Grief Fatigue

<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/a/AVvXsEg1UkEietmwopXf_1jQXr9GrD_ca0Tm1KDPk8gR0UUX-ZXryrVlozDZgQmFopbGTbXZ-Y-vMXRQtr5tCODThQxTem-zCa76OXjEZRgvysJzl-JXu5J2gapCeGL1MVmPOOaJwb_ULFTnTHzUjS01XvssH_KPv8_UbJ-tdyP0PaI4UhWdhqx5qQJNLzgl=s1024" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1024" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1UkEietmwopXf_1jQXr9GrD_ca0Tm1KDPk8gR0UUX-ZXryrVlozDZgQmFopbGTbXZ-Y-vMXRQtr5tCODThQxTem-zCa76OXjEZRgvysJzl-JXu5J2gapCeGL1MVmPOOaJwb_ULFTnTHzUjS01XvssH_KPv8_UbJ-tdyP0PaI4UhWdhqx5qQJNLzgl=w640-h496" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobe#/media/File:Niobe_JacquesLouisDavid_1772_Dallas_Museum_of_Art.jpg" target="_blank">Apollo and Artemis Attacking the Children of Niobe</a></i> by Jacques-Louis David, 1772 (public domain - Wikipedia)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></p><div class="preformatted-block"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Grief, loss, regret are not the end of the story. They are the middle of the story. Memory does not look backward, it looks forward.”</strong></em> </p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Anne Michaels, 2020</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>We’re in the middle of a story, alright. One that seems like the film <em>Groundhog Day</em>. The pandemic rages on, and too many of our fellow citizens are going about their lives like nothing’s any different.</p><p>And it’s causing a good deal of grief.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>If you want a sense of the ultimate grief, take a look at the image above.<em>  </em>Jacques-Louis David depicts a scene out of <em>The Iliad</em> and ancient Greek mythology.</p><p>Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus and the queen of Thebes. She had 12 or 14 children (depending on which story you read) and showed her hubris by chiding Leto for only having two children.</p><p>Well, when you’re a daughter of Titans and your two children are the gods Apollo and Artemis, and (get this) you’re the goddess of <em><strong>motherhood </strong></em>— things are about to get messy really quickly.</p><p>In this case, Leto sent her children to teach Niobe a lesson: Apollo killed all of her sons and Artemis killed all of her daughters. Niobe refused to eat for nine days, and her children went unburied during that time.</p><p>Finally, the gods buried them on the tenth day, and Niobe was turned into stone, perpetually weeping. She is supposedly represented by the nearby <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobe#/media/File:NiobeWeepingRock_AglayanKaya_MountSipylus_ManisaTurkey.jpg">Weeping Rock</a> on Mt. Sipylus in Turkey, which looks like the face of a woman and features a natural spring.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>A Modern Tragedy</strong></h2><p>If 2021 were part of a Greek tragedy, it would seem that we have taunted the gods.</p><p>Having spent the previous year and a half struggling against a raging pandemic, you’d think we would have the basics figured out by now. And yet, we have people still refusing to wear masks and refusing to get vaccinated.</p><p>Meanwhile, there’s a palpable sense of frustration, exhaustion, and grief.</p><p>We’re on a never-ending hamster wheel of the Kübler-Ross stages of grief as we cycle from denial to anger to bargaining to depression and finally to acceptance. Lather, rinse, repeat.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Pandemic Grief</strong></h2><p>In the spring of 2020, we were all forced into a situation in which we had to mourn for the loss of the normal: we abandoned our offices, we stopped commuting, family events had to be postponed or canceled, and even funerals were put on hold or limited to parties of no more than ten.</p><p>In the essay “<a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/memory/mortal-soul-moral-soul">Mortal Soul, Moral Soul</a>,” Anne Michaels wondered about this collective grief that we’re now facing:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“What does it mean when one’s most private, most profound experience, the cataclysm that shapes one’s life, is also the most intimate experience of thousands of others? What place can be found for our private grief when set against the losses of entire nations?</strong></em><strong>”</strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>There are those who have suffered the loss of friends and family members to this pandemic. In one degree or another, we’ve all lost something.</p><p> As a parent, it’s been difficult to watch our teens deal with the new reality. Having to socially distance or wear masks—particularly at a time in their social development when doing or wearing anything different makes them pariahs on the level of Hester Prynne—is causing them frustration about the theft of their adolescence.</p><p>When we try to convey our understanding and share their frustration, they don’t believe we can truly understand it, because we didn’t have to live through a pandemic in our own childhoods.</p><p>While this is true, I found that when I became a father, I was bestowed with so many complex layers of emotions I didn’t realize I had before. And as my children grow, I feel them even more deeply.</p><p>I tear up more while watching movies, TV shows, or even commercials sometimes. I feel a flutter in my chest when I peek into my kids’ bedrooms to see them sleeping. I’m torn by angst when I see them hurting.</p><p>Which brings me back to the complaint: can I truly understand the flood of emotions this pandemic is making my high school senior feel?</p><p>From a practical perspective, no. But my empathy reading is off the charts. I suppose the question is: can we experience grief via empathy?</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p> </p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved.”</strong></em> </p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Iris Murdoch</em></p></blockquote><p> </p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>For an answer to that, I turn to the medical field. Consider the healthcare workers dealing with Covid patients. They’re beyond burned out. This is an ongoing acute situation with no end in sight. They’re losing patients and having to hold difficult conversations with family members—conversations that are devasting and impossibly frustrating.</p><p>It’s not too different from what oncologists have to deal with:</p><blockquote><p>“Oncologists are exposed to suffering, loss, and death, which can potentially lead to grief reactions. Although grief over patients may be a natural consequence of the close and longstanding oncologist-patient relationship, the empathy that oncologists feel toward their patients may put them at risk for compassion fatigue.”<a class="footnote-anchor" href="#footnote-1" id="footnote-anchor-1">1</a></p></blockquote><p></p><p>Grief isn’t just for healthcare workers during the pandemic. You’ve likely witnessed it in retail workers, fast food employees, and in the well-documented poorly-behaved citizens who create viral scenes in some of these establishments.</p><p>The pandemic has unleashed not only a virus among the workforce, but aspects of grief as well Whether through depression, loneliness, anxiety, stress, or survivor guilt, it's more likely than not that members of your team may be dealing with grief.</p><p>We often see grief expressed as anger. We’re all on edge and are being pushed even further as the variant of the virus spreads.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>What To Do for a Grieving Colleague</strong></h2><p>There is no question that grief is real, and has physical as well as mental impacts. You may be able to pick up on this from your team. Indeed, if you’re doing regular video calls, you should be attuned to their demeanor, picking up on the nonverbal cues as best you can.</p><p>You don’t need to be their therapist, but you do need to be there for them: Simply asking them, “Hey, how are you holding up?” is enough to let them know that you’re sensitive to the current situation. Acknowledge it and allow them to have their feelings.</p><p>We all have different personal situations and we each need to deal with our unique grief in our own way; not everyone processes things at the same pace or in the same manner. </p><p>If you feel like this is beyond your ability to handle it, let them know what resources are available to them, or offer to help them track down what they need.</p><p>If we come together in times of grief, we’ll find that it unites us and brings us closer. Having a shared experience—particularly one that is typically private—might seem awkward at first, but it's a gift. A wonderful unifier.</p><p>Sharing grief and showing support for each other when we’re down builds trust. It takes vulnerability on the part of those who are suffering, and empathy on the part of those who want to help. Think of those who reached out to you when you were at a low point, and how that made you feel.</p><p>What was once intimate is now a shared experience, and what was pain and grief becomes joy and trust. What you might call “good” grief. And that’s not the end, either.</p><p>We’re still in the middle of the story.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><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/a/AVvXsEhS1LTvoxuHJ77PfWISiItVC8l750N2GKiP-0XIb2rNNU-kNOF7Xlu7pC1G_70mx-qCA138mE6EcuOsDu7h0CxCuiLwq_P-8ljkWUOH95rDjs8yu_qpzQbWJ6P4qmXROUu4p9IRtqA4XTSFVlf0OcD2Co1K4y92BcXpDjadT5_nULAr7YoEJysRTfil=s325" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="325" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS1LTvoxuHJ77PfWISiItVC8l750N2GKiP-0XIb2rNNU-kNOF7Xlu7pC1G_70mx-qCA138mE6EcuOsDu7h0CxCuiLwq_P-8ljkWUOH95rDjs8yu_qpzQbWJ6P4qmXROUu4p9IRtqA4XTSFVlf0OcD2Co1K4y92BcXpDjadT5_nULAr7YoEJysRTfil=w200-h87" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p>The related <b><i><a href="https://pod.link/timeless" target="_blank">Timeless Leadership</a></i></b> episode was unusual; <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/the-art-of-reassembly" target="_blank">I spoke with Peg Conway</a>, whose mother died when Peg was just seven years old. The lessons of grief and self-awareness are powerful for anyone, including leaders who need to recognize grief in themselves and their teams.</p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/the-art-of-reassembly-ikUnYMcpv5S/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><br /></p><p> </p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><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 Friday.</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 the club by signing up below:</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="5525" 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>

