

I don’t know how he found out, but out of the blue one of my college friends said something like this, “Murray, I heard your dad is an officer at some big company. You could buy and sell most of us…but you never act like it.” He meant this as a compliment, like I was a “man of the people” or something. I didn’t know how to react. I’m far from being a saint.

I acknowledge that I was brought up with privileges many people do not have. My dad was the first in his family to earn a college degree. And this was only because his older brother died in WWII and had an insurance policy naming my dad as the beneficiary. He went on to become an engineer and later a plant manager and then a corporate vice president.

So, our family did not have the financial struggles others had at the time I went to college. But dad made sure we were aware of our advantages. He cautioned us to treat people fairly and keep our word. Later I realized that I was able to pursue a career as a music professor because of my dad and an uncle I never knew. Through it all, I never got the idea that money would or should make me better than anyone else.

With this in mind, I want to outline four broad categories of would-be leaders.

First are those who started with little or nothing and built their wealth but never forgot their roots. They tend to look out for people who are less fortunate, not just those who are part of their socio-economic circle. Ross Perot comes to mind. It seems to me a person who started out poor but became rich can understand the challenges the average person faces.

Next are those who start out with wealth and keep the little guy in mind. I’m thinking of JFK. His dad had far more money than my dad, but JFK, to paraphrase Kipling, never lost “the common touch.” It seems to me his service in the Navy had something to do with his attitude as president. He wanted everyone to succeed, not just those who were like him.

Next are those who start out with a little, experience financial success, and then forget their roots. Country clubs and other exclusive groups offer a lot of temptations, so it’s predictable that some of their members will develop this kind of amnesia. JFK warned that life in Washington – the proximity to power, the perks of office, and the feelings of superiority – can overwhelm a person’s moral courage.

Finally, some are born into wealth and have no need to care about the less fortunate. A few have turned face-rating-dating apps or electric-car-startups into multi-billion-dollar corporations. Most never had to choose between food and rent, or between medicine and keeping the lights on. The recent musings of a billionaire about the price of “groceries,” as if that’s a novel term, reveal a man who is out of touch with most of the world.

These are clearly not neat little categories. There are many shades of commitment to service, so it strikes me we should consider how a person handles success. Some act like they are entitled to it. Others act like they understand the true purpose of it. Maybe all of this is just a roundabout way of saying that character matters.