Leadership Basics - An Analysis

NOTE:

I wrote this article back in 2007. Here's the achive.

Jefrey Pfeffer's Business 2.0 columns always load me with self-esteem, and provoke me to go beyond the patters of success, the ones I'm aware of. Integrity is an important quality, and so it adaptability and the enlightment of constant self-development.

I tend to have developed this internal Early Warning System for tensions. What does this mean? I use a cheap hushmail account, blogspot as a blogging platform, as I'm indeed trying to prove something - it's not about the blogging platform, it's not about being a domainer, it's all about the knowledge. Respect to HD Moore for still sticking to his black background, exactly the same one I was using for several months.

The chase of an utopian dream - perfection is a never ending driving force, you know you can never be perfect, since it's hard to define, but the constant idea of trying to achieve something unachievable might indeed lead you somewhere.

The ultimate question - what do others think about me? how would I be remembered when I'm gone? is where the problem starts. Being remembered means you're already gone.

There are three different dimensions of the "I", the one you really are,  the one you want to me, and the one the people perceive you as. You'd better focus more who you actually are so you can do better, and who you want to be, than ending up as being anything else but "someone else's expectation", more or less a transparent hologram of other people wanted you to be.

What would others say? What if they don't like it? What if it undermines my confidence in myself at the end of the day? Being hated, or having a "fan club" means you're definitely up to something, all you need to break through is believing it.

Hanging out with the winners of the day is an every day reality, but the reality is that the true cyberpunks often hang outside at a party or con, far away from the populist speeches, and yet another 10k keynote mind-provoker. Still in need of a real-life story? Try Jessus, who was supposed to hang out with the posers, the ones that supposedly excelled in the society at the period of time, still he was dining with the opposite parties.

To me, it's always a matter of perspective and a vision.

Reaching the "Trust no one" stage in your life means you're definitely up to something, and most importantly had the courage to raise above, the consequences among the knives flying around, behind, and above you, are the opportunity costs you have sacrificed due to your behavior such as less time spent on chasing chicky chicks for instance.

People easily forget themselves in the euphoria of temporary success, and while even the fact of forgetting yourself means you used to be someone, this desperate cry for self-awareness in itself is a pitiful personal milestone.

Don't fight for appraisal, but learn to praise yourself, be interested, not interesting, break out of definitions, and question everything, even yourself.