Grief Fatigue

Apollo and Artemis Attacking the Children of Niobe by Jacques-Louis David, 1772 (public domain - Wikipedia) “Grief, loss, regret are not t...

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All in the Family

<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/a/AVvXsEg2oQbNyKK7yyr_Uyqgl2L4SmFsLUnz0qV6xhZoFiFxR6x1K72tMhzujP9gukdpufw6lvqGvGuIMFh9tJAuNWgmnFl6vK43iv4c3nl-JIChcExIvgFPGhMRkG5ya4Us1QYCRSKzmJHTNu0KrqRxI-INvmM7SmkC-b9HXYD8S42fHuXFJfkqRdnQ01fS=s1200" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1200" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2oQbNyKK7yyr_Uyqgl2L4SmFsLUnz0qV6xhZoFiFxR6x1K72tMhzujP9gukdpufw6lvqGvGuIMFh9tJAuNWgmnFl6vK43iv4c3nl-JIChcExIvgFPGhMRkG5ya4Us1QYCRSKzmJHTNu0KrqRxI-INvmM7SmkC-b9HXYD8S42fHuXFJfkqRdnQ01fS=w640-h462" width="640" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saturn_Devouring_His_Son.jpg">Saturn Devouring his Son</a></em> by Francisco de Goya, c. 1820 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="preformatted-block" style="text-align: left;"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></p><div class="preformatted-block"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.”</strong></em> </p></blockquote><blockquote><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— G.K. Chesterton, 1919</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><p>This is not a pop culture blog—something that should be painfully obvious even if you only glance at the artwork in every issue.</p><p>Pop culture is akin to a digital watch. It gives us a precise measurement of the time we’re in, but, as David McCullough observed, <em><strong>“is the perfect symbol of an imbalance in outlook in our day. It tells us only the time it is now, at this instant, as if that were all anyone would wish or need to know.”</strong></em></p><p>These essays are a bridge that spans time, abutting the past on one end and the future on the other, firmly set on footings embedded in the present.</p><p>Therefore, when I wrote about <em><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/hope-for-the-future">Ted Lasso</a></em><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/hope-for-the-future"> and hope</a>, it was tied to <strong>William James</strong> and his study of athletes and their mentality at the turn of the 19th century: the concept of precursive faith.</p><p>So today, when I refer to <em><strong>Succession</strong></em>, you’ll understand that this is more than a pop culture reference.</p><p>HBO’s Golden Globe-nominated series concerns the Roy family, whose patriarch Logan runs a media conglomerate with an iron fist. Every one of Logan Roy’s four children is so wildly offensive, conniving, self-serving, inept, and unable to show love, you wouldn’t be mistaken if you thought that they put the “F.U.” in dysfunctional. (<a href="Tweet this" target="_blank"><b><i>Tweet this</i></b></a>)</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"https://ctt.ac/UYR16","text":"Tweet this","action":null,"class":null}">This is a far cry from the scrubbed innocence of <em><strong>Father Knows Best</strong></em> from the 1950s, in which Robert Young’s Jim Anderson offered sage advice to his children. Indeed, if the HBO show were named for Logan’s paternal abilities, it would be <em><strong>Father Knows More Than You Ever Will, and Don’t Even Think About Asking, You Little Ingrates</strong></em>.</p><p>Each of his children is vying for some piece of the family fortune, some aspect of their father’s love, all while clawing their way to supremacy in the chain of command and receiving nary a shred of affection or tutelage in the business.</p><p>It’s a modern twist on <em><strong>King Lear</strong></em>, in which Shakespeare’s destitute and insane king plans to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, bequeathing the largest share to the child who loves him most. Except in the modern edition, the elder Roy is looking for competence and killer instinct; his offspring are the ones who are looking for love.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ironically, for a show called <em>Succession</em>, by the end of Season 3, not one of Logan’s children has been a success in their efforts. It’s hard to imagine any one of these Machiavellian misfits surviving a corporate structure that didn’t involve bloodlines.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure style="text-align: center;"><a class="image-link image2 image2-254-480" 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%2Fe65bb420-0ba4-4b0f-9e80-d2dab5c60fe9_480x254.gif" rel="nofollow" style="display: inline; height: 0px; padding-bottom: min(52.9167%, 254px); width: 100%;" target="_blank"><img alt="Cousin Greg from Succession, wearing a suit and tie and testifying before a Congressional committee, saying "If it is to be said. So it be. So it is."" class="sizing-default" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e65bb420-0ba4-4b0f-9e80-d2dab5c60fe9_480x254.gif","fullscreen":false,"height":254,"width":480,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1595156,"alt":"Cousin Greg from Succession, wearing a suit and tie and testifying before a Congressional committee, saying \"If it is to be said. So it be. So it is.\"","title":null,"type":"image/gif","href":null}" height="254" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe65bb420-0ba4-4b0f-9e80-d2dab5c60fe9_480x254.gif" style="max-height: 254px; max-width: 480px;" title="Cousin Greg from Succession, wearing a suit and tie and testifying before a Congressional committee, saying "If it is to be said. So it be. So it is."" width="480" /></a></figure><figure style="text-align: center;"><br /></figure></div><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><blockquote><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Francis Bacon, 1625</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /><br /></div><h2>Family Values</h2><p>There are certain family values that are passed from one generation to the next. But which family and what values? These vary from era to era and from place to place.</p><p>It could be the arts endowment proclivities of the <strong>Medici</strong> in 15th century Florence, or the political aspirations of the <strong>Kennedys</strong> in Brookline. Or even the murderous tendencies of the <strong>Corleones</strong> in New York.</p><p>As much as genetics play a role in our values and culture, so do our surroundings. We are by-products of the cosmic blend of each, mixed with a dash of luck and a pinch of opportunity, served up to us on a platter not of our own choosing.</p><p>When we do have an opportunity to surround ourselves with people of our own choosing, we tend to gravitate toward people whose values are similar to ours, who fill a gap in our knowledge or abilities, and who make us feel good about who we are.</p><p>My friend <a href="https://lauragassnerotting.com/">Laura Gassner Otting</a> calls these people <em><strong>framily</strong></em>.</p><p>You might even consider your work colleagues like family. There are employers who call their teams “family.” They would be wise to avoid that, however.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.”</strong></em> </p></blockquote><blockquote><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Mario Puzo, 2001</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /><br /></div><h2>Family Loyalty</h2><p>Typically, loyalty in employment situations is one way. You may buy into the family analogy of the workplace, but most people are at-will employees, meaning they can be fired at a moment’s notice.</p><p>I have friends who have put in nearly a decade of work at the same company—an unheard of tenure these days—who were then unceremoniously dumped. What kind of family treats you like that? What family values does that represent?</p><p>We have our home families and our work associates. While we may spend more time with our colleagues, it’s the blood ties that are the strongest.</p><p>These are the people who will laugh with you when you’re on vacation, bring you chicken soup when you’re in bed with a fever, and stand at your gravesite to remember you at your funeral.</p><p><br /></p><p>When you reach your twilight years and, like Logan Roy, have bladder control issues, who will help you find the restroom or clean you up? (<em>There’s a big hint for the season finale right there.</em>)</p><p>The relationships you invest in will be the ones that manifest themselves at the end of your life.</p><p>In short, figure out which people matter most to you.</p><p>Now ask yourself: do they know it?</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><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 Friday.</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 the club by signing up below:</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="2673" 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>

