Pull it together

My friend and I agree; they are just snake oil salesmen. (People hawking product to improve your life).

If they (afore said hawkers) want to separate your money from your wallet you may want to leave the room. 

Never lived anywhere that requires you to be in a lottery to get health coverage. Weird--providers say "we are not accepting new applications." Huh? There is a crisis in The Health Care "industry", providers are few. Why wouldn't a person fall back to the Snake Oil Salesman--at least it feels like we are getting someone to talk to for help. 

Pull it together leaders. There are many social services need support. Your constituent's may not be rustling much now, but . . . . 

It’s been A Long, LongTime

The song is Credited to Harry James, but I like how it is used in one Marvel’s movies with the hero finally being with the woman he loved. I can’t play it without tearing up.

I tear up a lot.

It has been a rough trip, but you know there is still a lot of energy left to resurrect with just the day to day stuff. I’ll be back; gotta go feed the dog.

A dirty window

It seems writing on leadership failures is futile--nothing has gotten better. As a retired and cranky curmudgeon I am like a child looking through the department store window at Christmas time-I can look at it, but not participate. While previous experience, and time, allows me a certain license not being "in the action" denies a contemporary feel to the words. But that is all utter nonsense. Use the eyes and ears of others. Of course this clandestine approach may add bias -- eh!, So what.

 At the micro level leadership fails when followership does not show up. The leader's job is to show up also, listen, make decisions and live with the consequences, not run from the truth, accept responsibility, illuminate and manage bias. That last one is tough--a new and important element in the leader's job description. Especially as the leader must understand and manage their own bias. Failure just cannot occur here. It cannot be allowed to thrive, germinate, and corrupt. Problem- I am asking for a sea change in individual behavior. 

Here is what I want you to do: 

          Examine your own bias

          Origin

          Does bias affect your relationships

          Is there truth

          Is your bias toxic

         What kind of outcomes will materialize with continued bias

          

If you want to know what needs fixing--look in the mirror first.

Talk amongst yourselves, and remember if you want to lead, know how to follow. Don't want to lead? Followership still requires responsibilities. 

          

Book review (sort of) and drinking

 A recommended read -- "First Principles" Thomas E Ricks -- Harper Collins Publishers. 

Just getting started, and Ricks pulls the right cords to keep this reader going. It is the type of read to let me enjoy the lessons and re-ignites an interest to learn more. 

Ricks presents information America's first four Presidents which instructs the reader on how the Founders thought, how their thinking developed, where they came from in the their political journey, and why these affect our democracy today. More when I am done reading.

Ok, so what else. My three readers (I found out an additional one showed up in the last few months) know what life has been like the last eight and if you need to know use the digital tools you have. Even though I find myself not directly engaged in many leadership roles it is a responsibility that lingers and I feel will manifest itself again. Trying to hide, but that tactic is unsustainable. 

America is on the cusp of change and every citizen's duty is to participate in the democracy in order to sustain the democracy. Some think this participation needs to be violent--it is just because they do not have the capacity to do anything else. Others stand aside with no personal or political agenda. You gotta at least vote, and sign up for your representative email distribution!

I remember the influence JFK exerted over the electorate -- encouraging people to participate. The famous inaugural quote “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” . . . . A perfect example. As there was, at the time, a surge of interest in government, governing, and serving. But it has waned. Too many citizens do not consider those who work in government as public servants. Indeed it would be good to know how many government workers consider themselves public servants.

The last administration did not care on whit about how the President's Office enabled the violence in its last closing days. I think it was understood and it could be leveraged into something to create an outcome that would have been abhorrent to all of us non-believers.  The public image the administration presented was that of personality and self absorption. I really hope that goes away. 

So here is where my thoughts are going--

    Why government is not a business and should not be run as a business

    Let's bring back virtue into our collective thinking

    Is sovereignty an unmalleable condition in relations with other country's 

    Can honor, dignity, and pride be re-admitted into government service

    Is the Republican Party platform sustainable

        Does the "party of Lincoln" even exist

            Does it matter

    Considering the popular vote outcome for President

        How can the President lead a divided nation

        Is it possible for the true believers to compromise

Will moderate democrats keep the pendulum centered

Can racism be eradicated  

Can local government manage the onslaught of radicalism

"We got a lot to drink about"

     

Followership, influencers, and the eighth grade

I am more than a little annoyed at these take it to the street types bloviating (not new word) about their first amendment right (to assemble) despite the recognition by anyone who is listening physical distancing is what will stop Covid 19. One of the things anyway. These same bloviaters forget the fact citizenship carries a duty--to defend the United States and I would suggest they are carrying out acts completely opposite from that duty. On the way to being a naturalized US Citizen the individual swears an oath (not anything the rest of us have to do--unless you served in a capacity that requires an oath) which includes swearing to defend and protect. In fact the bloviater is less concerned about the closed business down the street (never shopped there I'll bet) than he is about gaining his 15 seconds of fame pushing a bizarre political agenda and interpretation of the Constitution.

A follower has two responsibilities to support leadership towards the goals established by the community; the other is to step up to alter the course the community if the goals not longer comply with mores, standards of behavior, and, indeed, the law. The follower must also lead. Free themselves from those influences slowly eroding the communities core. In other words the follower must constantly compare what they know to be right against the stream of nonsense spewing from the fire-hose.

