In trade for his own emotional betrayal, Joe received the payoff of grandiosity. Like many narcissistically wounded, successful men in our culture, Joe took a profound conviction of his own superiority out into the world, and the world rewarded him for it. But then Joe’s luck faltered. He had made a grand showing until the day the whole thing came tumbling down around him. Since his sense of worth was synonymous with the success of the business, when it crashed, Joe’s self-esteem bankrupted right along with it.
