The resignation and death of  Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple Inc caused a global shock. The iconic CEO has been showing signs of poor health for the past many years. His handwriting defies logic… is this the signature of a revolutionary thinker?  Or just a humble computer programmer who thinks out of the box?

Before co-founding Apple, Jobs, a college drop-out, traveled through India in seventies in search of spiritual guidance. Very few people know that he suggested the name of the company (Apple) to co-founder Steve Wozniak after a visit to a commune in Oregon he referred to as an “apple orchard.”

There are several stories about the man — both interesting and inspiring. But we won’t repeat them here. Here, we will analyze his signature against the views held about him.

An inspiring Jobs had a lot of hard edges: According to Jay Elliot, a former vice-president at Apple who worked with Jobs in the eighties, says he was very aggressive and oftentimes alienated colleagues and investors with his my-way-or-the-highway attitude. Elliot said he was a witness to the acrimony between Jobs and former Apple Chief Executive John Sculley who often clashed on ideas, products and the direction of the company. At a meeting in Hawaii, they blew up against each other. Jobs left the company soon after, saying he was fired.

Elliot’s views establish two things about Jobs: first, he was very aggressive, and second, he was acrimonious. Does his signature confirm the two points? Yes, it does. The beginning stroke of the first letter (S), which starts below the baseline, shows Jobs was resentful and he often misplaced his anger. And because he had a right slant, he often expressed his feelings without inhibitions.

The second point is about aggression, which is seen in the angular stroke at the beginning of j in Jobs and. When this angularity appears in the middle zone, the writer has a tendency to show aggression in his day-to-day life. However, such a writer, because of his impulsive attitude (shown by the right slant of handwriting),  regret his actions. So did Jobs. Here is the proof: About his face-off with Sculley and subsequent departure from Apple, Jobs told a Stanford graduating class in 2005: “It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life’s gonna hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.”

Hard-working Jobs was a ‘genius’: Former eBay Inc chief Meg Whitman said recently: “Steve Jobs is the business genius of our generation. His contributions to Apple, his contributions to technology, frankly his contributions to America, are unparalleled in the business world. He is amazing.”

According to graphology, people who have simplified handwriting are intelligent. Steve Jobs’s signature is plain and simple. No embellishments, no unnecessary strokes. Plus, Jobs is someone who likes to see jobs done fast, quickly, indicated by the pointed tops of his middle-zone letters, such as those in ‘n’ in Steven. Hence, his productivity has been way above average. Now wonder Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has called Jobs the most inspiring person in the tech industry and President Barack Obama has held him up as the embodiment of the American Dream.

Caustic and forceful with words: Ed Niehaus,  hired by Jobs to do PR for Apple, said Jobs liked to push others to do their best. “When Steve Jobs weighs in, it is with a simple set of verdicts: insanely great; really, really great; and shit,” Niehaus said. Being chewed up and spat out by Jobs is an experience most Apple employees who have come in contact with Jobs can relate to, a report says.

As per handwriting analysis, a long t-bar is indicative of the writer’s healthy energy to push things forward, and say things in a very forceful manner. Jobs’s t-bar is fairly long, and appears to have been drawn with a firm pen pressure. Such writers are assertive, and they like to ensure their orders are executed exactly the way they want. The confirmation of this attitude is here: “Basically Steve tells you exactly what he wants and you just go build it,” says a former iPhone engineer.

At the same time, Jobs is a humble man: A look at Jobs’s resignation letter tells you that the man’s feet are on the ground. “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come,” he said in a brief letter announcing his resignation.”

The letter suggests he is a humble man. But people may look at the tone of this letter with cynicism, and say he was just being formal there. So, we look at his signature to ascertain if this person for whom people use words such as “ruthless, perfectionist and dictator” is capable of being humble.

The answer again is yes. The moderate size of the signature, especially the first letter, confirms that the larger-than-life Jobs is indeed a humble person. In a report, Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple employee, said: “Most mere mortals cannot understand a person like Steve Jobs. He is the greatest CEO in the history of man. He’s just got a different operating system.”

(Quotes taken from news reports) 

Article Source:
Write Choice
Interactive website on handwriting analysis
Mumbai, India

In the previous post, we discussed what small handwriting means, and it says about the personality. In this post, we will talk about what large handwriting reveals about a writer.

1) Thinking big: Large handwriting shows that writer thinks big. His social circle is usually large (unless the word-spacing is abnormally wide), and he has a number of friends. They love to party and remain in groups. The desire to be surrounded by people emanates from their internal need to be appreciated and loved by others. Most celebrities have big handwriting and signatures.

