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What I mean by "high and mighty" (though I realise this term does not exactly paint anyone in a nice light) are characters who know their worth and know themselves to be better than numerous other people, but are not condescending towards others and do not lack compassion and empathy. They are simply imbued with a sense of grandeur in everything they do, and it is not exaggerated or non-warranted. I mean characters with self-confidence. But I didn't use the term self-confidence because the mindset I'd like to describe goes beyond plain self-confidence. I guess I mean characters who believe or sense they are above others, yet it doesn't make them arrogant or vain.

I tried looking up different synonyms by myself already, which is my first step when lacking words to describe what I want, and could only find words with negative nuances, which is not at all what I'm interested in. I'm mostly looking for adequate terms rather descriptions of behaviours.

I think that the simplest way is to show that they walk the walk in addition to talking the talk. Let's say that James is high-born, proud, and more than somewhat judgmental with respect to his conservative Christian faith. Could be easy to hate such a man. But he gives generously to the charities that support those less well off, he regularly serves in soup kitchens even when there is no one watching, and he contributes time and money to Habitat for Humanity. [You can fill in whatever activities and organizations that make sense in the context of your story.] He also urges others in his "class" to act in similar ways. He is a committed rather than a convenient Christian.

You could also have the folks around him observe that James is a pain in the ass but that he holds himself to the same standards that he holds others to. He does good things, perhaps not in the way that nicer people might do such things, but "on balance" we are better off with him than we would be without him.

Positive, at least in my mind, does not necessarily mean likable. It means that he contributes more than he takes. Have James save a cat but then curse the owner's of the cat for being careless. The trick is to have other characters that are mature enough to see the net value that James brings to the story.

I wouldn't call them "High and Mighty"; that is automatically pejorative and carries the air of "haughty", and disdain for commoners.

I'd portray such people as intelligent, insightful, and perhaps describe them as "Accomplished", "Brilliant", or "Skillful".

There are plenty of sports stars, actors, singers, lawyers and self-made multi-millionaires that fit that bill, that began in the lower or middle class and used a natural skill, honed by years of work and sacrifice, along with brains to become who they are.

They know they are special, they suffer from no delusions that what they did can be done by "anybody". Some know they were just plain lucky to be born with the right combination of genes and brains to succeed. Others that began life rich may be smart enough to know this too, that they didn't choose to be born rich and smart, that was pure luck.

Knowing that, they'd be stupid to hold any disdain for those not born as lucky as them, born with lesser skills, brains, or resources. And they are smart enough to know that being condescending is insulting and non-productive, and smart enough to have compassion for the plight of those born on the opposite end of the spectrum from themselves -- The distinctly unlucky.

To be "imbued with a sense of grandeur" sounds haughty to me, too self-important. I'd just say these people pursue, because it is within their capacity, really big projects and aim for society changing results. They have big ideas, they are highly intelligent, and they are going about the business of leveraging their resources and influence to implement these big ideas.