All in the Family

  Saturn Devouring his Son  by Francisco de Goya, c. 1820 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons) “The family is the test of freedom; because t...

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Cultural (Il)literacy

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbCdHskFUrE/YbJFOrABStI/AAAAAAABX6Y/lcQ2Ar-RusAVvrRbQ3pd57EzuQzUaLOdACNcBGAsYHQ/s2155/Anton%2BRaphael%2BMengs%2B-%2BThe%2BTriumph%2Bof%2BHistory%2Bover%2BTime%2B%2528Allegory_of_the_Museum_Clementinum%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1815" data-original-width="2155" height="540" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbCdHskFUrE/YbJFOrABStI/AAAAAAABX6Y/lcQ2Ar-RusAVvrRbQ3pd57EzuQzUaLOdACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h540/Anton%2BRaphael%2BMengs%2B-%2BThe%2BTriumph%2Bof%2BHistory%2Bover%2BTime%2B%2528Allegory_of_the_Museum_Clementinum%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #767676;">Detail from </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anton_Raphael_Mengs,_The_Triumph_of_History_over_Time_(Allegory_of_the_Museum_Clementinum),_ceiling_fresco_in_the_Camera_dei_Papiri,_Vatican_Library,_1772_-_M0tty.jpg" rel="">The Triumph of History Over Time</a></em><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #767676;"> (Allegory of the Museum Clementinum, ceiling fresco) by Anton Raphael Mengs (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="preformatted-block" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“[C]ultural literacy—the grasp of background information that writers and speakers assume their readers and listeners already have—is the hidden key to effective education in America.”</strong> — E. D. Hirsch, Jr., 1987</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>America seems to pride itself on rugged individualism.</p><p>Steeped largely in the mythical cowboy popularized by the likes of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart westerns, there is a wide swath of people who think hard work and <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-style-resistance-vs.html">determination</a> will allow anyone to prevail who’s willing.</p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">The reality is that we all owe our success to someone else, that nothing significant is accomplished without help, and that individualism comes at a price.</p><p>Whether it was our relatives, immigrants who arrived generations before we did, or their family situations overseas, someone made it possible for the next generation to accomplish what it did.</p><p>Someone took a risk on the unicorn CEOs, someone made introductions that mattered, someone fronted capital for the latest technological wonder. There is literally no one who is self-made. We all need help along the way.</p><p>But we operate under the false assumption that toughness and individuality will win the day. Doing so jeopardizes our future.</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Try to listen with your inner ears to those who went before you, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and on and on, who all wanted to be good ancestors to you…the time has come for you to return the favor. You have to learn to be good ancestors to the future.”</strong> — <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/news/2006/june21/gregtext-062106.html?utm_campaign=Pro+Rhetoric&utm_source=UA-166835896-1&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">Vartan Gregorian</a>, 2006</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Did You See _____?</strong></h2><p>It doesn’t help that we all have individualized news feeds these days.</p><p>Gone are the days when we experienced the shared reality brought to us by three or four television networks, nightly news programs with tens of millions of viewers, and <em>The Tonight Show</em> with Johnny Carson.</p><p>We all watched the same Saturday morning cartoons, and they shaped our view of culture. As Elaine <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZdZq97AdUE">said to Jerry</a> in “The Opera” episode of <em>Seinfeld</em>:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“It is so sad. All your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>What’s sadder is that our children don’t have the ability to relate to each other through common viewing experiences (with a few exceptions) because their YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok feeds are all different.</p><p>When we have fewer cultural touchstones, we become disaffected and disconnected.</p><p>And at a time when we have remote employees who don’t interact the same way or who don’t attend the same in-person meetings they used to, that lack of connection will lead to a breakdown of loyalty.</p><p>It should be no surprise then that <a href="https://www.profgalloway.com/the-great-dispersion">the Great Dispersion</a> is upon us, as Scott Galloway wrote:</p><blockquote><p>“The pandemic has given us a preview of our dispersed future. Today we have social distancing — tomorrow the distancing will be structural. In a dispersed world we’ll have fewer encounters involving diversity of skin color, economic status, and gender/sexual/political orientation. When we do have these encounters, they are in the wrong context. Arguing with a stranger over a mask isn’t likely to produce tolerance as much as it will reinforce existing stereotypes.”</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>A Civic Duty</strong></h2><p>The lack of common experience extends to our understanding of history and civics as well. You know the old trope about those not knowing history, and it’s largely true.</p><p>There seems to be a startling rise in ignorance over things that have been taught in school or that one might pick up along the way, when reading or relating to fellow citizens.</p><p>Of course, it would help if we read more. Twenty-three percent of Americans <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/21/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/" target="_blank">haven’t picked up a book in the last 12 months</a>.</p><p>Our understanding of basic civics isn’t encouraging: more than half think that immigrants who are in the United States illegally <a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/americans-are-poorly-informed-about-basic-constitutional-provisions/?utm_source=news-release&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017_civics_survey&utm_term=survey&utm_source=Media&utm_campaign=e5f213892a-Civics_survey_2017_2017_09_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9e3d9bcd8a-e5f213892a-425997897" target="_blank">do not have rights under the U.S. Constitution</a>. </p><p>And as far as religion, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/21/among-religious-nones-atheists-and-agnostics-know-the-most-about-religion/" target="_blank">atheists and agnostics know more about religion</a> than most other religious groups.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers.”</strong> — Daniel Boorstin</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>What <em>Do</em> We Know?</h2><p>Popular culture and sports tend to capture the most attention. So it stands to reason that for a brief moment, we were united by Kobe Bryant's death; <a href="https://www.axios.com/kobe-bryant-death-viral-d4ee0e60-7b85-495a-a691-54416df93997.html">it transcended all other news</a> in early 2020.