Mind Over Matter

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSaJzMlYM7Xx3UL5WnvdAk-bIHfsZ2HuWX684YxOTxrD26XDuGLFGQX0jOmQTy3c1hlboJAVtFeNfSj49FQKKL2quiLvevsOZSxUrumpvn5ntYKJ0x5SNw4vJC37BXGz0xXqnIVjRKzYd_w8oh3L5MZJF4vjBTGsj-3fcfo9Y7-r9sVb4fbBYblxAw/s4000/Winslow%20Homer%20-%20The%20Gulf%20Stream.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2468" data-original-width="4000" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSaJzMlYM7Xx3UL5WnvdAk-bIHfsZ2HuWX684YxOTxrD26XDuGLFGQX0jOmQTy3c1hlboJAVtFeNfSj49FQKKL2quiLvevsOZSxUrumpvn5ntYKJ0x5SNw4vJC37BXGz0xXqnIVjRKzYd_w8oh3L5MZJF4vjBTGsj-3fcfo9Y7-r9sVb4fbBYblxAw/w640-h394/Winslow%20Homer%20-%20The%20Gulf%20Stream.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Gulf Stream</i> by Winslow Homer, 1899 (<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11122" target="_blank">The Met</a> - public domain)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><p></p><div class="preformatted-block" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><pre class="text"></pre></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts. ”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Charles Darwin, 1871</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Last week, I explored the need to — how to put this politely? — <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2022/05/just-shut-your-big-mouth.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">keep your yapper shut</a>.</p><p>If, at times, we’re better served by remaining silent, then what happens when we’re forced to be alone with our thoughts?</p><p>We seem to be always running to one thing or another; in some cases, running from ourselves. <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/solitude-and-reflection?s=w" target="_blank">Solitude and reflection</a> afford us the opportunity to use such moments to forge a deeper understanding our ourselves.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":33635395,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/solitude-and-reflection","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7deb20a8-9f39-4415-baef-1f74ae71d101_1280x1280.png","title":"Solitude and Reflection","truncated_body_text":"“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. 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","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"publication_id":28922,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":true,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"Lessons on leadership from history and literature, applied to the issues and challenges of the present.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7deb20a8-9f39-4415-baef-1f74ae71d101_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}},{"id":732360,"user_id":429,"publication_id":794721,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":794721,"name":"Trifles","subdomain":"trifles","custom_domain":null,"custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"You know the plots, but what about the minutiae? 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From the quiet reflection, will come even more effective action.” — Peter Drucker When’s the last time you were alone with your thoughts? No, truly alone. I’ll give you a moment to think about that. Before you say anyt…","date":"2021-03-12T19:52:14.973Z","like_count":2,"comment_count":0,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Keynote speaker & executive coach inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice. Sherlockian. Word nerd. ","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"publication_id":28922,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":true,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"Lessons on leadership from history and literature, applied to the issues and challenges of the present.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7deb20a8-9f39-4415-baef-1f74ae71d101_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}},{"id":732360,"user_id":429,"publication_id":794721,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":794721,"name":"Trifles","subdomain":"trifles","custom_domain":null,"custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"You know the plots, but what about the minutiae? A weekly podcast about the details in the Sherlock Holmes stories.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d6e09972-5593-495b-b134-c4260c15f027_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#E8B500","created_at":"2022-03-10T19:11:28.387Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott & Burt from Trifles","copyright":"IHOSE Media, LLC","founding_plan_name":"Founding Member","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}},{"id":733864,"user_id":429,"publication_id":796167,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":796167,"name":"I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere","subdomain":"ihearofsherlock","custom_domain":null,"custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"At the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and popular culture. Bonus content from our Fresh Air-like interviews with Sherlockians.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/56753f16-a7e7-476c-b864-8cb95835b477_1024x1024.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#FF81CD","created_at":"2022-03-11T14:47:41.358Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere","copyright":"Scott Monty","founding_plan_name":"Founding Member","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}],"utm_campaign":null}">In such moments, we have the gift of being able to spend what Vincent Starrett called  “<strong><em>the romantic chamber of the heart, the nostalgic country of the mind.</em></strong>”</div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The human mind is a marvelous entity; among the class <em>Mammalia</em> of the kingdom <em>Animalia</em>, we are the only species that consciously understands its past and dreads the future, knowing that it portends our death.</p><p>This consciousness is a gift and a curse, as the knowledge of what has already happened informs what may happen next.</p><p>And yet, ironically, we spend our lives repeating the mistakes of our forebears, even with the knowledge of their struggles. Because we are consistent in the behaviors driven by our subconscious.</p><p>It’s all there for us to see.</p><p><br /></p><p>St. Augustine acknowledged the difficulty of uncovering some of that buried treasure in his <em>Confessions</em>:</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“The power of the memory is prodigious, my God. It is a vast, immeasurable sanctuary. Who can plumb its depths? And yet it is a faculty of my soul. Although it is part of my nature, I cannot understand all that I am…I am lost in wonder when I consider this problem. It bewilders me.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><p>In other words, when we recognize the truth that we don’t know what we don’t know, it is simultaneously liberating and frustrating. Such is the curse of self-awareness, part of the makeup of an emotionally-intelligent leader.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Acknowledging that we’re not know-it-alls is one of the skills that sets good leaders apart. We can’t be experts in everything; we hire people with skills and knowledge we don’t possess.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><p style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></p><blockquote><strong><em><br />“To consult the record in books both ancient and modern is to come across every vice, virtue, motive, behavior, obsession, joy, and sorrow to be met with on the roads across the frontiers of the millennia.”</em></strong></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Lewis H. Lapham, 2018<br /><br /></em></p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>Leadership is not a destination; it is an odyssey, meant to be undertaken with a crew and a vision for the long term.</p><p>As we continue to divine where and how to apply what we know, exploring the tapestry of our past and the labyrinth of our minds, it should be a great comfort to know we’re not alone on our journey.</p><p>We have the gifts of companions, colleagues, and consciousness.</p><p>The mind is what allows us to unwrap those gifts and make use of them.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDn1UZ0UgW3HboiuuQnaXWVIYUl8J15J9l7afuPRQxDV8kPcYF95bpi55lTV70KJP2KirqRcbdixbEBoigg_aJTJq1weaVUUcmk1x42sUHVqO6WwDGgCWdKKh0bEGCqUJZoX07Ye0HXli_QpcsPQI1fnRmYLRonxeIG-4FMoa5V4MQK_xG5QeX6oKG/s800/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDn1UZ0UgW3HboiuuQnaXWVIYUl8J15J9l7afuPRQxDV8kPcYF95bpi55lTV70KJP2KirqRcbdixbEBoigg_aJTJq1weaVUUcmk1x42sUHVqO6WwDGgCWdKKh0bEGCqUJZoX07Ye0HXli_QpcsPQI1fnRmYLRonxeIG-4FMoa5V4MQK_xG5QeX6oKG/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>One More Thing</b><br /></h2><p>On the next episode of the <strong><em>Timeless Leadership</em></strong> podcast, I’m speaking with Benjamin Dreyer, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3Gl2dA0" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Dreyer’s English</em></strong></a>. It’s a fascinating discussion that looks at leadership through the lens of language. 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Exclusively for word nerds.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="11585" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>

Mind Over Matter

The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer, 1899 ( The Met - public domain)   “The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that...

