Hello.
Today I’m writing about leadership. I love to talk about leadership, so I think maybe I should put some of my thoughts and spoken content into written words.
Maybe in the future I will answer job interview-ish questions such as, “What do you think makes a good/bad leader?” Today, I am giving my thoughts on being considerate of others, their situations, and even yourself. Good leaders reflect on what does and doesn’t work. They reflect on their past while keeping a steady hand stretched towards the future. How can you know where you are going if you don’t know where you are coming from?
If you aren’t considerate of others and their situations, you can’t expect them to be considerate of you and your situations. Period. Of course, you can try to solely explain things away with little mind-numbing statements such as “Well, he/she just isn’t my problem.” “That’s not a nice/good attitude.” “He/she doesn’t deserve this/that.” Okay, well you aren’t his/hers either then. News flash: No one really single-handedly deserves that much of anything, so parochial reward and punishment systems aren’t always the most effective. In most situations, you can be sure that if you are rendering fanatical punishments in response to basic reality, you will also receive rabid punishment as your reward.
Here’s the snag: If you are in a position of leading power, it’s YOUR duty and responsibility, not your followers, to go above and beyond to make sure those at a disadvantage are properly accommodated. No matter how they got there, might I add. You didn’t get on top of the world without help, it only makes sense that they also aren’t on the bottom of the world without help.
Leadership is like a number line that has positive and negative numbers. It’s basic math. You move to the left or right depending on the negatives and positives. What can you bring to the equation? I generally try to balance things out at 0 since all humans are created equally. Though, if I am going to make a mistake, I do try to err on the side of positives since there are so many negatives, and those are usually what you are working against in the first place. I think this is the best route. It really all depends on the specifics but only real leaders with an open mind and open heart know what will best balance the equation in those really rare occasions.
Math has simple principles, but the problems aren’t always that easy to solve. You might have a 6. You can break it down to 3 plus 3 or 4 and 1/2 plus 1 and 1/2. There are also many other ways. Heck, some people might even say .5 for 1/2. As an isolated concept, there’s nothing technically wrong with this, but it’s not geared toward those who don’t have the ability to count in halves yet. That means it’s wrong for them at the moment. Which do you think is going to be easier for someone with basic skills to count? Most people that I know have whole fingers. It’s easiest to view them as whole fingers on their hands as well. Therefore, 3 fingers plus 3 fingers equals 6 fingers. Why would you want to use halves when unnecessary? If you are THAT person, YOU are the real simpleton because it takes a good leader to be able to not only recognize but prioritize emergency tasks.
That’s all I have for today. I’m really not even sure if I well organized the content of this post or not. Either way, it’s here. Enjoy. Learn what you can, trash what you can’t!
-Jason
JASONTOJASON 