</p><p>We had the opportunity to be united and focused like never before on the global pandemic. All attention was on Covid-19, but vaccines and even masks became politicized, based on our news feeds. Is it any surprise? <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2020/07/30/americans-who-mainly-get-their-news-on-social-media-are-less-engaged-less-knowledgeable/" target="_blank">Those who rely on social media for news</a> are less likely to get the facts right about the coronavirus and politics and more likely to hear some unproven claims.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>To be culturally literate is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world. A disinterested and culturally illiterate society lacks the context necessary to hold even the most basic conversations.</p><p>To achieve cultural literacy, we need more shared experiences and fewer instances of knowledge or entertainment that are unique to us.</p><p>Our tenuous grasp of present reality puts our future at risk.</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><br /></p><div><hr /></div><br />The related episode of <b><i>Timeless Leadership</i></b> (released every Thursday) is now available. Our guest is Jason Steinhauer, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3DyocjU"><b><i>History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past</i></b></a>. Listen to it below or <a href="https://pod.link/timeless">wherever you get podcasts</a>.<div><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/history-disrupted-KRD7BwynkEL/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><br /><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><div><hr /></div><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 Friday.</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 the club by signing up below:</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="20264" 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></div>

Cultural (Il)literacy

Detail from  The Triumph of History Over Time  (Allegory of the Museum Clementinum, ceiling fresco) by Anton Raphael Mengs (public domain - ...

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Ars Gratia Artis

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n9OMjkMhZa4/YajXoFaZGJI/AAAAAAABXw0/GikbAfmAC8URkHTYyRbgajdJVUB-OThiQCNcBGAsYHQ/s907/Leo_the_MGM_lion_1928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="907" height="474" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n9OMjkMhZa4/YajXoFaZGJI/AAAAAAABXw0/GikbAfmAC8URkHTYyRbgajdJVUB-OThiQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h474/Leo_the_MGM_lion_1928.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;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_the_Lion_(MGM)#/media/File:Leo_the_MGM_lion_1928.jpg">Photo of "Leo the Lion" being recorded for his roar to be heard at the beginning of MGM films</a></em><span style="text-align: left;">, 1928 (public domain - Wikipedia)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“If we pretend to respect the artist at all, we must allow him his freedom of choice, in the face, in particular cases, of innumerable presumptions that the choice will not fructify. Art derives a considerable part of its beneficial exercise from flying in the face of presumptions.” </strong>— Henry James, 1884</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>You’ve seen the famous MGM lion, right?</p><p>But have you taken the time to read what’s on the frame around him?</p><p>A quick story about the history of MGM’s famous lion, “Leo,” and then I’ve got a story for you about growth.</p><p>MGM was formed by Marcus Loew in 1924 by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into a single company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or MGM.</p><p>To date, there have been <a href="https://www.logodesignlove.com/the-mgm-lions">eight lions</a> who have been filmed for the MGM production logo. The first was Slats, in the silent era (1924–1928), who didn’t roar; he just looked around (I mean, what else do you expect a silent lion to do, right?).</p><p>Between 1928 and 1967, there were five others used in overlapping timeframes, for different subjects (animated shorts, Technicolor, sound-enhanced silent films, etc.). MGM experimented with Bill, Telly, Coffee, Tanner, and George.</p><p>But it’s the eighth lion that we all know. Leo (born in the Dublin Zoo as Slats) has been under contract since 1957, and is still shown today.</p><p>If you’d care to watch all of them over time, here’s <a href="https://youtu.be/Y0b0flbq7Ac">a comprehensive 10-minute video</a> featuring the entire history:</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/Y0b0flbq7Ac" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p>Back to the frame around Leo’s head. Have you ever read it? It says <em><strong>ARS GRATIA ARTIS</strong></em>. For you non-Latin majors in the back, that means “Art for art’s sake.”</p><p>When we undertake certain pursuits, whether they’re categorized as art (music, painting, writing), or not (fishing, chess, podcasting), we do them because we like them. And maybe because we’re good at them — or our expertise grows over time.</p><p>But that’s the point, isn’t it? To learn. To grow. To continually educate ourselves in one way or another. And maybe to be inspired along the way.<span class="embedded-post-publication-name"></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":32404561,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/improvisation-as-inspiration","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Improvisation as Inspiration","truncated_body_text":"“We start then, with the Muses, who delight / With song the mighty mind of father Zeus / Within Olympus, telling of things that are, / That will be, and that were, with voices joined / In harmony.” — Hesiod, c. 700 BC When you’re searching for an idea, wh…","date":"2021-02-10T15:36:03.243Z","like_count":2,"comment_count":2,"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":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_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}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><h2><strong>Kurt Vonnegut on Growth</strong></h2><p>In 2006, a high school English teacher asked students to write to a famous author and ask for advice. Kurt Vonnegut — a writer of some of the loveliest letters — was the only one to respond. And his response is magnificent:</p><blockquote><p>Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:</p><p>I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.</p><p>What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.</p><p>Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.</p><p>Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?</p><p>Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash receptacles. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.</p><p>God bless you all!<br />Kurt Vonnegut</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><p><br /></p><p>I love the thought of practiced art of any form making our souls grow. For isn’t that what makes us better people to those around us?</p><p>To grow is to know ourselves.</p><p>And if we know ourselves, we can share that true self with others.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><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 Friday.</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 the club by signing up below:</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="5024" 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>