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Just Shut. Your Big. Mouth.

<div class="preformatted-block" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><p><strong><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZSwqqCitsXuom5s1GAcw2UXVEdSvqB0t9u5B3RSc6EyO49RrD8ODH_v9_dEFygPRPuwzadXioZkIUC_eWt5BB-1yXvedFv0Mk6uUPTLiqlQaD9_4w-IrqLrTot0i7B4_xxXpi7g9L5bs8w9fia5JN_ffKvpVUHMES4dkfPqQHrsn7pw5gn7hfnqt2/s1204/Tom%20Merry%20-%20The%20Traveling%20Quack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1204" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZSwqqCitsXuom5s1GAcw2UXVEdSvqB0t9u5B3RSc6EyO49RrD8ODH_v9_dEFygPRPuwzadXioZkIUC_eWt5BB-1yXvedFv0Mk6uUPTLiqlQaD9_4w-IrqLrTot0i7B4_xxXpi7g9L5bs8w9fia5JN_ffKvpVUHMES4dkfPqQHrsn7pw5gn7hfnqt2/w640-h424/Tom%20Merry%20-%20The%20Traveling%20Quack.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/e47uvan6" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">The Travelling Quack</a></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif;"> (detail), by Tom Merry, 1889 (Wellcome Collection - </span><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif;">CC BY 4.0</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif;">)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><em><br /></em></strong></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><em><b>“I will begin to speak when I have that to say which had not better be unsaid.” </b></em></div><em><div style="text-align: right;">— <em>Cato the Younger</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>You don’t have to have something to say constantly.</p><p>You don’t always need to be on.</p><p>Sometimes, the people around you simply might not want to hear from you.</p><p>And other times, the power of silence can convey something even more powerful.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Raising kids to have a healthy sense of self-confidence and autonomy means giving them a chance to speak their minds.</p><p>But when they get mouthy or have some wisecrack at every turn, it’s distracting and disrespectful.</p><p>Not unlike public personalities who seem to thrive on the combination of chaos and attention-seeking that result in more drama for the rest of us.</p><p>It’s distracting. And frankly, in certain business arrangements, it can <a href="https://twitter.com/DataDrivenMD/status/1526283670243270656" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">derail entire deal structures</a>. There’s a reason for lockups and quiet periods.</p><p>And it takes a certain level of maturity to apply restraint and self-control.</p><h4>Compare this from Twitter’s current CEO: </h4><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVzuAtZGkIFCwjPRmRH3flpUCDESskY9nH7tsnQXm23iE43WHqySxbXyjnqmENfBDFAYFiZuiIk6eilZ5wRcC6lVpqcTNE9e7Rt__cSAgQR39XayS2sDDcGSHwWv3BMxX_Ct_STUnV7OJeLQWHghx16Wpdx7Y4suwRuc7j-f0oCFYuTnzMyQ9KjaQu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="855" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVzuAtZGkIFCwjPRmRH3flpUCDESskY9nH7tsnQXm23iE43WHqySxbXyjnqmENfBDFAYFiZuiIk6eilZ5wRcC6lVpqcTNE9e7Rt__cSAgQR39XayS2sDDcGSHwWv3BMxX_Ct_STUnV7OJeLQWHghx16Wpdx7Y4suwRuc7j-f0oCFYuTnzMyQ9KjaQu=w640-h284" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h4 data-pm-slice="1 1 []">To this, from Chaos Manchild: </h4><div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1526246899606601730","full_text":"<span class=\"tweet-fake-link\">@paraga</span> 💩","username":"elonmusk","name":"Elon Musk","date":"Mon May 16 17:03:11 +0000 2022","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":3668,"like_count":28796,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null}"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0fB_7XqCNe3Ttn7u9THKp8cXJWSdzzzXKIJbALmhAEVBno1y6IZ5s4hLQs5-fwVEP_Q9Aa9Ajf59EmqgIsOfyqjefFGveO79Z84ve528AGfDAb_3L8kNGQJzUc2AB_PaAv-MoEiQJM-mTZl_UUeOoTdo-J3XghqzvP8SK48Q9RjQcMNVlM8QfT-It" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="851" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0fB_7XqCNe3Ttn7u9THKp8cXJWSdzzzXKIJbALmhAEVBno1y6IZ5s4hLQs5-fwVEP_Q9Aa9Ajf59EmqgIsOfyqjefFGveO79Z84ve528AGfDAb_3L8kNGQJzUc2AB_PaAv-MoEiQJM-mTZl_UUeOoTdo-J3XghqzvP8SK48Q9RjQcMNVlM8QfT-It=w640-h208" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="tweet" data-attrs="{"url":"https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1526246899606601730","full_text":"<span class=\"tweet-fake-link\">@paraga</span> 💩","username":"elonmusk","name":"Elon Musk","date":"Mon May 16 17:03:11 +0000 2022","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":3668,"like_count":28796,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null}"><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">From a content perspective, we hear that we need to post X number of times a day on Instagram, or keep up a certain cadence on Facebook. Snapchat creates the ultimate incentive for this behavior with Snapstreaks.</p><p>Why are we trying to convince each other that more is better? </p><p>We’re trying to make up for the crowded newsfeeds by shouting our way to relevancy, which seems to be the only alternative to using paid media to be seen, now that organic reach is nearly gone.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Imagine if you decided to say something <strong>only when it was worth saying something</strong>, rather than constantly caving in to the pressure to make your presence known. </p><p>That pressure is creating burnout for producers and consumers of content alike.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><blockquote><p><strong><em><br />“It isn’t only famous movie stars who want to be alone. Whenever I hear someone speak of privacy, I find myself thinking once again how real and deep the need for such times is for human beings…at all ages.”</em></strong>  </p></blockquote><p style="text-align: right;">— Fred Rogers, <a href="https://amzn.to/325lIHe" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>The World According to Mister Rogers</em></a></p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>More isn’t better. Sometimes more is just more.</p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Imagine how your team would pay more attention if you didn’t have something to say about everything.</p><p>Imagine how much more you’d enjoy creating those communications if you were able to create them with more deliberation and regularity.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>You can create anticipation and interest by applying restraint and certainty.</p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhctMWZLHEEVG76l7TuBzuWumMElWCFc2sGIQNXoTw1FxJzYa2w6p93vPc2Fb-4IdisaIGLykXbdXSSZdX5gC6Qnfe6xcXcgmrljaeO3W6Kz-jencluhFPdS_BE_dxn-2Aqe02qEwryWd8kGjO1avpGQqGoQ9hgBkqaL3qoPOmrjQ9ZTECKJSN1b85a" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" height="112" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhctMWZLHEEVG76l7TuBzuWumMElWCFc2sGIQNXoTw1FxJzYa2w6p93vPc2Fb-4IdisaIGLykXbdXSSZdX5gC6Qnfe6xcXcgmrljaeO3W6Kz-jencluhFPdS_BE_dxn-2Aqe02qEwryWd8kGjO1avpGQqGoQ9hgBkqaL3qoPOmrjQ9ZTECKJSN1b85a=w640-h112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhctMWZLHEEVG76l7TuBzuWumMElWCFc2sGIQNXoTw1FxJzYa2w6p93vPc2Fb-4IdisaIGLykXbdXSSZdX5gC6Qnfe6xcXcgmrljaeO3W6Kz-jencluhFPdS_BE_dxn-2Aqe02qEwryWd8kGjO1avpGQqGoQ9hgBkqaL3qoPOmrjQ9ZTECKJSN1b85a=w640-h112" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="640" /></a></p><p><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive a Saturday bonus newsletter from the Off the Clock, a quirky look at words and history. Exclusively for word nerds.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="4011" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4><p> </p></div>

