Social Contract - Tumblr Posts
Can Leadership be Taught?
Leadership is not an innate trait built into genetic code, nor is leadership provided through the "Divine Right of Gaud". No instead it is a natural phenomena that can be nurtured and taught. There are many reasons why some people seem to become great leaders and others don't become leaders at all. But that is for another article, in this article I'd like to discuss the topic of teaching individuals how to become leaders.
Leadership is guiding intent with integrity. These three qualitative values "Guiding", "Intent", and "Integrity" work together to help people choose a style of leadership that works for them personally as well as works for the group they are guiding. The first step in teaching someone to be a leader is to help them see the vast range of methods used to guide.
Guiding someone is not an art. Someone asks a question, you give an answer. You point them in a direction. You provide them with feedback on what has happened. You console them. The guidance provided though is based on your intent.
Your partner asks you if this looks good, how do you respond and why do you respond in that manner? Do you tell them that they look good even when they don't? Do you tell them that they don't look good in that outfit? Is the outfit appropriate for the environment you are going to attend? Or do you find another way to help them towards their goal?
Intent isn't just about your intent, it's also about their intent. What is it that they intended for themselves. If your partner wants to look good, then the language you use will help guide them to a better choice. Or the language you use will trigger an emotional episode. Is your intent to make them emotionally dependent on you, or emotionally dependent?
Finally there is integrity. Integrity has many different synonyms that mean roughly the same thing: accountability, ethics, morality, virtue, sound, honest, chaste, and so on. In the sense that we will use integrity here, it is in relation to the social contract.
The social contract is the written or verbal agreement made between the leader and the follower. The accountability determines whether or not the leader and the follower are following this social contract, and if not how are they correcting each others deviation from the contract? Are they demanding that the contract be adhered to, are they penalizing each other for not holding to the contract, are they talking about the contract as malleable or are they looking at the social contract as the target they want to reach?
There are many different things that the social contract can become. It can become a beacon of hope, or a weapon to beat each other up with. It depends on how the contract is designed and what it is designed to do. As this is an agreement between two people, the contract can always be re-evaluated and adjusted as needed. But, in order for that to occur, both parties need to be willing to examine how the contract is affecting themselves and see how the contract is affecting others.
A good question to determine if the social contract or integrity of the people involved is in line, is to ask, "What is the goal?" Many people use rules that determine a persons integrity. Above 50% and you're good, below 50% and you're bad. However, in many games there is the goal at end of the field. In order to reach that goal all parties have to work together to reach it. So, if the social contract is written at the 50 yard line, then the parties involved are constantly battling over who is in integrity. But if the social contract is written with a focus on the goal, then every play that helps everyone move towards the 100 yard becomes a positive reinforcing step in the right direction.
While the short answer is that leadership can be taught, there is a lot to learn about what affects leadership. While looking at Guiding, Intent, Integrity, and the Goal we also learned that language and the social contract play an important role in the guidance given. We can make people dependent on us or independent on us. We can celebrate the small victories or fight over the small upsets, the question is what is used to measure progress, and where is the goal marker?
Further Incites into the Definition of Leadership
Not sure how different this is from previous posts. I think I've added a few more things that help clarify leadership.
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The definition of leadership is “Guiding Intent with Integrity”. Leaders have followers, non-followers, outsiders, and observers. Followers follow the leader’s guidance towards the goal / vision. Non-followers have vehemently opposed to follow the leader or the goal / vision, and may work to undermine the group’s ability to achieve the goal. Outsiders do not care one way or the other about the leader, the groups or the visions. An observer may be a follower, non-follower, or outsider, their role is to provide feedback on the group’s progress towards their goal / vision.
Guidance is council concerning the steps needed to achieve the goal / vision. Intent or intentions are the reasons driving each individual to either be part of the group, not part of the group, or work against the group. These reasons may or may not be expressed. Integrity is based on the Social Contract or agreement held between the leader and the group.
People choose to follow a goal / vision, due to the Human Condition. The human condition concerns the plurality of culture and personal values, the standards of evaluation, the satisfaction of basic needs, the maintenance of cultural identity, and reasonable conceptions of well being. In conjunction with the Change Formula, humans want a better life, and are willing to overcome their dissatisfaction with the status quo, by imagining a future that is better than the present. In this instance the challenge is convincing others that change is needed, or showing them a path through change that improves their lives. Based on their belief that they can achieve a better life, they will either become leaders of change, follow the guidance and council of others to achieve it, or become part of a movement.
“The true nature of power isn't about strength or control, it’s about relating to people”, Bleach, (Japanese Manga) episode 250.