Ars Gratia Artis

  Photo of "Leo the Lion" being recorded for his roar to be heard at the beginning of MGM films , 1928 (public domain - Wikipedia)...

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The Common Denominator of Success

<p><br /></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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_iNDZvAXaNo/YZVKxzgiscI/AAAAAAABXjE/chIuiAXe5C8QGSilgLW0_LWdRzPt98nygCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Alexander%2BBuchan%2B-%2BA%2Bview%2Bof%2Bthe%2BEndeavour%2527s%2Bwatering%2Bplace%2Bin%2Bthe%2BBay%2Bof%2BGood%2BSuccess%252C%2BTierra%2Bdel%2BFurgo%252C%2Bwith%2Bnatives.%2BJanuary%2B1769.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1280" height="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_iNDZvAXaNo/YZVKxzgiscI/AAAAAAABXjE/chIuiAXe5C8QGSilgLW0_LWdRzPt98nygCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h500/Alexander%2BBuchan%2B-%2BA%2Bview%2Bof%2Bthe%2BEndeavour%2527s%2Bwatering%2Bplace%2Bin%2Bthe%2BBay%2Bof%2BGood%2BSuccess%252C%2BTierra%2Bdel%2BFurgo%252C%2Bwith%2Bnatives.%2BJanuary%2B1769.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;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Endeavour%27s_watering_place_in_the_Bay_of_Good_Success,_Tierra_del_Fuego_-_Drawings_made_in_the_Countries_visited_by_Captain_Cook_in_his_First_Voyage_(1769),_f.11_-_BL_Add_MS_23920.jpg">A view of the Endeavour's watering place in the Bay of Good Success</a></em><span style="text-align: left;">, by Alexander Buchan, 1769 (public domain — Wikimedia Commons)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.” </strong>— Marcus Tullius Cicero</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Do you know what success is? It of course depends on your perspective — where you sit, who you are, and what matters to you.</p><p>More importantly, do you know what it takes to be successful? That is, what do you need to do to achieve success as you define it?</p><p>There’s a variety of leadership traits that we can identify in successful people. Things like <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/p/wisdom">wisdom</a>, <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/p/communication">good communication</a>, <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/p/humanity">humanity</a>, and all of the other topics we cover on the <em><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em> podcast. (<a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/archive?sort=new">Episode Archive</a> | Follow on your <a href="https://pod.link/timeless">favorite podcast platform</a>)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pod.link/timeless" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6DqiIWuC7yQ/YZVLHwHC1cI/AAAAAAABXjM/K1Ha4_mq30sotz44DRW-FvOU6mgJ1uYXQCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h200/Timeless%2BLeadership%2BBold%2Btransparent.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><p>Those virtues are admirable and worthy of pursuit. But they’re lofty and may take years to master, particularly as you’re awaiting that first opportunity to lead people. Without the requisite position, some of them are difficult to practice.</p><p>But the common denominator of success — one trait that’s practical and practicable — the secret of every successful person is: forming the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.</p><p>What did Thomas Edison do? He achieved fame and greatness for his many patents as the electrical age came into focus. But for every invention or refinement he made, he had an exponential number of attempts.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“I have not failed. I have just found 9,999 ways that do not work.”</strong> — Thomas Edison</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><h2><strong>Success Boiled Down in One Speech</strong></h2><p>In 1940, Albert E.N. Gray, an executive at Prudential Insurance gave a speech to the National Association of Life Underwriters. While it was delivered to insurance professionals, it applies equally to anyone seeking success in any aspect of their life.</p><p>Gray’s “<strong>The Common Denominator of Success</strong>” speech has some points worth repeating here. I have updated some of the language to be more inclusive.</p><blockquote><p>Of course, like most of us, I had been brought up on the popular belief that the secret of success is hard work, but I had seen so many people work hard without succeeding and so many people succeed without working hard that I had become convinced that hard work was not the real secret even though in most cases it might be one of the requirements.</p><p>And so I set out on a voyage of discovery which carried me through biographies and  autobiographies and all sorts of dissertations on success and the lives of successful people until I finally reached a point at which I realized that the secret I was trying to discover lay not only in what they did, but also in what made them do it.</p><p>I realized further that the secret for which I was searching must not only apply to every definition of success, but since it must apply to everyone to whom it was offered, it must  also apply to everyone who had ever been successful. In short, I was looking for the common denominator of success.</p><p>And because that is exactly what I was looking for, that is exactly what I found.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>It’s worth pausing here to reflect on the <strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/intentionality">intentionality</a></strong> behind Gray’s pursuit. It’s akin to what we saw Sherlock Holmes say when he found something no one else had:</p><blockquote><p><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”</span></i></b></p></blockquote><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"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":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_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}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"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":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_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}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><i>Read more: <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Leadership Can Be Like the Dog in the Night-Time</a></i></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"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":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_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}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"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":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_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}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><h2><strong>Successful People Don’t Mind Not Liking Things</strong></h2><p>Gray continued:</p><blockquote><p>The common denominator of success — the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful — lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do.