Just Shut. Your Big. Mouth.

The Travelling Quack  (detail), by Tom Merry, 1889 (Wellcome Collection -  CC BY 4.0 ) “I will begin to speak when I have that to say which ...

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Leadership Lessons from Underdogs

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2A-hSTlnNiyIbLNogWdTrMoAQuCDFmBybdUdmdzEnlOCTv43Etti87sqwEoXBiVuIVLSoey5StpgGDwpkKU1wJS58RBWJ17-fX1x1HnDj0Wt0BUu7i7DTyX84aYhJ_fpJI0B6u9ND1NY4PEA2yyofwtHcstgSabd1f4Lo0SpRbntiPdpIptbkzQ4/s1536/Joseph%20Mallord%20William%20Turner%20-%20Snow%20Storm%20Hannibal%20and%20his%20Army%20Crossing%20the%20Alps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1536" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2A-hSTlnNiyIbLNogWdTrMoAQuCDFmBybdUdmdzEnlOCTv43Etti87sqwEoXBiVuIVLSoey5StpgGDwpkKU1wJS58RBWJ17-fX1x1HnDj0Wt0BUu7i7DTyX84aYhJ_fpJI0B6u9ND1NY4PEA2yyofwtHcstgSabd1f4Lo0SpRbntiPdpIptbkzQ4/w640-h392/Joseph%20Mallord%20William%20Turner%20-%20Snow%20Storm%20Hannibal%20and%20his%20Army%20Crossing%20the%20Alps.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps</em><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1812 (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Storm:_Hannibal_and_his_Army_Crossing_the_Alps" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> - public domain)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><strong><em>“When a humble and much inferior combatant is matched against a celebrated and seemingly invincible athlete, the sympathy of the crowd is at once given to the inferior man.”</em></strong><em> — Polybius, 212 BC</em></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>We all love an underdog.</p><p>There’s something about seeing an individual or an entity that is against the ropes, struggling to survive, and giving it their all to make a comeback.</p><p>In America, the notion is nearly baked into the recipe of our origins: the scrappy Minutemen and ragtag bands of troops with bare feet who served under George Washington were able to defeat the most powerful military force in the world.</p><p>Here are a handful of examples of underdogs, past and present.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>They Said It Couldn’t Be Done</strong></h2><p>In 216 BC, the Carthaginians and their allies, led by Hannibal (who had previously crossed the Alps with his army and elephants), seized control at Cannae. It was a strategic strike, as the grain depot there was a critical link in the Romans’ supply chain.</p><p>The Romans sent some 86,000 troops to meet with Hannibal’s force that was perhaps half that size. But the group assembled by Hannibal was of such a variety that there was no single method of fighting or of arms; the Romans were thrown into disarray.</p><p>The casualties on the Roman side were massive; estimates range from 50,000-60,000 killed, with another 4,000 taken prisoner. Only about 8,000 of Hannibal’s men were killed.</p><p>It was a stinging defeat for the Romans and is regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history.</p><p>[No elephants were harmed in the making of this battle.]</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOdg4frcHEu-x4JeywV2MVqaPcMsnBlz4p0QOovgLDP5HauSGw32tXk2-wTIzVGX5HdaG-PozL_Z8AvFLm2ozeWoFKiZIFKSDDBWZiSoln9gRAjgGeUDW7eYJhIfP7_e581VfCX2SIhXB18sK5b9WmgKblE4ns9LqNrLxcrEsQyuKfjOwrpXKQa9D/s1067/John%20Trumbull%20-%20The%20Death%20of%20Paulus%20Aemilius%20at%20the%20Battle%20of%20Cannae.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1067" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOdg4frcHEu-x4JeywV2MVqaPcMsnBlz4p0QOovgLDP5HauSGw32tXk2-wTIzVGX5HdaG-PozL_Z8AvFLm2ozeWoFKiZIFKSDDBWZiSoln9gRAjgGeUDW7eYJhIfP7_e581VfCX2SIhXB18sK5b9WmgKblE4ns9LqNrLxcrEsQyuKfjOwrpXKQa9D/w640-h444/John%20Trumbull%20-%20The%20Death%20of%20Paulus%20Aemilius%20at%20the%20Battle%20of%20Cannae.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">The Death of Aemilius Paulus at the Battle of Cannae</em><span style="text-align: left;"> by John Trumbull, 1773 (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae#/media/File:The_Death_of_Paulus_Aemilius_at_the_Battle_of_Cannae.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikipedia </a><span style="text-align: left;">- public domain)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><h2><strong>Standing Up to Bullies</strong></h2><p>The war that Russia—a superpower—is waging against Ukraine is a perfect example. The world watched as Russian troops gathered and prepared for an attack on the country; it played out in slow motion and transparency (for those outside of Russia).</p><p>However, the fall of Kyiv, what most people assumed was a fait accompli, hasn’t happened, thanks to the pluck, grit, and fierceness of the Ukrainian people. Not to mention the courage, tenacity, and leadership of their president, Volodymyr Zelensky.</p><p>His communication is frequent and clear, and he has shown himself leading by example. He is out in the streets, he is welcoming world leaders, he is broadcasting from his office in Kyiv — not hiding in a bunker.</p><p>The entire world is rooting for this particular underdog.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>The Most Astounding Two Minutes</strong></h2><p>Even people who are not horse racing aficionados heard about what was probably the greatest Kentucky Derby of all time: Rich Strike, the longest shot (at 80-1 odds) winning the 148th running, after being in 15th place at the one-mile mark and surpassing the favorite by three-quarters of a length at the finish line.</p><p>It was a story that couldn’t have been written any better. <a href="https://youtu.be/wIYD42DV3Ro" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Watch the action</a> if you haven’t yet seen it (or watch it again, because it’s that captivating):</p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wIYD42DV3Ro" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /></p><p>But as with any moment of triumph or “overnight success,” there are lessons we can glean from how a winner got there.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><hr /><h2><strong>5 Lessons from Underdogs</strong></h2><p>The entire team behind Rich Strike didn’t go in to the Kentucky Derby expecting to win. At 80-1, they were the long shot. Those kinds of odds almost forced humility upon them.</p><p>But they knew they were given a gift and they didn’t want to squander it.</p><p>Rider Sonny Leon immediately saw an opportunity out of the gates. The other horses were sprinting at a suicidal pace, with the leads making the quarter-mile and half-mile times among the top three in Kentucky Derby history.</p><p>Leon knew that he needed to bide his time and coax Rich Strike into action when the time was right. They were in 17th place at the quarter-mile and 18th at the half.