The Truth About Leadership - Part 4
Values Drive Commitment
“Energy is neither good nor evil, it is the intent by which it is used that determines it’s helpful or destructive force”, Dungeon Master, Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon Series. I think Albert Einstein was also quoted saying something similar to this, after his discovery that Matter and Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, they just change forms.
Page 39 lists a series of values: success, wealth, family, freedom, growth, love, power, spirituality, trust, wisdom, health, honesty, and integrity. It also asks, “What do you really care about?” This question and these categories are about where you’re willing to place your energy into. Since thought is energy, in the human context, then intentions is the proper word for our actions, which are the physical manifestations of our thoughts.
This chapter argues the case that expressed values drive commitment. This argument is false since unexpressed values can just as easily drive a person’s commitment, just as easily as can expressed values.
In addition, this argument mixes intent and integrity. Intent as I described above is the energy or thoughts we have about different aspects of the human condition. Integrity is whether or not we maintain the social contract with ourselves and others. Or to put it in a context that is closer to what this chapter is discussing, what if everyone had an unwritten, mainly spoken, contract with each other. What would that contract be about? And why would you choose to honor that contract? Now, what if the spoken contract were not the contract you are choosing to follow, but instead have a hidden agenda. Now the difference between intent and integrity becomes clear.
Commitment occurs when two or more parties agree on a verbal social contract. I will commit to working, playing, spending time, and/or being with you, if your intentions at the time are the same as mine. For example, let’s go biking. This is simple enough, until the leader finds that after 6 degrees of separation, their ex-love happens to be a member of the biking group consisting of 200 people. And for the next 5 hours they are going to be touring through some very lovely terrain. Now this is a quandary for the leader of the biking group. Should he lead the group, or leave because someone’s values he can no longer agree with is a member of the group? (Grist for the Mill, or Sauce for the Goose?)
The social contract that the bike leader agreed to was, “To lead the biking group on a tour.” However, if his intentions or positions on his judgments towards his ex-love are made known this may end the biking tour for that day. However, if he withholds these judgments, the biking tour may go forward, everyone may have a great time, and as long as there is physical distance between the two, they may both separately enjoy the tour.
In this case, it is not expressed value that is driving the decision, but unexpressed values, which allows the bike tour guide to remain in integrity to his contractual obligations. Others may be aware of his dis-ease, and feel that he is upholding a great sense of integrity as he leads the tour, all the while knowing the personal emotional strain he is under.
The case that is used here is around an employment opportunity. As “The New Leader’s 100 Day Action Plan” (2009) by George B. Bradt, et. al., ISBN 978-0-470-43984-5, location 533 states, “There are only 3 fundamental questions asked during an interview: 1) Can you do the job? 2) Will you love the job? 3) Can I tolerate working with you?” Or put in other words: Skills, Enthusiasm, and Culture, or Strengths, Motivations, and Fit. Enthusiasm and motivations are forms of intent. Why do you want to be a leader? What motivated you to become a leader? Why did this particular issue cause you to become more engaged and enthusiastic than other people?
If I were to answer my own question, “Why is it important for me to write book reviews on leadership?” I think the answer would be, “Because I found the definition of leadership. I want to share it with people. I want to help foster others who are using the correct techniques to grow and empower positive leaders. I want to help the general public recognize people who are bad, negative, and dark leaders.” This answer demonstrates the three key points George made earlier: skill, motivation and culture.
my unpopular opinion is that i hate tiktok because now people just publicly watch loud ass videos in public spaces with no regard for anyone else. 100% it was not this bad with youtube, it’s such a different thing with tiktok. put on headphones. you are grown.
Ok I'm not going to reply to the post directly but smoking weed on the beach is absolutely different from getting drunk on the beach because:
A) people drinking booze doesn't make the entire beach stink like the ass of a dead skunk. You do not get to nickname something SKUNK and then be shocked when people hate when you smoke it in public. It smells bad, and I can assure you I don't go to the beach to smell your shit stink
B) as an asthmatic, people drinking on the beach does not pose a health risk to me
C) I cannot get second hand drunk from people drinking on the beach
I am a person who prefers getting high to getting drunk (gummies, I am asthmatic) but you can't pretend that smoking weed in public isn't straight up obnoxious, lol
there are no hard rules for human interaction but honestly i think everyone online would benefit hugely from operating under the assumption that, unless you have been given a specific reason to think otherwise in discrete instances, internet strangers do not want to be approached with:
your trauma, illnesses, or deep-rooted self worth issues
any come-ons or sexual content
over-familiar playful rudeness
information about your dnd characters/ocs
disagreements with their harmless subjective opinions
if it is your first time speaking with someone i can not highly enough recommend that these do not be your opening topics