Personalities: The Dark Horse

Quietly munching on carrots in the back of the Super Bowl party, “The Dark Horse” is mysterious, but funny when it counts, and lends a hand when needed.

The Tennessee Titans are down by two with one second left on the clock. Jeff Fisher takes a timeout, then sends Rob Bironas in. The center hikes the ball as whistles blow. The opposing coach called a timeout. To make a long fake story shorter, Bironas kicked the winning field goal on the next play. The game is not the point here, because first of all, I made it up. You celebrate the win by high-fiving the thirty friends who are with you watching the game. Make that thirty-one. Behind couches and fold-out chairs, over near the dip and orange soda, you reach over to extend a high five to… “The Dark Horse.”

This person is often quiet. They don’t draw attention to themselves by what they say, it’s more about what they do. I knew a guy in college, Justin, who was a “Dark Horse.” Not only that, he was a work horse! He tirelessly served his fellow students in many ways, mostly doing jobs that were undesirable (cleaning toilets, taking trash to dumpsters, etc). His quiet nature added a bit of mystery to his appearance, but if you were to talk to him, you’d find yourself really liking him. He was genuinely one of the good guys.

“The Dark Horse” is one of the good guys (or girls).

While people are chatting about the game, “The Dark Horse” is sweeping up crumbs from a piece of pie someone dropped at halftime. This separation from the group will sometimes get “The Dark Horse” lumped into the label of “The Weird Guy.” It takes conversation to realize that’s a mistake, well, conversation or simple observation. As a career choice, people with this type of personality will most likely never be the president of a bank or a principal of a school. However, they will be leaders. And they will effectively get things done. “The Dark Horse” also shares characteristics of “The Database” and “The Thinker.”