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>1. Leaders have a can-do spirit</strong></h3><p>After the race, Leon said, “People kept asking me if I was nervous to ride in my first Kentucky Derby. I said, ‘No, I wasn’t nervous. I was excited.’ I was on an 80-1 shot and nobody knew my horse — but I did. I didn’t know if we could win, but I had a good feeling with him.”</p><p>Bringing a sense of optimism, energy, and heliotropic leadership to your team can inspire everyone to want to win. It all starts with building relationships and trusting each other, and moving forward together.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>2. Leaders have patience</strong></h3><p>Leon didn’t ask Rich Strike to bolt out of the gate or to try to make up for his position after the first mile markers. He waited until the time was right and then asked the horse to go.</p><p>At the top of the stretch, Leon moved Rich Strike to the rail; but it wasn’t a sure thing. “I waited,” Leon said, “and the rail opened up.”</p><p>Leaders know that timing is everything, and a poorly timed announcement or launch can doom a product. When you have a feel for the market, the competitors, and your team, you can be more confident in a win.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>3. Leaders have courage</strong></h3><p>After riding the rail for a bit, Leon swung Rich Strike to the outside of Messier, then in third. That bit of confidence sent the horse soaring, as he came from behind to outflank Epicenter and Zandon at the finish line.</p><p>At those moments when everything is on the line, we have a decision to make: play it safe or take a risk to attempt something we’ve never done. It will always be a judgment call, and it takes courage.</p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The overhead view makes Rich Strike's comeback for the upset <a href="https://twitter.com/KentuckyDerby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KentuckyDerby</a> win look even more incredible. 😮 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KyDerby?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KyDerby</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ChurchillDowns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChurchillDowns</a> <a href="https://t.co/iDfkGVZS0O">pic.twitter.com/iDfkGVZS0O</a></p>— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSports/status/1523104042427334660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><hr /><p><strong><em><br /></em></strong></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><strong><em>“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”</em></strong></em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Mark Twain, 1894</em></div><br /></em><p></p><hr /><br /><br /><h3><strong>4. Leaders learn from each other</strong></h3><p>Rich Strike’s trainer Eric Reed said of Leon: “He helped me train this horse. This rider has ridden him all along. [Rich Strike] learned the process and [Leon] taught him how to ride through horses and pass horses.”</p><p>A leader like Reed knows that even though he is the trainer, training is a collaborative effort. The trainer, the rider, and the horse all participate. Even someone as slight as the 110-pound rider could teach a large majestic horse how to navigate between other horses.</p><p>Every leader should listen to people on their team, regardless of their stature or title. They may be able to see things that are in your blind spot.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>5. Leaders savor the moment</strong></h3><p>After this win—the most significant in his career—reporters asked Sonny Leon how it might affect his future. He replied, “I want to enjoy this moment. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”</p><p>Leaders know that planning for what’s next is essential, but they also know that, particularly after significant wins, it’s healthy to enjoy your successes and to enjoy the journey.</p><p>There will always be more to do, but taking the time to appreciate each other and the fruits of our labor is essential to team morale and our own mental health.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong>Further <i>Timeless & Timely</i> Reading</strong></h2><h4 style="text-align: left;"></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/bravery-duty-sacrifice?s=w">Courage</a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/patience?s=w">Patience</a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/humility?s=w">Humility</a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/collaboration?s=w">Working Together</a></li></ul></h4><hr /><p><br /></p><p>There is no guarantee that underdogs will always win. That’s part of the excitement of rooting for them.</p><p>But win or lose, leaders know that humility, patience, courage, and collaboration can make a difference in overcoming obstacles.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><hr /><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><br /></figure></div><p>You might also be interested in the latest episode of <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Timeless Leadership</em></strong></a> in which we talk with someone from a disaffected group of people — a group that some might refer to as underdogs. </p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="3781" data-dashlane-rid="708e9b220b6825ca" data-form-type="other" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="//play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/23087765/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/424242/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe><br /></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhctMWZLHEEVG76l7TuBzuWumMElWCFc2sGIQNXoTw1FxJzYa2w6p93vPc2Fb-4IdisaIGLykXbdXSSZdX5gC6Qnfe6xcXcgmrljaeO3W6Kz-jencluhFPdS_BE_dxn-2Aqe02qEwryWd8kGjO1avpGQqGoQ9hgBkqaL3qoPOmrjQ9ZTECKJSN1b85a" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhctMWZLHEEVG76l7TuBzuWumMElWCFc2sGIQNXoTw1FxJzYa2w6p93vPc2Fb-4IdisaIGLykXbdXSSZdX5gC6Qnfe6xcXcgmrljaeO3W6Kz-jencluhFPdS_BE_dxn-2Aqe02qEwryWd8kGjO1avpGQqGoQ9hgBkqaL3qoPOmrjQ9ZTECKJSN1b85a=w640-h112" width="640" /></a></p><br /><p></p><hr /><h4><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">👉 Premium Members receive a Saturday bonus newsletter from the Off the Clock, a quirky look at words and history. Exclusively for word nerds.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="3899" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div><p><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400;" /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></h4><p></p><br />

Leadership Lessons from Underdogs

Snow Storm: Hannibal Crossing the Alps  by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1812 ( Wikipedia  - public domain) “When a humble and much inferio...

