FOLLOW THE LEADER? NOT SO FAST

‘Follow the leader,’ they say.

‘It’ll be a fun learning experience.’

If that’s a green light for you, take another look.

Maybe ask a question like, ‘Where are we going?’

If a grubby character shows up with the the right answers to your questions, like Rasputin with the last Czar of Russia, happy days are coming?

Send out that dinner invitation?

 

Rasputin is reputed to have licked spoons before using them to serve other people and to have regularly had pieces of food in his beard – which would sometimes rot.

In fact, he was widely known for having terrible personal hygiene in general.

 

Personal hygiene isn’t the deal breaker it’s made out to be, but it’s a clue to character.

Dirty and stinking on purpose shows intent to offend.

A good leader is more than their personal funk, but it has a lingering effect.

 

Run Through A Wall Leadership

‘Running through a wall’ once was, and still is, a compliment an athlete gives a coach.

‘I’d run through a wall for him.’

There’s a statue in Paris of just such a promise.

From the looks of things the man is just about to break free.

He’s running through a wall to escape getting caught with another man’s wife.

Running on empty?

 

 

A good leader starts by setting an example.

In this case the example seems like you should expect to be caught when you use our leadership powers for selfish reasons, like sneaking around with married women.

Who did he think he was? Rasputin?

 

Leader Of Ideas, Socrates

This is one of the greats in western history with his Top Ten:

 

1. “To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the true meaning of knowledge.”

2. “It is not living that matters, but living rightly.” 

3. “By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”

4. “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” 

5. “Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant.”

6. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”

7. “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”

8. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” 

9. “Let him who would move the world first move himself.” 

10. “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”

 

The wife and I like to re-enact historical moments.

 

 

Me: Please bring me my drink.

Wife: It’s still brewing.

 

PS:

When you follow the leader, know when too far is far enough.

 

PSS:

If you look for a leader, also look at who is already in lock-step.

Following the wrong leader can land you at the end of a rope, or the target for target practice.