I was hoping last week that I would have my latest piece about the nature of anger ready, but I still need more time to address some questions I have. However, since I failed to meet my normal bi-weekly schedule. I figured I should at least update the blog with some message and insights.
Another piece I have drafted takes a look on the methods of leadership. However, I got tangled up by whether some things should be regarded as leadership and which are general categories. As a result, I haven't made much progress but I don't know when I will either. I will definitely have to revisit the topic, but here is a draft of the ideas and organization I currently have.
If you want to be a good leader, you need to know how to inspire people. Here are general traits or methods that can encourage action.
- Authority/Expertise: Authority is often a synonym for leadership, but in this case, I speaking about the expertise that no one doubts you. It is the level of knowledge where people can say you "wrote the book on it"
- Respect: Respect encourages us to do something for others. When leaders have our respect, they can also have our loyalty. This is one of the ways our heroes naturally inspire us. Another aspect of respect is what is called Filial Fear. This is the fear children have when they don't want to offend their parents. In TV shows, it generally takes the form of "I didn't want to make you sad."
- Admiration: The second and more prominent attribute of heroes. When we admire someone, we want to act just like them. Therefore we naturally will want to follow them in what they do.
- Reward: Common advice when training pets or raising children is to reward them for good actions. This is a valid method but it has it's limitations and consequences. It should be noted that this method can encourage entitlement which always will lead to resentment. You need to make sure to establish that actions may not receive a reward. Likewise, compromise can be a legitimate course of action when dealing with a difficult situation, but there are some times when compromise should not be an option.
- Charisma: ideas are common, but the ones from people with energy survive the race. I often hear at work that good ideas come up, but they need someone to make it their project. The abundance of energy can inspire people to act, but it can also wear people out and they give up resistance. I certainly recommend the former over the latter, but even then you need to be careful. This is the method used when riling up a mob, which is perhaps one of the scariest aspects of society.
- Obligation/Logic: Obligation is the most varied method in terms of tactics and effect. It tries to use logic to convince someone to do something. The tactics are as follows: Position, Pity, Promise, Guilt, and Fear of Punishment.
- Position tries to use logic that you are a leader. However, unless the person can back the claim with another method or actual power, this is a very weak tactic. If the subjects don't believe you should be in power, they may possibly rebel.
- Pity tries to utilize people's capacity for love saying that they are not human if they don't act.
- Promise is similar to reward except that the reward is not provided by you but instead is the natural result of the action.
- Guilt is similar to pity but instead approaches that someone will live in constant regret if they don't do as you say.
- Fear of Punishment is the opposite of reward and controversial, but can be a powerful motivator. There are certainly times when it is necessary, such as when someone does not understand the gravity of the situation despite how you explain it. My wife's shoulder had been bothering her for weeks so I kept telling her to make an appointment to get it checked but she kept forgetting. So I told her that I wouldn't buy her anymore avocados if she didn't make the appointment. Such a trivial threat of punishment, but it got her to do it. She finally made the appointment and found that if she continued to do nothing, she wouldn't be able to raise her arms.
That is all I have for now. Hopefully I can come up with something more within the next two weeks.
N. D. Moharo
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