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The Good Must Associate

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlP4E3KgrA2EWbCC5hQ74YoA1MROBNsjxuuzYz6uuwsLlTsrMCeZn5pNqe4yEpasdVp_fWDrcY779BmR2ESuKpeNJjabkYKhyscsFpORdDIOX2jIq-WkRd6BAvVI7o_R0Ng4alrT08DQlVvntPSZ2NEhIjSjX5QWy0OwxnhLLm0AV0w5Hlqsc-D4IH/s1200/Jean-Baptiste%20Wicar%20-%20Virgil%20Reading%20the%20Aeneid%20to%20Augustus%20Octavia%20and%20Livia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1200" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlP4E3KgrA2EWbCC5hQ74YoA1MROBNsjxuuzYz6uuwsLlTsrMCeZn5pNqe4yEpasdVp_fWDrcY779BmR2ESuKpeNJjabkYKhyscsFpORdDIOX2jIq-WkRd6BAvVI7o_R0Ng4alrT08DQlVvntPSZ2NEhIjSjX5QWy0OwxnhLLm0AV0w5Hlqsc-D4IH/w640-h452/Jean-Baptiste%20Wicar%20-%20Virgil%20Reading%20the%20Aeneid%20to%20Augustus%20Octavia%20and%20Livia.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><figcaption class="image-caption" data-pm-slice="1 1 ["captionedImage",null]"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus, Octavia, and Livia</em> by Jean-Baptiste Wicar, 1790-1793 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil#/media/File:Virgil_Reading_the_Aeneid.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> - public domain)</span></figcaption></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></p><blockquote><strong><em>“The common people are always impressed by appearances and results.” </em></strong></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Nicolo Machiavelli, 1532</em></p><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">The world has a fascination with megalomaniacs.</p><p>Men (yes, it is <em>always</em> men) who have accumulated power and enjoy wielding it, treat the world as their sandbox, with toy soldiers waiting to do their bidding.</p><p>“You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war,” William Randolph Hearst told artist Frederic Remington, who was his man in Havana in 1897.</p><p>Hearst, the powerful publisher of major U.S. newspapers such as the <em>New York Journal </em>and San Francisco <em>Examiner</em>, was pushing to free Cuba from Spanish control, and he knew that public opinion could be swayed by the press.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zEOPsUCpzRQkh-C9a7e42j-IOM9bWb6tH9VpnKSuvol-pXoyl7FerSz4zMqR_9jfZKoR857hXKL_Z4_eEWs7ye-6CAI_br0RWPpe6YGEdOizvJzpPYGTl8bhRmOP8em_O-ZT3oU-wQxvTbFcrbXqhqNKnzfmGk7IYg4C1CN13sCRyxqK99owT-cJ/s1024/Kurz%20&%20Allison%20-%20Destruction%20of%20the%20U.S.%20battleship%20Maine%20in%20Havana%20Harbor%20Feby%2015th,%201898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1024" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zEOPsUCpzRQkh-C9a7e42j-IOM9bWb6tH9VpnKSuvol-pXoyl7FerSz4zMqR_9jfZKoR857hXKL_Z4_eEWs7ye-6CAI_br0RWPpe6YGEdOizvJzpPYGTl8bhRmOP8em_O-ZT3oU-wQxvTbFcrbXqhqNKnzfmGk7IYg4C1CN13sCRyxqK99owT-cJ/w640-h508/Kurz%20&%20Allison%20-%20Destruction%20of%20the%20U.S.%20battleship%20Maine%20in%20Havana%20Harbor%20Feby%2015th,%201898.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><figcaption class="image-caption" data-pm-slice="1 1 ["captionedImage",null]"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Destruction of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, Feby 15th, 1898</em> (<a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.03907/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Library of Congress</a> - public domain)</span></figcaption></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">So when the world’s richest man buys a media entity, there is naturally some interest. It was the case with Jeff Bezos buying <em>The Washington Post</em> in 2013 and with Elon Musk’s intent to purchase Twitter this week.</p><p> We tend to think that these billionaires who, not satisfied with stopping at being the richest person or one of the richest people in the world — changed the way we shop and changed the way we think about cars — must continue to bend the world to their will, but this time through the power of information.</p><p><br /></p><h2 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><strong>Why did I do it? Power.</strong></h2><p>I was immediately reminded of the 1997 James Bond film <em>Tomorrow Never Dies</em>, in which Elliott Carver, the owner of a global media empire, launched a satellite network and plotted to pit China and the United Kingdom against each other through artifice, while sitting poised to write the headlines for his entities.</p><p>The richest man in the world attempting to control how the world communicates was literally the plot of the film.</p><p>In his public speech on launch day, his vision sounded humanitarian to the uninformed, and like propaganda to those who knew him best</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“Why did I do it, you ask? The answer is simple: power. The power to illuminate the far corners of the globe, not for higher profits, but for higher understanding between the people of this great planet. What do I expect in return? Worldwide domination. Complete, total worldwide domination. But not over governments or religion or ideology. Over tyranny and isolation and ignorance.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Later, in the classic supervillian-admits-plot-to-Bond speech, Carver says:</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“Words are the new weapons satellites, the new artillery Caesar had his legions, Napoleon had his armies. I have my divisions: TV news magazines… The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>This is fiction from 25 years ago, but it rings true to what we know from history and current events.</p><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">As we look for the present in the past, we find the past in the present.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>An invented origin story</h2><p>Julius Caesar may have had his legions, but when Augustus became the first emperor of Rome, he had his own scribe.</p><p>Rome was forever in the shadow of Greece, that bastion of civilization and philosophy. Romans were more engineers than philosophers, creating the infrastructure that allowed cities to thrive. And Greece had its origin story in the <em>Iliad</em> — the classic tale of the Trojans kidnapping Helen, and the vicious dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles.</p><p>That epic poem was known for centuries throughout the Mediterranean. Every Greek and Roman citizen knew its content and its significance. And Augustus knew that the secret to every good society was an origin story.</p><p>So, what did he do? He commissioned the poet Virgil to craft a national epic that would speak to Rome's illustrious beginnings, make the connection between Augustus and the gods, and serve as a common point of pride for all Romans. Thus the <em>Aeneid</em> was born.</p><p>In sum, it was a great piece of propaganda for Rome, giving it a founding father (Aeneas) at the same time another founding father (Augustus) was making drastic improvements to the empire.</p><p>And thus, we recognize how powerful a media entity can be — by changing discourse or the story, it can change the course of history.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>They’ll never take our freedom</strong></h2><p>Thus, we have Elon Musk and his acolytes, with their demand for free speech. Of course, they also want to be free from consequences, which is risible, given their willingness to punish those who disagree with their stance.<br /><br /></p><hr /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><blockquote><em>“How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.”</em></blockquote></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>—Søren Kierkegaard, 1843</em></div></em><p></p><hr /><br /><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">They make a good case for Twitter being a public square. It is very much a place of public discourse, where, unless someone has hidden their tweets, everything happens out in the public.</p><p>If Twitter is such a public utility, then we ought to expect it to be treated as such. Which doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. Quite the opposite.</p><p>You can’t expect to have a place of public discourse that is bound by chaos.</p><p><br /></p><h2 data-pm-slice="1 2 []"><strong>We’re tired</strong></h2><p>At this point (and I’ve heard this from many people on Twitter), people are tired. They’re tired of the arguing, the need to fact-check and battle disinformation — even the ability to be heard.</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/3-reasons-for-information-exhaustion-and-what-to-do-about-it-149615" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Three reasons for information exhaustion</strong></a> are: uncertainty, polarization, and misinformation.</p><p>And yet, in the last 24 hours, I have witnessed example after example of people leaving Twitter. Not pledging to leave, but actually leaving.</p><p>The sale hasn’t even gone through yet.</p><p>In a knee-jerk reaction to a new potential owner whom they find personally distasteful, they’re fleeing. Never mind that they’re making this announcement on Facebook, another platform ruled by a megalomaniac with total control over a platform — who, by the way, is so <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-fascinated-by-augustus-future-of-facebook-2018-9" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>fascinated with the autocratic Augustus</strong></a> that he even has his hair cut like him.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>And so, we see many people who are pushed over the brink by the Elon news, making a rash decision before anything even changes. Perhaps we should remind ourselves <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-fascinated-by-augustus-future-of-facebook-2018-9" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>what Abraham Lincoln did</strong></a> when he was angry with General George Meade after the latter refused to pursue the Confederate army.</p><p>It just seems to me, that leaving hastily in a pique of rage will lead to a brain drain. Nothing has changed yet.</p><p>So, in the wake of this potential purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk, when you’re exhausted from the information glut, what can you do? According to that article from <a href="http://’" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> above, there are three things:</p><ol><li><p><strong>Provide as much reassurance and consistency as you can</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Find common ground to bring people together</strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Share information that can be trusted</strong></p></li></ol><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>There are very real concerns about harassment: there’s plenty of it on Twitter at present, and a change in ownership may result in an even more lenient attitude. No one on any platform — even one that claims to value free speech — should be victimized by harassment.</p><p>But if we abandon things entirely, we lose our voice there. As Edmund Burke wrote,</p><p><strong></strong></p><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”</em></strong></blockquote> <p></p><p><em> </em></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">If you don’t furnish the tweets, someone else will.</p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><figure><a class="image-link image2" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" rel="nofollow" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":141,"width":800,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":19165,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="141" original="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="800" /></a></figure></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">P.S. The topic this week was not what I expected it would be; but what <span style="background-color: transparent;">I’m seeing is part of a trend — one that pokes its head up in this edition. If you stay tuned, you’ll see how it gets paid off in next week’s climax (if the fates allow), which will be available for premium subscribers only.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /><hr /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 22.4px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></h2><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every other week. And regular <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/office-hours-january-19/comments" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Office Hours</a> every week to explore a topic together.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="4577" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div><p><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p>