</p><p>The things that failures don’t like to do are the very things that you and I and other human beings, including successful people, naturally don’t like to do. In other words, we’ve got to realize right from the start that success is something which is achieved by the minority of people, and is therefore unnatural and not to be achieved by following our natural likes and dislikes nor by being guided by our natural preferences and prejudices.</p><p>We don’t like to call on people who don’t want to see us and talk to them about something they don’t want to talk about. Any reluctance to follow a definite prospecting program, to use prepared sales talks, to organize time and to organize effort are all caused by this one basic dislike.</p><p>Perhaps you have wondered why it is that our biggest producers seem to like to do the things that you don't like to do. They don’t!</p><p>But if they don’t like to do these things, then why do they do them? Because by doing the things they don’t like to do, they can accomplish the things they want to accomplish. Successful people are influenced by the desire for pleasing results. Failures are influenced by the desire for pleasing methods and are inclined to be satisfied with such results as can be obtained by doing things they like to do.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Why Successful People Do What Failures Don’t</strong></h2><blockquote><p>Why are successful people able to do things they don't like to do while failures are not? Because successful people have a purpose strong enough to make them form the habit of doing things they don’t like to do in order to accomplish the purpose they want to accomplish.</p><p>Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit. People form habits and habits form futures. If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones. You are the kind of person you are because you have formed the habit of being that kind of person, and the only way you can change is through habit.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>This is reminiscent from that scene at the beginning of <em>Lawrence of Arabia</em> when Lawrence puts out a match with his bare fingers, and William Potter, a junior officer, attempts the same thing, burning his fingers in the process:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Ooh! It damn well ’urts!”<br />“Certainly it hurts.”<br />“What’s the trick then?”<br />“The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><h2><strong>Success Comes From Continued Habits</strong></h2><blockquote><p>But before you decide to adopt these success habits, let me warn you of the importance of habit to your decision. I have attended many sales meetings and sales congresses during the past ten years and have often wondered why, in spite of the fact that there is so much good in them, so many people seem to get so little lasting good out of them. Perhaps you have attended sales meetings in the past and have left determined to do the things that would make you successful or more successful only to find your decision or determination waning at just the time when it should be put into effect or practice.</p><p>Here’s the answer. Any resolution or decision you make is simply a promise to yourself, which isn’t worth a tinker’s dam unless you have formed the habit of making it and keeping it.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Habits Are Formed Through Purpose</strong></h2><blockquote><p>And you won’t form the habit of making it and keeping it unless right at the start you link it with a definite purpose that can be accomplished by keeping it. In other words, any resolution or decision you make today has to be made again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on. If you continue the process of making it each morning and keeping it each day, you will finally wake up some morning a different person in a different world, and you will wonder what has happened to you and the world you used to live in.</p><p>Here’s what has happened. Your resolution or decision has become a habit and you don’t</p><p>have to make it on this particular morning. For the first time in your life, you have become master of yourself and master of your likes and dislikes by surrendering to your purpose in life.</p><p>That is why behind every success there must be a purpose and that is what makes purpose so important to your future. Your future is not going to depend on economic conditions or outside influences of circumstances over which you have no control. Your future is going to depend on your purpose in life. So let’s talk about purpose.</p><p>First of all, your purpose must be practical and not visionary. But in making your purpose practical, be careful not to make it logical. Make it a purpose of the sentimental or emotional type. Remember needs are logical while wants and desires are sentimental and emotional.</p><p>Your needs will push you just so far, but when your needs are satisfied, they will stop pushing you. If, however, your purpose is in terms of wants and desires, then your wants and desires will keep pushing you long after your needs are satisfied and until your wants and desires are fulfilled.</p><p>And if it’s an honest purpose, you will be honest and honorable in the accomplishment of it. But as long as you live, don’t ever forget that while you may succeed beyond your fondest hopes and your greatest expectations, you will never succeed beyond the purpose to which you are willing to surrender.</p><p>Furthermore, your surrender will not be complete until you have formed the habit of doing the things that failures don't like to do.</p></blockquote><p> </p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>There are finer points, more details, and other directions in the full speech. But it identifies the core of what we need to commit ourselves to if we want to achieve success.</p><p>Gray’s work is as timely and inspirational as when it was first delivered, and is available in a booklet if you’d like to read the entire thing. (<em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3nj81lu">The Common Denominator of Success</a></strong></em> | Amazon)</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white;" /><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 Friday.</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 the club by signing up below:</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="2643" 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>