Can you tell the difference between an influencer and a leader? Influencer's occasionally take on the roll of leader but leader's cannot shed the additional label of influencer. The leader particularly in today's social media world influence with every gesture, tweet, post, photo, or short film. No real leadership here just an action that a certain number of people will embrace. Enough of that, and the influencer appears to be a leader. The problem here is the influencer staggers through the community without a plan, agenda, or thought to what happens next. Where does it take the community? Well there be benefits or consequences? Does the influencer even care?

I would suggest President Trump is an influencer and not a leader. Too many of his actions are done without thought to the future or impact on the community. His bloviator followers waited in the weeds to see some one who could legitimize there own agenda. The bloviator is not the influencer but a carrier, a Typhoid Mary, of the influencers reactions.

Finally the influencer can be a collective. We saw this last weekend with how people took to the streets and others to the park completely ignoring the sober advise to continue to physical distance and wear masks to fight Covid 19. Come on America! You are acting like a bunch of petulant eighth graders . You should be ashamed of yourselves. Even though you did not take that oath, you are a citizen and have a duty to defend and protect your neighbors and family let alone the Nation. So what will influence the followership positively? I don't know. How many will it take? Humm? We blew past 10K, 25K, 50K and now nearing 75K dead and 1.2M cases how many will it take? I hope the business owner feels good about the money they make in defiance of better angels.

Influence--a shattered model

Social media created a new leadership model, or so it would seem It struck me the other day -- yes I am a little slow--and my excuse is--life has presented some distractions. The word influencer (not really a word) and influencers (also not a real word) wormed its way into the popular lexicon. That is the way of language--it changes.

Suffice to say influence is an active part of any leadership type we choose. The ability to influence followers into action, the influence of setting the example, using influence to gain the consensus and so on--'cause you are a leader and get it. Now, however, influencer appears to be a model, but is it?

Influencer definition is--one who exerts influence: a person who inspires or guides the action of others; often, specifically:a person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media. www.meriam-webster.com

Notice this definition (and a number of others I reviewed) make no mention of responsibility or attributes we have discussed in leadership models. A failure of the Trump administration is attaching responsibility to the influence exerted. Social media influencers gain mainstream attention with out accepting responsibility for the consequences of their posts, comments, pictures or whatever instrument is used in creation of the mental detritus. The influence occurs at the macro level (followers) without understanding who or how it effects (follower) the micro level. For a leader to operate in that kind of vacuum sets up a disaster. Any scenario comes to the same conclusion; a leader understands how their behavior, words, actions, or social media posts has a direct effect on their success as a leader. Not understanding reduces leadership to influencership (I can create works also.)

So what is the responsibility of the follower and followership?

Next one fan's.

I'm back.

Pumping your own gas and other non-benficial ideas

In case you missed it Oregon is headed down the slope towards, arrgh "PUMPING YOUR OWN GAS." Effective January 1 you can pump your own gas if you are in a county with a population of less than 40,000. Of Oregon's 36 counties this law will apply to 17 of them. As I see it this "de-regulation" is just one more nail in the coffin holding the body of the sinking middle class. Pishaw you say, well I do have an argument.

I live in a more populous county not impacted by "pump your own" so in some respects I am hollering into a windstorm that has not yet arrived. A contributor to Forbes magazine (that staunch lighthouse of capitalism) Nick Sibilla uses the point that as a state (with New Jersey) still requiring someone to attend your car while fueling is some how stomping on the very foundation of a free market economy. Ok that is stretch, but no more than some of his arguments. Admittedly many reasons for continuing the status quo are pretty weak. Check out the 17 reasons as provided by  Oregon Law.org Nick continues his argument siting different states stupid regulations: Oregon Freak Out, BUT nobody talks about the important ones -- the impact on the people who will no longer have JOBS pumping gas. OR the fact that you, the consumer, will not see even the tiniest of incremental change in the price per gallon of gas anywhere as the result of allowing "pump your own." Nobody wants to talk about that,  'cause the data is safely locked away in a protected and passworded file in the accountants office back at HQ. It ain't hard to calculate however --

Pick a station in your community:
 Let's say it is open--
 6am to 10pm -- 16 hrs a day
 multiply by 7
 that is 112hrs per week
times 4 weeks/mo is 448 hours.
 At 25*  hrs per week per employee (nobody gets a full time job pumping as--not because they want but because they can't get it--just ask 'em.) That station needs 4.5 employees to operate. Other factors like how many islands, managing peak volume, and absenteeism may raise that number--
Multiply by the number of stations in your community and you should be getting the idea there are a significant number of people who NO LONGER HAVE THIS SHITTY but otherwise GLAD TO HAVE it job.

What really makes me irate is the Swamp drainer and his ilk want to make sure that folks on public assistance must work or volunteer. Well how are they going to work if those jobs go away because of "stupid regulations" Mr. Sibilla? Also I have done a lot of volunteer work and it cost nothin' but money--Swamp Drainer and his band of merry shovels haven't done much I am sure.

Now you know why I detest the damn self check out!