The Good Must Associate

Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus, Octavia, and Livia by Jean-Baptiste Wicar, 1790-1793 ( Wikipedia - public domain) “The common peopl...

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Plans, Disrupted

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNl5tstBStS-2ECj7LBaq869xxoGfS-qPgm0HAyneauNh6u9WUl1VIYp5IMehoafIy4b6iplvSvu84dD7MFFHcVGsPi2WW-yElW0OAH6ercgO5e7_dKQaNcx1SVDTbQwbug9CivI64z9Uo723reOwEkabD3QO9UZEPdS3RnQQybcejAiLRDeaPYB2/s2400/David%20Octavius%20Hil%20-%20The%20Disruption.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="2400" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNl5tstBStS-2ECj7LBaq869xxoGfS-qPgm0HAyneauNh6u9WUl1VIYp5IMehoafIy4b6iplvSvu84dD7MFFHcVGsPi2WW-yElW0OAH6ercgO5e7_dKQaNcx1SVDTbQwbug9CivI64z9Uo723reOwEkabD3QO9UZEPdS3RnQQybcejAiLRDeaPYB2/w640-h288/David%20Octavius%20Hil%20-%20The%20Disruption.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">The Disruption</em><span style="text-align: left;"> by David Octavius Hill, 1843 (public domain - </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disruption_forming_Free_Kirk.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><em></em></strong></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“The best-laid schemes of mice and men</em></strong></div><strong><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>         Go oft awry,</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>And leave us nothing but grief and pain,</em></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>          For promised joy!”</em></strong></div></em></strong></blockquote><strong><em><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><em></em></strong></div></em></strong><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Robert Burns, 1785</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>I had such high hopes.</p><p>As I left for vacation, I told myself the two books I had packed would be put to good use — that there’d be plenty of time for reading and annotating in preparation for today’s edition of <em>Timeless & Timely</em>. </p><p>But I failed to live up to that aspiration.</p><p>You know how it goes: the last-minute items thrown in suitcases, the hurried departure for the airport, the mad rush through TSA, the crush of passengers trying to board in an orderly fashion, and finally…the sigh of relief as you plunk yourself down in your seat.</p><p>The typical high-adrenaline effort that any family excursion requires.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thinking about it, though, it’s not too dissimilar from a product launch or major announcement for which you might prepare with your team.</p><p>You have a well-rehearsed plan, you’ve gone through checklists, everyone has a role, and excitement runs high as the moment closes in. </p><p>But in the aftermath, there awaits a set of unexpected items. You never know what they are, so they’re difficult to predict; things go sideways for a variety of reasons, and you simply roll with it, communicate about the situation, and hope for the best outcome.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>That’s kind of what happened to me this week. Time with family, late nights, extended meals, longer than expected driving times, and general exhaustion—all of these entities marshaled their forces against my immaculate plan, creating havoc out of what was to be unfettered time to myself. </p><p>And so, rather than turning to the deep and thoughtful tomes in my briefcase, I turned instead to a wonderful little verse penned by Robert Burns in 1785: “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43816/to-a-mouse-56d222ab36e33" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">To a Mouse.</a>”</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><strong><em>Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,<br />O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!</em></strong></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Just like the mouse, my natural response to falling down on the newsletter topic would have been to cower or to panic. </p><p><em>“No newsletter this week? Whatever will the subscribers think?”</em></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><strong><em>I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion<br />Has broken Nature’s social union,</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>How often does this happen to leaders? We create plans — we even create contingency plans — and something happens that throws things askew: a power outage, a natural disaster, a pandemic, traffic, a death in the family, a delay in components, etc., etc.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><strong><em>But little Mouse, you are not alone,<br />In proving foresight may be vain</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When our plans become wildly unrecognizable, what matters is what we do in the aftermath of the upset. </p><p>It’s about having resilience and understanding that, while our future plans may not look like our past plans, they nevertheless match our abilities to the needs of our stakeholders in the present.</p><p>That is, we make do with what we have at hand and we deliver something of value.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><strong><em>Still you are blessed, compared with me!<br />The present only touches you:<br />But oh! I backward cast my eye,<br />On prospects dreary!<br />And forward, though I cannot see,<br />I guess and fear!</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>And with any luck, we allow ourselves to live in the moment— like the mouse— and let the present touch us, concerning ourselves neither with the past nor the future, both of which are out of our reach.</p><p>Living in the moment for me this week means boogie boarding and beach time, poolside potables and dinnertime discussions, golf cart getaways and leisurely lunches, all while breathing in the tropical air and embracing family.</p><p>And that may be the best-laid plan of all.</p><p><br /></p><h2 data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Related</h2><p>As every leader needs to understand the importance of being adaptable, this interview with Jeremiah Owyang, who has always been ready for what’s next, is a fine companion piece, via the <i><a href="https://pod.link/timeless" target="_blank">Timeless Leadership</a></i> podcast:</p><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="1807" data-dashlane-rid="a78d9b145cd23ada" data-form-type="other" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="//play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/20733026/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/424242/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><figure><a class="image-link image2" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" rel="nofollow" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":141,"width":800,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":19165,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="141" original="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="800" /></a></figure><figure><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"> </span></figure></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 22.4px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></h2><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every other week. And regular <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/office-hours-january-19/comments" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Office Hours</a> every week to explore a topic together.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1792" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div><p><br /></p>

Plans, Disrupted

The Disruption  by David Octavius Hill, 1843 (public domain -  Wikimedia Commons “The best-laid schemes of mice and men          Go oft awry...

