I have spent many years observing and realizing "what is" a manager and the true essence of command. It is first and foremost an honor to be found worthy of a directoral post, yet a frighteningly real and humbling charge to know the decisions and actions of any given day greatly effect more than just the bottom line on a company spreadsheet. Lives do hang in the balance. Their are no bullets to fear in management, no bombs or imminent threat to life, yet understand war has a more far reaching definition than just the lead story on CNN and it's warriors more than simply hardened hands, prepared to violently oppose another's will.
This war is much more subtle and it's outcome not the stuff of legend, book, or film. We the people grind away a daily search for our place in the American dream, doing battle with the phantoms of an economic tornado no influence of man or money can hope to contain, yet we carry on. I have been blessed to lead a cadre of working warriors who every day joined with me in a quest to survive the constant perception of seemingly endless storm. Together we battle all comers for the right to achieve and maintain stability in the brutal forum of our most prolonged conflict, 250 plus years of American free trade.
I have learned that to command good people I have to know them. Don't party with them, swap spit, or have sleep over pillow fights with them, but do have to make it my business to discover what makes them tick. I must know what motivates them. I must know what inspires them. I must know what wills them to continue winning, through whatever blight or tragedy may befall them, so that we might all know victory.
The tenor Pavarotti had great command of his vocal cords, Michael Jordan had command of a basketball, Da vinci command of the brush, Lindburgh the sky, these people used no title, no dictatorship, no outwardly abusive means to achieve command. The great ones don't need to lessen another to achieve their higher intent. The great ones set lofty goals, recognize greatness around them, work hard, study and know thoroughly the tools of their craft. They have command.
As a small business director, my troops are not legion but my ultimate goal is to know my motley band of few far better than the competition knows their often much larger force and assist mine in gaining the higher ground. The pressure can be intimidating but for that I am well paid. It is on me to keep even the least solvent of my comrades sailing for Eldorado, even if those shores are, for them, yet unseen. I know for some, it is in me they must trust, the shores are there and only through honest thoughtful command can I manage to lead them to a promised land of riches and her safe havens of peace and gold.
-Hermit King-
Orig Published 07/10
 Dag Hammarskjold quotes (Swedish Statesman and United Nations official, 1905-1961 |
https://open.spotify.com/track/53MixI5NFdw2HyRpgwsoGB?si=bJEcgLOhRkGMBsVB0pUG3A
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