Siaming is crucial....

Is it humility? Or just plain stupidity? Why do I let myself get pushed around by people? Yes, they talk about servant leadership - and I believe wholeheartedly in the concept - but what happens when you reach a point where your "leaders" treat you as nothing more than a slave? Do they think that just because they hold an officer's rank, they have the authority to lead? Is it not your men who give you the authority to lead them? But then what about respecting those in authority over you? Does that not imply that their authority is given by a greater body? But if that really was the case, and men really had no choice but to listen to their "leaders", then who is to say if the "leader" is doing the right thing? Do we leave it to him to discern right from wrong? But what if he has neither the wisdom to realize his folly nor the humility to admit it? Are his men to be left suffering for his mistakes?

On the other hand, should I not have faith that in submitting to authority a greater reward awaits? By the way, someone please show me where in the Bible it speaks of submitting to authority...I really can't think of it offhand. Sigh...

If the person who typed a particular quote that at one point in time hung on the board in the ops room is reading this (you know who you are!), you're right... dreaming is indeed wonderful (hey..it's what I'm doing now ain't it?), siaming is definitely crucial (it's what has saved me from more than just a little sai gang which would have driven me nuts if I had done), but arrowing is supreme (I'm not too sure about this though - I'd really hate to be the guy at the receiving end of all the arrows, though, in my opinion, I'm more than a little experienced in that department).

Hitler was actually quite smart....

I've been longing to put in a new post, but couldn't really find the time to until now. And even then I don't have a heck of a lot of it.

Anyway, I think I'd better explain the title of this entry before someone out there arrests me for neo-Nazi activism or whatever it is people get arrested for nowadays. The reason I say Hitler was smart is that he recognised the fact that he could not fight a war on two different fronts. Those of you who are familiar with the history, please correct me if any of my facts are wrong, because it's really been quite some time since I last bothered about them, or if you have a different view that I'm missing.

Germany at the time of World War II, was bordered on the east by Russia and the eastern European countries, and on the west by France, Switzerland and the rest of Western Europe. If Hitler was going to fight a war against all these countries, he knew he would surely lose, which was why he decided to ally with the folks to his right, so he could concentrate on fighting the folks to his left.

Unfortunately, I'm not so smart. I'm fighting wars (or at least small battles) on waaaay too many fronts for my own good - wars with my superiors, colleagues, family both with and of, with myself, my body, my mind...the list goes on. And it's not as if I can really ally with any of the parties - can I?

Star Light, Star Bright...

Operational Readiness? Or a bunch of propaganda rubbish? Not that I'm complaining about having next to nothing to do, but......

How is one supposed to feel if he has not been given the authority he needs to properly and efficiently perform his role?

How is one supposed to feel if he is so often tasked with work that is the responsibility of another?

How is one supposed to feel like an important member of a team (and therefore valued, and therefore take pride in his work) if he is kept out of the loop, in the dark ("you're not cleared..."), existing only to do the most menial of chores (and even then only at others' convenience)?

How is one supposed to feel if he has been trained to perform a role, only to have that role performed by someone else?

How is one supposed to feel if he has been trained to set up and operate a system, only to have part of that system daily within his grasp, yet unused because of politics and carelessness?

How is one supposed to feel if machines are treated better? What do you do with a machine not in use? Keep it in a cupboard, in a state of dormancy, to be retrieved for use when the appropriate time has come? Or keep it in the middle of your office, in everyone's way, yet brushed aside until a task comes along - a task so menial it warrants no more than 2 seconds of your time (although somehow the fact that it takes up much more of the time of the person you sent to do that task for you seems justified)?

How is one supposed to feel?
Is one supposed to feel?
One supposed to feel?
Supposed to feel?
To feel?
Feel?

Feel what?

Chicken or egg? Or round and round the Mulberry bush?

Bah...4th day of the year and I'm already un-motivated to fulfill those fantastic, Utopic resolutions you see down there.

I was reading a book on motivating people today, and read something about "leadership is but a small part of management". My first thoughts were "HUH?!?!?!?! I thought management is a small part of leadership?" Then I realised - all too often, people use those two words and those 2 concepts interchangably, when in actual fact they are two separate but related ideas (hey hey hey, don't kill me - this is MY blog. Nonetheless, your comments are welcome). Managers aren't necessarily leaders, and leaders aren't necessarily managers (what's the definition of a leader, anyway? And who says it is?). Leadership deals with motivating and influencing a group of people to work towards a certain goal - be it long or short term. But then again, isn't that what a manager does too?

What, then, is the difference between a manager and a leader? Could it be that a "leader" is a position, a "manager" is a title? Is management actually "leadership" in an organizational setting? Or could it possibly be that a manager sits behind a desk shuffling papers, pushing pencils, anal(-)yzing stuff, talking and talking and doing absolutely nothing while a leader leads from the front, showing the way, asking his "men" to go no place that he himself has not been?

Which then brings me to another point - there's this little piece of paper stuck on a door somewhere in my camp that says "A piece of paper makes you an officer. A radio makes you a leader". Is that really true? Is "officer" really automatically a synonym for "leader" or vice versa (in this case, as long as he has the means to communicate)? Don't get me wrong here - I'm not saying all officers aren't leaders, or all leaders can't be officers. But what about the officer who gets in the way of his men to fulfill his own personal agenda? Or the one who allows his men to claim a certain privilege, thinking he is doing them a favor when in actual fact they have work to finish and cannot do so while he, having "cleared" his conscience, walks off scot-free? It all boils down to the fact that any word can be just a title - a rank invested on you by the powers that be - unless one shows by example and by his own actions that he deserves the right to lead.

Disclaimer: This article expresses the long-supressed views of the author, the only author and no one but the author. It is not to be used as justification for insubordination (although we all know how tempting that is). A small part of it has, however, already been used as ammunition for a -little- irreverent outburst directed at one particular officer whose identity shall remain confidential. The author wishes to state for the records that he is NOT sorry for having done so, because said officer was really getting on his nerves.

Resolution 0.1024 x 0.0864

I shall accomplish the following by the end of 2006 (Lord, only by Your grace - I need you...) :

1. I will grow in wisdom and favor with God and man (over this I have no control, but God said it, I believe it, that settles it!).

2. I will seek first His Kingdom (which is His righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit - Rom 14:17) and His righteousness.

3. I will find enjoyment and accomplishment in all the works of my hands.

4. I will ORD! :P

5. I will find the right job, one that's fulfilling and enjoyable.

6. I will get my driving license (and maybe more!)

7. I will decide on the right uni course to do, and I will get that course.

8. I will have a clearer picture of where I'm headed in life.

9. I will lose weight.

10. I will live my life as an example to my peers, Boys, all those put under my charge and even to my superiors.

11. I will influence and impact their lives, using my own life as a testimony of God's love, grace and goodness.

12. I will be a beacon for the Lord; a beacon of truth and light unto men.

13. I will lead by example, inspiring respect from my peers, Boys, all under my charge and superiors, influence them, their lives and their actions, then exercise the requisite degree of control and management over the situation.

14. I will learn what rank really is - an outward sign of the authority vested in you by those in authority above you - and that this, a lot of the time, is utter rubbish.

15. I will learn that your right to lead really is given by those whom you lead, not by those in authority nor by those who have led you.