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Who Among Us?

<p><strong><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2gqf_ACT-oZAFQ9Olf5KbcAJXha2DfPnjhZlh1yYRuru4LA0m4UjQQdiMzRdBxiRq35oLdQvr1YHN_653iGA1cylAGMSiz7IZ5hgrIEiBpfUdUkFM_1B5u1ajySnlm4bVaAqv76dXaz2hrrSJ5V3S5Ku4O7GjD9OCMKqFORsNxks0p3lUJQY1PVR/s5193/Leonardo%20Da%20Vinci%20-%20The%20Last%20Supper,%201498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2926" data-original-width="5193" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2gqf_ACT-oZAFQ9Olf5KbcAJXha2DfPnjhZlh1yYRuru4LA0m4UjQQdiMzRdBxiRq35oLdQvr1YHN_653iGA1cylAGMSiz7IZ5hgrIEiBpfUdUkFM_1B5u1ajySnlm4bVaAqv76dXaz2hrrSJ5V3S5Ku4O7GjD9OCMKqFORsNxks0p3lUJQY1PVR/w640-h360/Leonardo%20Da%20Vinci%20-%20The%20Last%20Supper,%201498.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">The Last Supper</em><span style="text-align: left;"> by Leonardo Da Vinci, 1498 (public domain - </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo)" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a><span style="text-align: left;">)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><em><br /></em></strong></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><blockquote><em>“No man can serve two masters.”</em></blockquote></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Matthew 6:24</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>With Passover and Easter looming this weekend, it seems only natural to turn to some religious literature for inspiration.</p><p>I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not terribly religious, but I recognize the truths of the teachings of various spiritual leaders, and due to my upbringing, I’m the most familiar with the Bible.</p><p>This isn’t meant to be a sermon, but rather an observation of a type of leadership that is as profound as it is simple.</p><p>And the way I arrived at this topic is what you might call oblique.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>In the last season of the <em>Timeless Leadership</em> podcast, I had a wonderful conversation with Jim Rafferty, author of <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leader-by-accident?s=w" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Leader By Accident</em></strong></a>, during which he talked about his “Scoutmaster Minute” — a monologue he gave at each troop meeting.</p><p><br /></p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="381" data-dashlane-rid="dd03ae0bab6c9a8e" data-form-type="" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="//play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/22012880/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/ffffff/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p>In preparing those, Jim would find inspiration from a variety of sources and in turn, would inspire the scouts in his troop.</p><p>Similarly, I try to read widely and listen closely to as many pieces of content as I can, all attuned with an ear toward leadership. And I keep a running journal of topics worthy of developing into these little missives.</p><p>Some of them are nothing more than an idea for a title or a phrase, and some of them don’t even make it to the OneNote folder; some are jotted on index cards or note paper on my desk.</p><p>I’ve had one lying around for a while: “<em>Who Shall We Turn To?</em>” scrawled across it.</p><p>So when I was at church on Sunday and heard the phrase  “<em>Who among us?</em>” from the pulpit, my ears perked up, and (I’ll admit it) my attention was suddenly focused. Not an exact fit, but close enough.</p><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">The scene is during Passover, or what we now call the Last Supper, when Jesus joined his disciples, shared a meal with them, and predicted their betrayal of him.</p><p>Now, as an aside, I recently recorded a new episode of <em><a href="http://pod.link/timeless" target="_blank">Timeless Leadership</a></em> with legendary leadership development author and consultant <strong>Ken Blanchard</strong> on the topic of servant leadership, so the concept was on my mind. (That episode airs later this week.)</p><p>So as the story of the Last Supper continued, we find a wonderful demonstration of that very concept of the servant leader:</p><blockquote><p> <strong>“The kings of the Gentiles rule over their subjects, and those in authority over them are called ‘friends of the people.' But that's not the way it will be with you. Instead, the greatest among you must become like a person of lower status and the leader like a servant. So which one is greater, the one who is seated at the table or the one who serves at the table? Isn’t it the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”</strong> <em>— Luke 22: 25-27</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The Gospels are known for approaching the same scenes with different descriptions. In John’s version of the Passover meal, Jesus washes the feet of all of his disciples, helping them to understand this profound act of humility and service:</p><blockquote><p><strong>“If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other's feet. I have given you an example: just as I have done, you also must do. I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them.”</strong> <em>— John 13: 14-16</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>It’s an honor to serve</strong></h2><p>The first time I expressed to Alan Mulally what an amazing job he was doing as CEO of Ford Motor Company, I was taken aback by his response.</p><p>Typically you’d expect someone to retort with the perfunctory “Thank you.”</p><p>But Alan replied, <strong><em>“It’s an honor to serve.”</em></strong></p><p>That simple phrase encapsulated Alan’s approach to leadership: service.</p><p>One of the other phrases I would come to hear him repeat during our time together was <strong><em>“To serve is to live.”</em></strong></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Servant leaders understand the dual nature of their role:</p><ol><li><p>The leadership aspect, focused on vision, planning and execution, involving others in the development of that direction together.</p></li><li><p>The servant aspect, focused on working side by side with people and helping them to achieve those agreed-upon results.</p></li></ol><p>All of this requires constant and consistent communication with your people. If we don’t hear from our leaders, we tend to develop our own narratives, and they can be terribly misguiding.</p><p>When you’re on a journey of servant leadership, you need to have a plan and communicate about the plan — its progress, its deviations, and its successes. Listening, communicating, and giving feedback along the way.</p><p>And to do that well, you need to be attentive to and invested in your people.</p><p>Leaders who serve others — employees, customers, and all stakeholders — are by far the most successful.</p><p>The exact opposite of this, tyrants, will be our topic next week — the very people who don’t understand that it is impossible to serve two masters. </p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a class="image-link image2" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" rel="nofollow" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":141,"width":800,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":19165,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="141" original="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="800" /></a></figure><figure>P.S. If you'd like the full version of this, together with recommended links and stories that only paying subscribers get, you can find it <a href="#">at the end of this rainbow</a>.<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">🌈</span></figure><figure style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"> </span></figure></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 22.4px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></h2><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every other week. 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Who Among Us?

The Last Supper  by Leonardo Da Vinci, 1498 (public domain -  Wikipedia ) “No man can serve two masters.” — Matthew 6:24 With Passover and ...

