well they say ( he is a stranger in a strange land ) in so many words. just like the title of the episode. This in no way insinuates that he is a leader or that he will feel alone and anger becuase of this. the literal translation is what it says... and that is it. for someone who doesnt know jack. all they will understand from his tat is what it translates to.

but when he TOLD bai ling to do it. He probably knew she may or may not write what she said she saw in him. and then when he gets punched on the beach... he realizes that it probably didnt say what she told him. she probably wrote somethign different , hence the beat down... And that is conirmed when the sheriff thought she could be a wise one and tell jack what it said... BUT jack put her in her place ( aw yeah jack!! twice in 1 episode ) sit down lady!!!, there is a new sheriff in town, JACK!!!

I guess the distinction is as simple as this. his being DIFFERENT than the people around him ( the people on the island in his flashback and the OTHERS ) has nothing to do with the fact that he is a leader.

NOW a good point to think about is that often times a LEADER is different than the group he leads... and that difference is what enables him to lead. either by it motivating people or something like that...

one last way of explaining the desparity is this. languages do not translate directly to eachother. A direct translation of spanish will sound very wierd to an english speaker.