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Posts Tagged ‘leadership

Weak Claim

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Just my opinion…

Claiming innocence when overtly behaving in a spiteful, mean-spirited manner that is so blatantly transparent to the entire world of intelligent people is sad enough for any individual, but downright criminal and deplorable for a head of state.

Who would do such a thing in today’s world? Can you think of any world leader who would boldly and unabashedly stoop to such boorish behavior?

… [the virus] comes from China.

He’s just stating the fact. Over and over again.

It’s a fact. Whaaat? What’s wrong with that?

If you don’t see what’s wrong and are able to allow yourself to ride on that greasy train and cling to that embarrassingly weak claim of innocence, then you are fooling yourself. You are not fooling the rest of the world.

Such behavior adds importance to my yearning to send love to everyone in the world. I don’t want to limit my love to only those receiving or sympathetically witnessing this kind of abuse, but also those who find justification in supporting said abuse. I love the people, if not the behaviors and beliefs.

But wait, the pandemic flu of 1918 gets referred to as the Spanish Flu. What about Zika Virus? Ebola? They are all named after the places where they originated.

There you go. You have a perfect justification for the heavy use of the term in official press briefings and written government communications.

Except you don’t. It’s called “diplomacy,” wherein you respectfully respond to international and domestic public feedback by changing your behavior. To forge ahead and even double-down on the usage is a total callous disregard for the responsibilities and aura of importance for the highest office in the country.

When the world is no longer in the midst of the financial calamity extraordinaire that is reverberating from the embarrassingly delayed, under-prepared governmental response to this scientifically-predicted pandemic situation, feel free to embrace that descriptor with all your mean-spirited resolve.

Maybe by that time, people will no longer recognize the subversive message oozing out with each repeated usage. That tilt of the head. That subtle emphasis on the word, “China.”


In a hundred years, go ahead and call it the Chinese Flu.

While untold thousands are currently suffering and loved ones are dying all over the world, maybe have a little respect and use the identifier the rest of the leaders of the world see fit to use.

Your sanctimonious innocence over the factual correctness of the geographic origin is weak, at best.

<end rant>



Embrace Change

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Is it possible to fully understand the vast number of worlds and details of lives to which we have, at best, limited exposure? Not that we are supposed to. How often are decisions made, despite an honest comprehension and acceptance of how little we are actually aware?

What can one individual really expect to grasp of the full range of issues and disciplines at play in the world? Let me see how many I can leave out by failing to mention…

Starting nowhere in particular, …medicine. Pharmacies. Hospitals, patient care, insurance, finance, facility maintenance, emergency management, legal advice, illegal gambling, addiction, recovery, psychiatry, academia, higher education, childhood education, reverse mortgages, home construction, plea bargaining, coupon shopping, fuel additives, auto sales, product placement, advertising, manufacturing, shipping, travel, cultural sensitivity, political ambitions, mathematical odds, gravitational waves, electron microscopes, archaeological mapping, district boundaries, city planning, manure management, religious zealotry, emotional manipulation, theater production, recording industry, music licensing, athletic training, team building, volunteerism, broadcast journalism, pain management, nutrition supplements, insulin, scar tissue, therapeutic massage, skin grafts.

Demolition, trucking, forest management, bear hunting, bird migration, traditional celebrations, sleep deprivation, common misconceptions, in-depth investigation, maintaining confidentiality, healthy intervention, interior decoration, retail product purchasing, industrial scale food production, buying fabric, spinning yarn, nailing crossbeams, laying foundations, paving highways, recognizing symptoms, healing psychological wounds, making amends, raising children, caring for elders, predicting the weather, creating complex spreadsheets, coding software, upgrading hardware, saving lost data, creating historical records, storing precious documents, managing a bank, growing wealth, affordable healthcare, establishing a fair tax.

Proper shoes for walking, insoles both firm and cushy, camping gear, college years, immigration, negotiation, land management, proper drainage, flood mitigation, product liability, instant gratification, adequate illumination, mineral rights, engine displacement, performance enhancing drugs, commercial sponsorship, codependent relationships, legal guardianship, adoption, acting, directing, angel investors, screenplay writing, sky writing, stunt flying, flight instruction, ground rules, ruling parties, parting ways, space exploration, deep-sea diving, grant writing, non-profit organizations, managing foundations, educating the masses, bullshit detection.

