I was having a discussion with a world-famous blogger over Facebook. I explained to his Facebook audience why Obama was an alpha. One person suggested that Obama was not an alpha. He was beta. There is obviously a supreme misunderstanding of the alpha male persona.



What is an alpha male persona? Here is how you spot an alpha male person: Stripped down of any socially constructed trappings of status in power, who would be the one people followed?



You, me, anyone else you know, and Barack Obama will enter a room. Who will leave with the most followers? Only a pea-brained partisan hack (and aren’t they all?) would pick the wrong answer.



An alpha persona gets followers.



When the mouth-breathing majority of people in a room, and turn to look at you for solutions, you might be an alpha.



Look at the guys always screaming, “Follow me!” Those aren’t alphas. If you are alpha, you don’t need to tell people to follow you. You don’t need to draw attention to yourself. People will follow you even when you don’t want them to.



Go meet Gerry Spence. I don’t even care if you like the guy. Tell me you didn’t get goose bumps when in his presence. When he enters a room, you can sense it – even with your back turned. It’s magnetism. Without saying a word, the alpha brings you to him.



People also think ideology is alpha or beta. As if thinking there should be a societal safety net makes a person beta. How so? An alpha need not be cruel. Lawrence of Arabia was a river to his people. An alpha river.



Rahm Emmanuel seems to really believe in his liberal ideas. Put Emmanuel into a room with you, me, and everyone we know. Who do you think is going to come out ahead? Emmanuel is alpha, though not as alpha as Obama.



Alpha and manliness. What is manly? Farting out loud? Smoking cigars? Those are what posers, or wanna-be alphas do. Oh, look at me. I’m so manly! Again, if you are always screaming at people to look at you, you are beta.



If you’re so manly, you don’t need to tell people to look at you. People just will.



Are you seeing the theme?



An alpha gets attention whether he wants it or not.



As for the claim that George W. Bush is an alpha? Bush was all swagger – big hat, no cattle. He had no identity or persona. He was manipulated by everyone around him. He had no persona, and thus by definition could not be an alpha male.



Think of this thought experiment: Without the trapping of office that others gave him, put him into a room. Who will follow him?



Are you going to follow that ass clown? I sure wouldn’t.



And thus you are beginning to understand the alpha male persona.