The Common Denominator of Success

A view of the Endeavour's watering place in the Bay of Good Success , by Alexander Buchan, 1769 (public domain — Wikimedia Commons) “It...

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Manufacturing Fame

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFmzycZtZj8/YYy5pKft7aI/AAAAAAABXew/IhcCXa5fagYPB9zXRM0XPyDuwsgdTjHoACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Guillaume-Alphonse%2BHarang%2BCabasson%2B-%2BApotheosis%2Bof%2BNapoleon%2BIII%2B1854.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1280" height="508" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFmzycZtZj8/YYy5pKft7aI/AAAAAAABXew/IhcCXa5fagYPB9zXRM0XPyDuwsgdTjHoACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h508/Guillaume-Alphonse%2BHarang%2BCabasson%2B-%2BApotheosis%2Bof%2BNapoleon%2BIII%2B1854.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apotheosis_of_Napoleon_III.jpg" target="_blank">Apotheosis of Napoleon III</a></i> by Guillaume-Alphonse Harang Cabasson, 1854 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><p><em></em></p><blockquote><em><strong>“Two centuries ago when a great man appeared, people looked for God's purpose in him; today we look for his press agent.” </strong>— <em>Daniel Boorstin, 1961</em></em></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When he delivered the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln self-deprecatingly said, “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here.”</p><p>And yet his 274-word speech has become one of the most lauded pieces of rhetoric in history.</p><p>Lincoln chose his words carefully not because he knew he was becoming an inextricable part of the American story, but because he knew the moment required words that would inspire.</p><p>He rose to the occasion, delivering a speech that has withstood the test of time and has been part of what has contributed to our assessment of the greatness of Abraham Lincoln as a leader.</p><p>How much inspiration do you get from what flashes in front of you every day? How many influencers are chasing fame?</p><p>In an age when <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/video/youtube-stars-influence/" target="_blank">YouTube stars are more influential than traditional celebrities</a> and <a href="https://www.linqia.com/insights/the-state-of-influencer-marketing-2021/" target="_blank">68% of marketers plan to use TikTok</a>, the desire to attract an audience is stronger than ever.</p><p>In 19th century Paris, theatres hired a claque, a group of professional applauders who would supply reactions to ensure a performance was received well in the media: applause, cheers, stamping feet, and such. Like a laugh track, claques helped to buoy the mood at the performance, but didn’t guarantee critical success.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“There’s not a thing on earth that I can name<br />So foolish and so false as common fame.” </strong>— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, 1679</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><h2><strong><br /></strong></h2><h2><strong>Fame Over Greatness</strong></h2><p>The rise of what Daniel Boorstin called the “Graphic Revolution” — newspapers, radio, television, and all associated media — gave us the ability to manufacture fame. Mass media gave us the ability to share the same message, the same voice, and the same face across vast amounts of the population.</p><p>What does that get us, though? Not greatness, but fame.</p><p>He was clear that fame ought not to be confused with greatness:</p><blockquote><p>“We can fabricate fame, we can at will (though usually at considerable expense) make a man or woman well-known; but we cannot make him great. We can make a celebrity, but we can never make a hero.”</p></blockquote><p>Heroes are granted monuments, and there are fewer monuments being built these days.</p><p>Another 50 years beyond Boorstin’s writing drops us square into the Digital Revolution (same concept, new technology). Now our markers of fame are likes, clicks, views, and follows as we build monuments to ourselves under the auspices of a “personal brand.”</p><p>It’s a race to online celebrity as we take a shot at digital immortality. And yet, the meme mausoleum is littered with viral stars that have since gone supernova and have burned out.</p><p>I was thrust into the spotlight when I was an executive at Ford leading digital communications and social media during the rise to social media. It was a byproduct of the work I did, not the goal. But I used my position to share what I learned working within a Fortune 10 company, building my expertise along the way.</p><p>And yet, I saw (and still see) the self-styled “gurus” online who are hustling their hearts out, attempting to convince you that they know how to run a global enterprise because they can push buttons, buy fans, or make bots in their attempt to achieve fame and build their personal brands.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Perceptions of the world furnished by the camera substitute montage for narrative…the camera doesn't think.” </strong>— Lewis H. Lapham, 2011</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><h2><strong><br /></strong></h2><h2><strong>Being, Not Becoming</strong></h2><p>Social media gives us our fair share of Hollywood celebrities and their legions of fans. But it has also birthed thousands more YouTubers, Instagrammers, TikTokkers and the like, who dazzle us with their creativity nonstop. So much so that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/02/forget-law-school-these-kids-want-to-be-a-youtube-star.html" target="_blank">one-third of children want to grow up to be YouTubers</a>.</p><p>The unending parade of content is an assault on our senses that doesn’t give us time to recover. The infinite scroll keeps our thumbs moving while our brains are at rest, passively consuming whatever is presented to them.</p><p>It’s what allows us to have celebrities who are famous for being famous. Zsa Zsa Gabor was probably the first of this kind who eventually gave way to the likes of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton. [Incidentally, Zsa Zsa was Conrad Hilton’s second wife (he was the second of her nine husbands); Paris Hilton was Conrad’s great-granddaughter. The circle is complete.]</p><p>And who can blame erstwhile fame-chasers? The accidental viral success of mere nobodies is enticing alternatives to actually doing the work. Of course shortcuts to fame seem preferable. Celebrity is about being, not becoming, and that sums up the skewed priorities that the world seems to reward.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Men are more generally pleased with a widespread than a great reputation.”</strong> — Pliny the Younger, c. 110</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>So we have online personalities (I refuse to call them “influencers”) who see the fame, think it’s easy to achieve, and chase after it with willful disregard for how they’re perceived by those who are paying attention. Or at least by those who are paying attention and can understand the difference between aspiration and raw, greedy ambition.</p><p>In pursuing their unbridled passion for digital dominance (followers, likes, views), with their own personal claques in tow, they may be sacrificing their reputation along the way. Or perhaps they’ll simply further demonstrate who they are — they’ll have a reputation, alright.</p><p>With so much content out there and limited space on the platforms, it’s harder to get noticed. In an age of content deluge, <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/culture-character-etiquette-and-reputation">we ought to think more about reputation</a>. Rather than pursuing fame, perhaps we should pursue excellence. Or competence. Or helpfulness.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“If you are ever tempted to look for outside approval, realize that you have compromised your integrity. If you need a witness, be your own.”</strong> — Epictetus</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>What you have to live with every day, and the legacy you leave—particularly to those who care most about you—is your integrity, your character, and your reputation.</p><p>Put your efforts into leading with integrity and character, and greatness will follow.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%share_url%%","text":"Share","class":null}"><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The related episode of </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> (released every Thursday) is now available. Our guest is Jason Falls, author of <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3qqXNSi" target="_blank">Winfluence: Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand</a></i>. Listen to it below or <a href="https://pod.link/timeless" target="_blank">wherever you get podcasts</a>.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/influence-M5JxOPSo4l8/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><p><br /></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></p><hr style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay and the audio version of it, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.</span></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 the club by signing up below:</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="1631" 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><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure style="text-align: left;"><br /></figure></div>

Manufacturing Fame

  Apotheosis of Napoleon III by Guillaume-Alphonse Harang Cabasson, 1854 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons) “Two centuries ago when a grea...

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Who Is Your Éminence Grise?

