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| The Tarot of Leadership. | Started by: Daera on Jul 19, '08 01:54 |
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He opens his office door and invites you in, sitting down behind his desk as he stares at you with his ice blue eyes. So I hear you got authorization to start your own family. Congratulations. I know you've worked hard for this opportunity. Starting a family is hard work, though. It takes time and it takes effort, and you need to be ready. And more importantly, you need to figure out what kind of leader... what kind of *person* you want to be. There have far too many people to count who have had this same opportunity that you have now. Great men and women who brought prosperity to all around them. Terrible tyrants who brought pain and suffering to this thing of ours. The utterly forgettable, who far too often are given power they simply do not deserve. Who am I to judge? A nobody, now. Sadly, we never truly comprehend the kind of leader we are until our end scene, when our life flashes before our eyes. The final curtain drops and we are posthumously delivered to the jury to have our immortality decided. Many have come before, many will follow, but the same themes abound in every reign, no matter how individual the wearer of the bold presents him or herself to be. From his desk drawer he pulls an old and ragged set of cards, each with a crude depiction on its face. Let's see what the cards have in store for you. The first one is flipped over and laid upon the desk. Will you be the Diplomat? Someone who is friends with everyone, regardless of who they are? No matter what those friendships may end up costing you in the end? Some say the Diplomat is smart, forming lasting alliances and trust. Some say the Diplomat is cowardly, bending his spine in all directions as to agree with everyone else's position, having nothing to stand on himself? He looks up at you with a curious gaze before shaking his head, flipping over the second card. Perhaps the Politician? The man who prefers wordplay over gunplay. One who avoids action at all costs, until, inevitably, action finds him. A smart man for valuing the pen over the sword? Perhaps. But in this life, it is too often that the sword is far more final than a pen. He shakes his head and flips over the third card. No, I can sense that words are not your style. Perhaps, then, the way of the Outlaw. Diametrically opposite of the politician, your weapons are the gun and the knife. Words are for the weak. And you are not weak, are you? The strong thrive in this world, and who is stronger than you? Take what you want, and damn the consequences. Those are the rules we live by! That is of course until the final confrontation at the OK Corral..... The life of the Outlaw is an exciting life, to be sure. But all too often it is a tremendously brief life. He glances up and smirks at your worried face. Excitement and an early death is not the path you crave? Do not fret, there are still more cards left to be turned. You exhale with some relief as he turns over the fourth card. Ahh, the Monarch. If excitement is the antithesis of what you crave, then you could do well as a Monarch. Perched upon your throne in your ivory tower, nary an ounce of excitement to be seen. You are a born ruler, commanding the respect and obedience of your followers is your destiny! To be waited on hand and foot is what you were born for. But many people do not enjoy being ruled over. They wish to have commonality with their leaders, not bow and scrape before them. And a tower made of ivory can crumble beneath you in but the blink of an eye. He shakes his head and gives you a familial smile, turning over the fifth card. Most true leaders, however, are bred through hard work, not born into it with a silver spoon in their mouth. If you care for your family, work with them, let them know they can always come to you, then mayhap the Family Man is the path you seek. Even criminals need father figures, someone they can come to with their problems, someone to help guide them, teach them. Your office door is always open for your family. Unfortunately, those outside of your family do not see this side of you. They simply see you as a mute, someone who's always too busy... too uncaring to get involved in the "ways of the world". Of course, they are mistaken. If they knew the real you they'd never think such things. Even in the mafia, mistakes happen. And sometimes, what is done... cannot be undone. He stood up from the desk, ready to escort you outside before realizing he had one last card in his hand, tossing it contemptuously on the desk. The Sloth. Sometimes, when someone calls you uncaring, when you are accused of doing nothing for this world, it is not a mistake. The sloth sits in his office, staring at his desk while the rest of the world passes him by. Apathetic and wasteful, ignoring the cries from his family and the questions from the community, he stares at nothing. Wasting away until inexorably, he is killed. Leaving no legacy and being all but forgotten within minutes of his passing. Opening the office door, he turns back to look at your once wide-eyed face, seeing his words rattling around inside your head. There are other alternatives, other paths you may take, of course. These are but a few of the best known options that lay ahead of you. We all strive to make our mark in this world. What mark will you leave? Hearing the office door close behind you, you walk out of the warehouse, squinting against the bright sun as a new day dawns before you. |
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FlyingPig listens with interest, occasionally nodding his head and smiling when one of the descriptions comes close to a Boss that he has known in his younger days "That is a pretty thorough list of characteristics. Whatever path a Boss chooses, it should be done with the understanding that this is their one chance - there may not be another. However you want to lead, do it to the best of your ability. Of course, if you choose the Sloth route, you don't have much hope. It amazes me how often we see these sloths live short lives, and die without anyone giving a shit...yet new sloths pop up again and again, and think that they will be given leniency in this thing of ours." "A lesson to be learned from history is that if you wish for longevity in this thing of ours, you must earn the respect of your peers through hard work. If you are little more than a warm body, someone can easily replace you." |
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| Reply by: FlyingPig at Jul 19, '08 02:03 | |
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Scorched recognises the different types of leaders proposed by Daera, but at the same time has the inclination to disagree with Daera. Contemplating how to phrase it, Scorched begins to address the speech and slowly approaches his opinion, deliberating over every word carefully. I don't think every leader can be catagorised into a particular group Daera. If you look at leaders across time, they all differ in their approaches, in how they run their family. Generalising like this is, though I hesitate to say it, wrong. The majority of leaders wouldn't slot into only one of these groups. Some Crew Leaders will appear like a sloth some days, and appear different the next, switching from your catagories every day. Also, leaders may appear sloth-like in some aspects, but appear amazingly acute and quick in other aspects. I do agree with the groupings though. I have seen leaders who are just as you described, but the generalisability to all leaders is somewhat of a stretch. Scorched steps down after his last comment, and stands quietly in the forefront of the crowd waiting for someone to counter his argument, or support it. |
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| Reply by: Scorched at Jul 19, '08 08:19 | |
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Vienna smiles, very much in agreement of Daera's cards. True that no one leader falls into any of these caricatures one hundred per cent, but I believe history is not so accommodating to our hierarchal ancestry. I can recall several diplomats, quite a few monarchs... She sighs, picking up the sloth card and turning it over in her hands... More than my fair share of sloths. Sloths completely? Certainly not, but enough so that the label stuck. An interesting postulation though. Which one of these labels will be the current leaders' title after their inevitable downfall? Is it what they wanted to achieve? Is any one of these the perfect leader? Perhaps we all need to be a little diplomatic and political. Sometimes a little gunslinging goes a long way. Don't we all secretly want to be Monarchs? Or sit back and let our court to all the work? Wouldn't we all love to be that reclusive family man, known intimately only by our own crew? A little bit of all of them, I surmise comprises the better leaders. Once the proper balance is attained of course. So, who's playing with a full deck? |
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| Reply by: Vienna at Jul 19, '08 11:04 | |
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