Historical re-enactments, religious interpretation, traditional hymns, learned behaviors, family bias, class divides, social acceptance, criminal negligence, healthy confrontation, anger management, pet care, pest control, toilet training, Oedipal complex, renal failure, clogged arteries, plugged drains, drain fields, debt manipulation, cosmetic dentistry, animal husbandry, oral history, re-framing history, flagging industries, recycling precious metals, fabricating complex machines, publishing magazines, controlling military spending, black-market weapons dealing, lifting economies, deep sea fishing, car racing, long distance putts, fire protection, lumber harvesting, crop raising, hospice care, librarian, business consulting, museum curation, sculpting, designing, choreography, judge, cook, baker, candlestick maker.

If you chose to read every last word of those paragraphs, you might consider serving in government somehow. I also think you’d make a good editor.

I shudder over the number of instances when I have heard political arguments or strong opinions expressed with fervent finality, when there are so many more pertinent details worth considering in the world than can realistically be included. No one person can know everything there is to know.

I feel like the general population of the United States is looking for a person who does know everything, when they think about electing a President. Others are just looking for a candidate who will constrain decisions to a narrow band of specific interests.

I’d prefer the kind of leadership that is allowed to be flexible enough to respond to the latest information available and make decisions based on a combination of historical reference and what is known now.

Since the world is constantly changing, it makes sense to me to embrace the change, rather than struggle in resistance against it.












Written by johnwhays

February 13, 2016 at 10:34 am

The Man

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Who’s da man?

Are you talkin’ to me?

Don’t mess with Legs. Check out his ears. He is listening in two directions at once. The man is always monitoring his environment. Some of the time it is to be on the lookout for outside threats to his herd. Most of the time it is the herd themselves, as he executes his ongoing demonstrations of dominance by dictating when they can move, where they should stand –or more accurately, where they shouldn’t stand– when they can eat, etc.

I enjoy watching him deftly adjust his body orientation to home in on an intended target by aiming his hind end directly at one of the other three while he pins his ears back. They might have been acting like they didn’t notice him, but when he assumes that position, their immediate reaction indicates they knew full well he was sending them a message.

I’d choose him for my squad, watching my back, any day.

He’s a righteous dude.





Written by johnwhays

December 14, 2013 at 7:00 am

Important Play

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On the fourth day of adjusting to their new home, the horses appear to be working on their pecking order. Well, three of them seem to be working on it, as Legacy stands by, unfazed by their activity. His leadership is not being challenged. The rest of the group had us laughing at their game of following each other in circles around the water trough, each one trying to influence the other.

IMG_2870eElysa and I were describing to Cyndie how Hunter seemed to be seriously focused on keeping Dezirea away from anything she wanted. First, the ears pull back, then strategic positioning of increasing threat. Cyndie explained how their exercising roles of dominance are a form of emergency response drill. Just like we practice fire drills, they are practicing to see who can drive others from harm’s way, regardless their interest in going.

If there is a threat, a leader needs to move the herd, even when they are unaware of potential harm and would rather just eat. By showing another horse that it can be controlled, no matter what, dominance can be established and a leader will earn its role.

Now that the horses are becoming comfortable with their surroundings here, they are able to play around with the hierarchy of their herd. It looks playful at times, and like serious business, at others. It is important play that establishes who can be trusted to take necessary action when the time calls for it, which allows the rest of the group to feel at ease and commence with their grazing.

Today, we intend to put them out in the big field for the first time. Since it has been so dry the second half of the summer, we didn’t get enough growth to justify a second cutting, so we will graze the horses out there to let them eat the grass that did grow. It will also give them a chance to be out in open space, and increase their familiarity with their new location.

No doubt, it will also give them a chance to hold some emergency response drills, practicing the leadership roles they appear to be experimenting with since they moved to our place.

Written by johnwhays

September 29, 2013 at 7:32 am