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To Read Is to Live

<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsoByFM6reOcHLb6ZAKiqSGLx4v2zXzQVfoXU9eL8x0MTawlPfVMP-VRijjkCkxpSmDXpFCOZ30Ktbg-fAVNaX_kN5lnvOt9GFhL0kCFenVpz1c-sDGh4rCyOFdpVAFE8wqJbC1o082u-h2gm5IiKWVUbtuasFjgcf999iHBYifqfPchqhDH7I9UM/s2560/Rudolf%20von%20Alt%20-%20The%20Library%20in%20the%20Apartment%20of%20Count%20Lanckoronski%20in%20Vienna,%20Riemergasse%208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1846" data-original-width="2560" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUsoByFM6reOcHLb6ZAKiqSGLx4v2zXzQVfoXU9eL8x0MTawlPfVMP-VRijjkCkxpSmDXpFCOZ30Ktbg-fAVNaX_kN5lnvOt9GFhL0kCFenVpz1c-sDGh4rCyOFdpVAFE8wqJbC1o082u-h2gm5IiKWVUbtuasFjgcf999iHBYifqfPchqhDH7I9UM/w640-h462/Rudolf%20von%20Alt%20-%20The%20Library%20in%20the%20Apartment%20of%20Count%20Lanckoronski%20in%20Vienna,%20Riemergasse%208.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">The Library in the Apartment of Count Lanckoronski in Vienna, Riemergasse 8</em><span style="text-align: left;"> by Rudolf von Alt, 1881 (public domain - </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rudolf_von_Alt_-_The_Library_in_the_Apartment_of_Count_Lanckoronski_in_Vienna,_Riemergasse_8_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a><span style="text-align: left;">)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong></strong></p><blockquote><strong><em>“Verba volant, scripta manent.” [“Spoken words fly away, written words remain.”]</em></strong></blockquote><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Latin proverb</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Leaders know that if you want people to remember what you say, put it in writing.</p><p>We’re fortunate to live in a time when we can consult the oracle at Google, finding myriad answers to the puzzles of life that confound us — where a great speech given by a leader of the past is no more than a Wikipedia article or YouTube video away.</p><p>But the reason we can easily peruse the clever oratory of Marcus Tullius Cicero or the simple brevity of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is that we have them in writing.</p><p>The treasure chest of humanity’s history is the written word. Somewhere along the way, <em>Homo sapiens</em> determined that we needed a record of our thoughts, processes, and events.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>The Library as a Center of Knowledge</strong></h2><p>When Ptolemy I founded the Great Library of Alexandria circa 272 B.C., little did he know that it would eventually grow to house as many as 700,000 texts. From the standardized text of Homer’s poems to scientific knowledge, the library came to represent Alexandria as the intellectual capital of the world, and many philosophers, scientists, historians, and other leading Greek intellectuals gravitated there.</p><p>This idyllic setting for intellectuals was disrupted within 150 years, thanks to the instability of the Ptolemy dynasty, which fell to the clarion call of nationalism and began to emphasize the Egyptian aspect of their nation over the Greek influence.</p><p>When Ptolemy VIII rose to the throne following the murder of Ptolemy VI, the new ruler purged those who opposed him and supported his predecessor; many Greek scholars had already begun to leave Alexandria for safer countries, and Aristarchus the sixth head librarian, fled to Cyprus.</p><p>After that, the position of head librarian was treated as a political appointment rather than an intellectual position, with Ptolemy filling the role as a reward to those most loyal to him. He appointed Cydas, one of his palace guards, as head librarian, further diminishing the position.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, the political climate grew less stable in Alexandria, further weakening the region and leading to its invasion by Roman forces in the following century.</p><p>Alexandria was no longer the center of knowledge as the library’s contents were dispersed.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><hr /><p> </p><blockquote><p><strong><em>““Read to live,” says Flaubert somewhere in his letters, and I take him at his word. Books I regard as voyages of discovery, and with an author I admire I gladly book passage to any and all points of view or destination—to Rome during the lives of the Caesars, to Shakespeare’s London, to Berlin and Harlem in the 1920s. I don’t go in search of the lost gold mine of imperishable truth. I look instead to find the present in the past, the past in the present. To discover within myself the presence of a once and future human being.”</em></strong>  </p></blockquote><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Lewis H. Lapham, 2020</em></p><p> </p><hr /><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe","text":"Read to live","action":null,"class":null}"><br /></p><h2><strong>Leaders and Libraries</strong></h2><p>Why does all of this matter to leaders? Why should we care about a center of learning or documenting our thoughts, visions, and plans?</p><p>The hallmark of a great leader is strong communication. <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/words-matter?s=w" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Words matter</a>.</p><p>Being able to move people with your spoken words, whether in front of <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/p/speaking.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">an audience at a conference</a> or from a video screen, is a talent.</p><p>But the feelings that are stirred fade, leaving a vague sensation or perhaps even misheard phrases in their place. Reinforcing oratory with a written record leaves a permanent mark on the mind.</p><p>This is particularly apt, as we can’t predict when people will have time to reflect on our words or when the mood might strike them to look something up. Everyone consumes media at different paces and in different settings.</p><p>And yes, one of those settings might be a library. It could be a home library or a public library, but the intention is the same: to have a <em>sanctum sanctorum</em> where we can retreat with our thoughts and our reading material, to become absorbed for a while.</p><p>E.B. White once made the most lovely observation about libraries in a letter to the children of Troy in 1971:</p><blockquote><p>“A library is many things. It’s a place to go, to get in out of the rain. It’s a place to go if you want to sit and think. But particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books. If you want to find out about something, the information is in the reference books---the dictionaries, the encyclopedias, the atlases. If you like to be told a story, the library is the place to go. Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had. And when you are reading a book, you and the author are alone together---just the two of you. A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people---people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>As you’re thinking about the next Zoom call or engaging in the latest barrage of Slack or Discord messages, consider the ethereal nature of those interactions.</p><p>How might you aim for the permanence of your ideas and words? How could you leave your story in the minds, in the hearts, and on the lips of the people you wish to inspire?</p><p>Think back to what we once had in Alexandria. </p><p>Give your audience a chance to build a repository of their own, comprised of knowledge amassed from thinkers of all sorts, cataloged, and categorized for easy reach, from within their minds or from their shelves.</p><p>Let the written word remain.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><figure><a class="image-link image2" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" rel="nofollow" style="color: #007abe; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":141,"width":800,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":19165,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="141" original="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72bac573-9902-4f3b-a2d1-6671a0ef7f0e_800x141.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="800" /></a></figure><figure style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">P.S. One piece of bonus material this week: Here is </span><a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/theodore-roosevelt-reading-list" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">a Theodore Roosevelt Reading List</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">: book recommendations from a constant reader. </span></figure></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 22.4px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></h2><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every other week. 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To Read Is to Live

  The Library in the Apartment of Count Lanckoronski in Vienna, Riemergasse 8  by Rudolf von Alt, 1881 (public domain -  Wikimedia Commons )...

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