Ultimate in passing the buck

Growing up in a standard family as the middle child always led to those situations where something has been broken and we are all lined up for questioning! In this circumstance, the blame is generally shifted between all three of us, ultimately resulting in us "getting what's coming to us".

In Russia, passing the buck has taken a different twist where a phone company has removed a mobile number from service saying it was "jinxed", stating that the last 3 people to own this number have died. Funnily enough one was a king pin in a mafia circle and another was a high level drug dealer, yet this has not been taken into consideration at all.

I always thought if I dealt drugs or was a top end mafia leader, my life expectancy is reduced more from 'occupational hazards' more so than my phone number.

Just a thought, but for your enjoyment, then rest of the story can be found here.

Leadership

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As a business student, majoring in marketing, and sociology student, whose unit this semester focuses on power, I see leadership in a far more, I guess, cynical way (also probably because I've become a far more cynical person over the last couple of years). When I think of leaders, I think of CEO's of major international corporations who are screwing over third world countries, or the "influenced", to get a better dividends for their shareholders and create more profits to keep the board of directors happy.
When I think of influence, which is basically power, what comes to mind are companies trying to influence consumers to buy their product, over the products of others, to make more money, not to end absolute poverty in Africa or stop global warming.
And power, or influence, is used to convince people to do things they wouldn't, or worse, make them think they want to do them and it'll be beneficial for them, when really, it benefits the influencer. Why is leadership so good when that's what it really is? It's really the powerful using their position to get what they want and inflicting their beliefs and opinions on those without power. Also, it must be said that Hitler was one of the greatest leaders of the modern age, yes, horrible, terrible, never to be repeated things occurred because of it and it hardly needs to be stated that no-one would suggest a good leader should be like Hitler, yet there is no way anyone could disagree that his leadership changed the world. There is also the idea of paternalism and whether you should be able to tell others how to live just because you think it is the best thing for them and have the power to make them do it.
Amazing how one seminar can be described as "amazing" and "inspiring" by some people and cause me so much angst!

Yesterday at 11:43pm

Chad Walker

That's a pretty deep analysis anonymous. As a business student also I like to look at things in an unbiased manner. I would just like to ask your opinion on the life of people such as Mother Teresa, Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela and so on; they are certainly leaders in the world standing.
I would propose that leadership is as you say, influence. Maxwell (2002) wrote "Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less". Would it be true to say that not all leaders are therefore acting to manipulate others, but simply have influence over others?
The true essence of leadership is one of providing another with vision, purpose, encouragement and direction. If the leader is heading in a direction I do not wish to go, I simply do not follow negating their authority and leadership over my life.
I would propose that your observations are not a reflection of leadership itself, rather the ethics of the individual using their authority in leadership. If leadership has the power to influence for both the good of mankind and to its detriment, then leadership is simply a tool. Like a shovel, can be used to kill someone, or used to dig deep foundations for great structures to be built upon.

Just a thought

10 hours ago

Things you don't say to your wife

Thought of the day

"Would we want to do business with ourselves?" - Electronic Data Systems (Abend, 1988)

I'm currently doing some research into a business assignment and came across this pearl. I continually find it amusing that the thoughts and theories of the business world echo the words of the bible so frequently, that the best business plans you can find are in the bible; the best management programs and methods of leadership are in the bible; the best customer service strategies, in the bible; the best methods to use regarding ethics and equality, in the bible.

Mentorship is a word that comes up often in the business world, alongside the thought "I am not studying for a degree, I'm reading for a degree." To me if you would be so smart as to put the two of these together you would see that by spending time with God in relationship and reading His word, you can become the worlds best manager, leader or any other professional for that matter. After all, He is currently overseeing a sizeable workforce in this world, not to forget those who have come before us.

Just a thought.

Till death do us part

Of late, Tiger Woods has spent a lot of time in the limelight for reasons he would rather not be. The golfing superstar has been the World's number one golfer for years on end and will well be remembered as one of the Golfing greats despite his personal life.

In his recent return to the game Tiger placed fourth in the US Masters, an event he has won on four other occasions. While most of us would have been ecstatic with the result, Woods plans on taking some further time out to re-assess everything and get life back on track as best as he can.

Now in the initial proceedings of divorce with his wife, it does bring an array of questions to the surface. "Should Tiger get another shot?" As a man who has been through divorce I often get the question of "would you take her back if she decided that's what she wanted?" Now every circumstance is different and so each response always requires due process and consideration. For me though the most important thing to remember no matter what you decision, is your ability to forgive and move on.

If Tigers' wife was to continue on in marriage with Tiger and never forgive him of the past, then what would be the benefit of that relationship? On the other hand, if she does decide to get a divorce and still never forgives, what kind of emotional hurt and baggage will she bring into the next relationship?

Forgiveness is always difficult, cause to forgive means that we release someone else from the consequences of their actions. Where we would normally say "YOU OWE ME!" we instead free them from that debt and in return, we allow ourselves to move on. Till death do us part or not, that is a personal decision based on an entire range of different factors. While I personally believe marriage is for life, without forgiveness it can be the death of you.

After all we are all human, we all make mistakes, none of us deserve forgiveness but still to everyone forgiveness is available. Just a thought.

Life is like

Saw this great little comment on a friends' facebook and just couldn't stop laughing.

"life is NOT like a box of chocolates..it's more like a jar of jalapenos..'cause what you decide upon today could burn your ass tomorrow.."

Life analogies are an incredible tool. Not only do they help you to see the bigger picture or to put things in context, they also help you to laugh at life; to never take yourself too seriously.

Great management and leadership website

I stumbled across this website when doing some research on management. 12manage.com. There's heaps of summaries of management methods and models and an opportunity to network with other businessmen and managers from Australia and around the world. I signed up for it and it's been great using it for one of my assignments while some of the other stuff is great reading for all levels of leadership.

Register a membership. It's free and only takes a minute to punch your details in. Might help you out.