Thanks Adam! Great first edition. Particularly loved:
“That is what leadership is all about,” says Doris Kearns Goodwin. “Staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment."
Defines LEADERship. As opposed to the idea that (per Davos) employers and consumers need to step up and speak up to drive change within their companies. If this happens, or the times when it happens, those in positions of leadership might adjust corporate trajectories to mitigate risk and blowback. But that’s not them Leading, it’s more deflection, evasion, pacification. The deft turn of the matador to evade the horns of the bull. Skilled in the art, the bull eventually tires or loses focus, struck down by the thrust of the matador’s sword.
I’m also fascinated by the concept of the “Cup of Endurance”. Filled to the brim, the risk of it spilling over seems imminent and likely. But how much needs to spill before the cup once again finds itself capable of holding its contents? Those in positions of leadership- government, corporate, finance, media, etc seem to know and understand that sometimes the cup needs to run over; a little spilled milk is nothing to cry over. The benefit of a 24hr new cycle has effectively allowed the cup to spill and the mess to disappear within a few cycles. The facade of balance returned (to our inequitable normal).
You also mentioned the Greta Thunberg effect cited the belief that, “Millennials/Gen Z no longer want to “work for, invest in, or buy from” companies living the shareholder capitalism ethos”. I had to laugh when I reflected that this seems more slogan than practice. Views shared across social media platforms trumpeting their call for change; alongside blatantly false political ads and foreign agency posts designed to disrupt our democracy. All on the platforms owned and operated for the benefit of shareholder returns.
Does the long term nature of the corona virus or the current sustained protests of a frustrated and oppressed population mean that things will change? Maybe too early to tell. But as we charge ahead, nostrils flaring - beware the Matador.
Well done, well researched and thought through. I like your questioning the basic tenets of our system; although we have long accepted and trusted our leaders to be able to lead society and shape culture, they have all failed dismally, along with their old boys clubs that they have incorporated to give them “enduring” credibility. It has always been the average Joe who shoulders the pain of economic and social inequality while the greedy 1% pocket the gain; that paradigm now has to shift, we are all “one" and we must all act and reason as “one”.
Maybe the forces at work right now, coalesced by the tumultuous events of 2020, and including your clear voice and your respected intellectual explorations will help our society move towards that necessary shift. Congratulations Adam, well done. More please. Cheers Mitch
This is simply superb, Adam. You're on your way to a book and you've put your finger on a key issue with movements in general--parochialism. It's all an interconnected system. Much of the world's resources sits on indigenous land. Non-indigenous people want those resources. Etc and so on.
Thanks Adam! Great first edition. Particularly loved:
“That is what leadership is all about,” says Doris Kearns Goodwin. “Staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment."
Defines LEADERship. As opposed to the idea that (per Davos) employers and consumers need to step up and speak up to drive change within their companies. If this happens, or the times when it happens, those in positions of leadership might adjust corporate trajectories to mitigate risk and blowback. But that’s not them Leading, it’s more deflection, evasion, pacification. The deft turn of the matador to evade the horns of the bull. Skilled in the art, the bull eventually tires or loses focus, struck down by the thrust of the matador’s sword.
I’m also fascinated by the concept of the “Cup of Endurance”. Filled to the brim, the risk of it spilling over seems imminent and likely. But how much needs to spill before the cup once again finds itself capable of holding its contents? Those in positions of leadership- government, corporate, finance, media, etc seem to know and understand that sometimes the cup needs to run over; a little spilled milk is nothing to cry over. The benefit of a 24hr new cycle has effectively allowed the cup to spill and the mess to disappear within a few cycles. The facade of balance returned (to our inequitable normal).
You also mentioned the Greta Thunberg effect cited the belief that, “Millennials/Gen Z no longer want to “work for, invest in, or buy from” companies living the shareholder capitalism ethos”. I had to laugh when I reflected that this seems more slogan than practice. Views shared across social media platforms trumpeting their call for change; alongside blatantly false political ads and foreign agency posts designed to disrupt our democracy. All on the platforms owned and operated for the benefit of shareholder returns.
Does the long term nature of the corona virus or the current sustained protests of a frustrated and oppressed population mean that things will change? Maybe too early to tell. But as we charge ahead, nostrils flaring - beware the Matador.
Hi Adam,
Well done, well researched and thought through. I like your questioning the basic tenets of our system; although we have long accepted and trusted our leaders to be able to lead society and shape culture, they have all failed dismally, along with their old boys clubs that they have incorporated to give them “enduring” credibility. It has always been the average Joe who shoulders the pain of economic and social inequality while the greedy 1% pocket the gain; that paradigm now has to shift, we are all “one" and we must all act and reason as “one”.
Maybe the forces at work right now, coalesced by the tumultuous events of 2020, and including your clear voice and your respected intellectual explorations will help our society move towards that necessary shift. Congratulations Adam, well done. More please. Cheers Mitch
This is simply superb, Adam. You're on your way to a book and you've put your finger on a key issue with movements in general--parochialism. It's all an interconnected system. Much of the world's resources sits on indigenous land. Non-indigenous people want those resources. Etc and so on.