Please note here that I am talking about large handwriting, not medium. I give below two large handwriting samples. One belongs to Paris Hilton, the other to Elvis Presley.

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2) People’s person: People with large handwriting are usually loved by people because of their flamboyance. They become the life of a party and take initiatives. They like to be around people and get really uncomfortable and egdy when they are left alone.

3) Lack of concentration: Such writers often hate to be tied down to jobs that require monotonous repetition because they cannot stay focused. Their minds wander off quickly. Hence, they do not prove to be very productive on desk jobs. But they exhibit exemplary efficiency when they are put in sales, marketing or public relation jobs. The reason: they love people and connect with them fast.

4) Carefree souls: People who have big handwriting do not worry about small things. They are quick to leave behind unpleasant experiences and get on with life. They do not think about anything for long, and prefer to shrug off issues with considerable ease. However, there are exeptions to this conclusion in case the individual writes with high pressure and narrow margin on the left.

5) Ignore them at your own risk: If you are a large writer, you know it very well that you need a lot of attention. Same goes for people with large, flamboyant signatures. They like to remain the centre of attention in social gatherings, and interestingly they leave no stone unturned to ensure they get. Nothing upsets or annoys them more than being ignored.

Vishwas is a Mumbai-based handwriting analyst

By Vishwas Heathhcliff

I am sure you know plenty of people who have very small handwriting. Maybe you are also one of them. If you are interested in knowing what small handwriting means and what it says about the writer, read on.

1) Sign of introversion: The sizes of middle zone letters, such as a, o, e, m, n, u and v, are a key component while analysing handwriting samples. It suggests how much the writer needs other people in his life. People with small handwriting are very focused individuals. They are able to shut out the world and can concentrate very well. Small handwriting often belongs to people who are introverts who like to live in themselves and rarely want to look beyond.

2) Ability to concentrate: Usually, scholars, researchers and great thinkers have small handwriting. For example, take the handwriting samples of Albert Einstein and Sir Issac Newton. Like most creative thinkers, the two have small handwriting. Now, you may ask why. Have you ever tried writing very small? If no, give it shot. Try writing very very small. You will know it’s not easy to write that way unless it is your normal style, and you will have to be extremely focused. Scholars usually need to shut out the world and direct their complete attention on their work. They do not allow their minds to wander. This need to concentrate and stay focused is reflected by small handwriting. Hence, someone who has a small handwriting has a good ability to concentrate.

Albert Einstein’s handwriting

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Sir Issac Newton’s handwriting

3) A reserved personality: People who write small are usually not flamboyant or attention-seekers. They are like quiet mice nibbling at their cheese in a corner. They feel discomfort when you shower on them a great deal of attention. In short, very reserved.

4) Pressure handler: Small writers are able to handle pressure pretty well. They work with amazing efficiency when it comes to paying attention to small details. Such writers understand their social limitations and they usually desist from making incursions into others’ personal space. Also, they are quite guarded in their reactions.

5) Very small handwriting: People with extremely small handwriting are shy and have some self-esteem issues. They do not value themselves high. Such writers totally avoid the company of others, primarily because they fear that people will know their own lack of faith in themselves. They are very insecure, and if they are forced to become social they behave quite abnormally.

Vishwas is a handwriting analyst based in India

By Vishwas Heathhcliff

Catching a running chicken is really a tough task. But for most children in small villages, it’s a cakewalk. My guess is that these little brats gave covert coaching to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Last week, a 32-year-old chambermaid accused the economist of trying to rape her in a suite of a New York hotel. He reportedly emerged naked from a room, ran down a hallway after the woman, and attacked her.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Earlier, I thought the world was really being harsh on him. The poor guy was just practising in his room so that he could make his young teachers proud. But apparently, he started practising a few other things. Bad boy.

According to a CNN report, our Kahn babu shut the door, preventing the woman from leaving. He “grabbed the victim’s chest without consent, attempted to remove her pantyhose and forcibly grabbed her between her legs”. (Such a cheapo! Our boys won’t ever have taught him all this!) He also forced her to perform oral sex on him. Afterward, the employee went to the front desk, and staffers alerted the police.

Incidentally, Kahn, who was gearing up for French presidential election with ‘Yes We Kahn’ slogan, was involved in a controversy in 2008 over an affair with a female IMF economist who was his subordinate. He had then apologised for his act and called it an “error of judgment”.

