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©2010 James Henry McIntosh.
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Time wasted on leadership exhausts solutions

What a waste of time 2009 was! It feels as if we spent the year in reverse. So much for evolution.

Talking about evolution, I think it’s time some of our so-called leaders evolve. Why? Because we, the so-called followers, are tired of having our time wasted – like in 2009. True leaders don’t waste our time.

So, dear leader, how do you not waste our time? Make your intentions clear. That way we can decide whether we want to participate, whether we want to invest our time with you.

Enough with the leadership dreams

One way to make your leadership intentions clear is to stop encouraging leadership at work. No, that’s not a nonsense statement.

What are leaders supposed to do? That’s right, they are supposed to create a passionate vision that will inspire me to live up to my full potential. Well, guess what. If I manage to get there, I’m gone. Working for you will never reflect my full potential. Working for you is a simple necessity – I must eat.

What your organization needs, and what I need, is a manager; someone who can manage me to do my job, perform my duties, play my role, deliver as promised, whatever you want to call it. And my manager must manage me in a way that the organization reaps the best of my abilities while I am at work.

Enough with the leadership dreams. It’s time to manage your business.

Give in now or be exhausted

So, what’s your management strategy for this year? Mine is ‘going with the flow’.

We are conditioned to believe that life is a struggle. Yet, nature has many examples that show the success of the easy way, like rivers finding the easiest flow to the sea.

Have you swum across a river? The inexperienced river-crosser aims at a point directly across and struggles against the current. The experienced river-crosser merely aims to get across and flows with the current to the other side.

If you are aiming at a specific spot, then you must ‘tame’ the river. Why not merely aim to cross over? Ride the current across and walk to the desired spot.

About midway across the inexperienced river-crosser will find that his struggle has exhausted him. Now he must choose: a final fight against the current or give in to its flow.

Me? I’m giving in now so I won’t be exhausted by June.

The right to be against any solution

So you think that giving in now shows that I’m full of nonsense? That is simply not true, because I know what I stand for. I know that standing for something stops me from falling for nonsense. So let me prove to you that I am a no-nonsense sort of guy. Here’s my list of what I stand for:

• I’m against this stupid healthcare bill... until I fall ill.
• I’m against government meddling in the economy... until I lose my job.
• I’m against higher taxes... until I need unemployment relief.
• I’m against road taxes... until I hit a pothole.
• I’m against regulated businesses... until I get scammed.
• I’m against gun control... until I get shot.

There you have it. What do you mean that you still don’t know what I stand for? It’s perfectly clear, isn’t it? I stand for the right to be against any solution, until I get hurt by the problem.

Want to tell me that I obviously stand for nonsense?
Click here to offer me a solution I can ignore.

Welcome to our side of the nonsense divide

Attraversiamo