News reports, coupled with his past records, have kind of established that the man’s fly zips down faster than Schumacher’s Ferrari.  So, here we look at his signature (below) and find out a few things about him.

Objectively speaking, I like his signature. It’s very elegant. Its size, direction, and the overall appearance are simply superb. It indicates that the writer is extremely intelligent and sharp and a quick thinker. He is a quick problem solver. The proper placement of i-dots and small size of the middle zone letters suggest that the writer is a focused person and is particular about even small details. The moderate connection between the letters suggests that this writer is a deep thinker.

Now, let’s look at some negative points. The ‘m’ in Dominique indicates that he likes to say things without meaning them. He can promise things keeping something completely different in his mind. The letter e in Dominique is ink-filled, which suggests that the man hardly likes to listen to others. He only likes to hear himself talk.

Some special things about his signature. (Isn’t this what you have been waiting for since you started reading this piece?). Again, we will look at his ink-filled ‘e’. It means the writer is sensual and has a calculating mind. It shows he is preoccupied with carnal desires and the gratification of the senses or appetites.

Carefully see the n in Kahn. The last stroke travels deep down the baseline with a firm force. This indicates that the economist indulges in sexual extravagance. The lower case n is a middle zone letter, but the writer has taken it into the lower zone — the area of sex and physical and material pleasure. This, in a way, indicates that the writer is too preoccupied with material pleasures and sex in his day-to-day life.

The heavy pressure in his signature indicates that he is a very energetic person. The economist, therefore, has a compulsive need to release it. Usually people with high energy (reflected by high pressure)  achieve a lot in life — the way Kahn did. But when this energy is not properly channeled, it can turn out to be extremely dangerous. We all know how the famous economist handled it.

Read more articles by Vishwas Heathhcliff

By Vishwas Heathhcliff

A new book by Joseph Lelyveld, the Pulitzer prize-winning former executive editor of New York Times, says Mahatma Gandhi, who was a great votary of celibacy, had been in love with a German-Jew architect and bodybuilder, Hermann Kallenbach.

The book, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi And His Struggle With India, quotes letters by Gandhiji to Kallenbach. “How completely you have taken possession of my body. This is slavery with a vengeance,” Gandhiji wrote to Kallenbach, whom he met in South Africa. He nicknamed himself ‘Upper House’ and Kallenbach ‘Lower House’, and said cotton wool and Vaseline were ‘a constant reminder’ of Kallenbach.

Another letter to Kallenbach from Gandhiji quoted in the book reads: “Your portrait [the only one] stands on my mantelpiece in my bedroom. The mantelpiece is opposite to the bed.”

It’s possible that Lelyveld has presented these letters out of context. But, I am not here to dispute the facts since I don’t know much about the Mahatma’s relationship with Kallenbach. So, I analysed Gandhiji’s handwriting. Here are a couple of points:

Sample of Mahatma Gandhi's handwriting (1st sample)

1) Does the handwriting show Gandhiji had homosexual leanings?

A writer’s sexual life is seen in the lower zone of his handwriting. The sample below shows that a homosexual person’s lower zone is sharply triangular. If you compare it with that in Gandhiji’s sample, you’ll find no similarity at all. Gandhiji’s lower-zone letters in the sample above are round. But before you make up your mind, read the next point.

Triangular Y, indicating homosexuality (Picture courtesy: Handwriting University International)

2) Comparison with the handwriting of homosexual Oscar Wilde

It is well known that Oscar Wilde served time in prison for homosexual activities. Interestingly, there is some similarity between his handwriting and that of Gandhi. In the lower-zone letter, of course. In Wilde’s handwriting, look at the tails of y’s in “by and “you”. Normally, the tails take left turn and come up to the baseline, indicating a normal sexual preference. But in this sample, they turn right, reflecting some confusion as far as sexuality is concerned. Similar inverse tails of lower-zone letter g is found in Gandhi’s second sample (below). Look at “against” and his own signature “mkgandhi”.

Mahatma Gandhi's handwriting (2nd sample)

The two samples of Gandhiji’s handwriting here are totally different. In the first one, there is no sign of any homosexual preference. But in the second, there is. So, what’s the conclusion, you may ask. I know you would like me to take a stand here and make clear whether Gandhiji was a homosexual or not. But in this case, I will sit on the fence, and would want to swing both ways.

(Vishwas is a Mumbai-based handwriting analyst)