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fnC1KAz34Fc/YYKY0quBGrI/AAAAAAABXac/Z3YBToJjf1I2C4IQQ-CqVVJwPH0kkfQjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1639/Jean-L%25C3%25A9on%2BG%25C3%25A9r%25C3%25B4me%2B-%2BL%2527Eminence%2BGrise%2B1873.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1639" height="422" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fnC1KAz34Fc/YYKY0quBGrI/AAAAAAABXac/Z3YBToJjf1I2C4IQQ-CqVVJwPH0kkfQjgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h422/Jean-L%25C3%25A9on%2BG%25C3%25A9r%25C3%25B4me%2B-%2BL%2527Eminence%2BGrise%2B1873.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2607652" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>L<span style="color: black; text-align: left;"></span></i></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2607652">’</a><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2607652" target="_blank">Eminence Grise</a></i> by Jean-Léon Gérôme (public domain — Wikimedia Commons)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Be courteous to all but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”</strong> — George Washington, 1783</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p><em><strong>Timeless & Timely</strong> has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe">Premium subscribers</a>. This one is available here: </em><a class="button primary" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/eminence-grise-audio">Who Is Your Émenince Grise?</a></p><p></p><p><br /></p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>We all need an <em>éminence grise</em>.</p><p>I’m not just saying that because I like to say “<em>éminence grise</em>”. You have to admit: it’s a cool-sounding phrase, isn’t it?</p><p>No, we need an <em>éminence grise</em> because there are times when we don’t see our challenges or problems with clear eyes. We have too much invested in a project, a team, or a relationship. Or we don’t see outside forces as they’re forming.</p><p>Sometimes, it takes outside counsel to advise us and to bring additional perspective to our decision making.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The term <em>éminence grise</em> (literally, “gray eminence”) goes back to the 16th century, when Cardinal Richelieu installed François Leclerc du Tremblay, the Capuchin monk Père Joseph (1577 – 1638), as his right-hand man. Richelieu was Chief Minister under Louis XIII.</p><p>Richelieu’s ambition for French domination of Europe aligned perfectly with Tremblay’s hope to convert European Protestants to Roman Catholicism. Tremblay’s nickname came from the color of his robes: a beige or grey color, thus the term <em>grise</em>.</p><p>An <em>éminence grise</em> is a powerful decision-maker or adviser who operates behind the scenes, or in a non-public or unofficial capacity. He is often treated with deference or even fear by subordinates, who understand that he has the ear of the leader, and perhaps even the power to steer decisions in a Svengali-like manner.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Famous examples of <em>éminence grise</em> include Rasputin, Dick Cheney, and the 1st Duke of Sussex. Not necessarily the most sympathetic of historic figures. But there are others as well—others upon whom history looks more kindly.</p><p>Harry Hopkins, the Secretary of Commerce under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, advised him on the New Deal that freed the United States from the Great Depression.</p><p>The wise philosopher Seneca advised and tutored the Roman Emperor Nero — until he wasn’t useful anymore. But he left us with books and letters that have formed an essential part of Stoic philosophy.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The role is an important one—a close confidante who acts as an elder statesman, giving a clear-eyed view of the options and counseling the leadership on decisions. The leader still makes the final call, but his actions are guided by the wisdom of the <em>éminence grise</em>.</p><p>Whether you seek the counsel of others or are an advisor yourself, it’s a role based on <em><strong>trust</strong></em>.</p><p>Leaders rely on others because leadership only works in a team, not as an individual sport. The best leaders have coaches and advisors. They seek out alternative points of view and delegate information-gathering.</p><p>I write here about the need for leaders to be better communicators, but the fact is leaders first need to be great listeners, ready to hear what needs to be said.</p><p>Listening—particularly to those whom we trust—can give us the wisdom we need to become better leaders.</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><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, an audio version of the public essay, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<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 the club by signing up below:</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="10745" 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>

Who Is Your Éminence Grise?

L ’ Eminence Grise by Jean-Léon Gérôme (public domain — Wikimedia Commons) “Be courteous to all but intimate with few, and let those few be...

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Is the Past Really Prologue?

<p><em></em></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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huojod-EDSk/YXrfRkfh3OI/AAAAAAABXQQ/YfLUCNrvhRk_9pkVzU_twZAynLXDeCfBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Vincenzo%2BGiovannini%2B-%2BVia%2BAppia%2Ball%2527altezza%2Bdel%2BIV%2BMiglio.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1200" height="380" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huojod-EDSk/YXrfRkfh3OI/AAAAAAABXQQ/YfLUCNrvhRk_9pkVzU_twZAynLXDeCfBQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h380/Vincenzo%2BGiovannini%2B-%2BVia%2BAppia%2Ball%2527altezza%2Bdel%2BIV%2BMiglio.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincenzo_Giovannini_Via_Appia_all%27altezza_del_IV_Miglio.jpg" target="_blank"><i>Via Appia at the height of Quarto Miglio</i></a>, Vincenco Giovannini, 1884 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><em><br /><strong><br /></strong></em><p></p><p></p><blockquote><em><strong>“The less a man knows about the past and the present, the more insecure must prove to be his judgement of the future.”</strong> — Sigmund Freud, 1927</em></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>There are days when life comes at you fast.</p><p>Days when it feels as if we’re being pummeled with news and developments. It’s hard to keep up—overwhelming, even.</p><p>We seem to be living with the results of our constantly evolving technology that is increasingly infringing on humanity. </p><p>Where do we turn?</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Dr. Conrad Gessner, a physician, was one of the first people to raise a concern. He was respected by his colleagues and his professionalism made him a serious thinker. </p><p>So when he warned us about the effects of information overload, the world took note. In one of his five books, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that the human mind would be confused and irreparably damaged if something wasn’t done. </p><p>Today, as we’re in the midst of oversaturated algorithms, conspiracy theories, and constant interruptions from notifications, we see how Dr. Gessner’s early warnings were real.</p><p>We bemoan the unprecedented risks of living in a digital world that doesn’t seem to have an off switch. We look for digital detox opportunities and quiet spaces. This unique problem must have unique solutions. </p><p>You might be wondering how things turned out for Dr. Gessner. Well, he took his own advice to heart: he never once used e-mail and didn’t even own a computer. But he wasn’t a Luddite.</p><p>You see, his landmark book was the <em>Bibliotheca universalis</em>, and it was published in 1545. For Conrad Gessner the physician, naturalist, philologist and bibliographer wasn’t concerned about Facebook updates, selfies, text messages, emails, or even the Internet itself.</p><p>He was warning the world about the impending flood of information in “<strong><a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3228379/blair%202003.pdf">confusing and harmful abundance</a></strong>” that was about to be unleashed with the advent of Gutenberg’s printing press. </p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Other Early Skeptics</strong></h2><p>Socrates famously <strong><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1636/1636-h/1636-h.htm#2H_4_0002">warned</a></strong> Phaedrus against writing because it would “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories.” </p><p>In the 1700s, the French statesman <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume-Chr%C3%A9tien_de_Lamoignon_de_Malesherbes">Malesherbes</a></strong> railed against the trend of getting news in print, arguing that it socially isolated readers and detracted from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit. </p><p>We’ve been through these arguments before, and yet we still seem to find our way back to them through modern technology. The same principles apply, even though the tools are more modern.</p><p> </p><p></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and future. Of these, the present is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain.”</strong> — Seneca, c. 55</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>The point is that while we need to be aware of our past and present, we ought not to view the future as a dystopian certainty. Gessner, Socrates, and Malesherbes warned against a future that seemed unthinkable to them. And yet, their future was no more a foregone conclusion than ours is.</p><p>They look silly to us now, but to themselves, they were making logical predictions based on their observations of the present.</p><p>Now bring yourself back to our present. With the major concerns and conflicts we see today, how are we shaping our future? How much of it is met with Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling fearmongering?</p><p>Conversely, when do we see leaders showing a path forward, with a shared vision for an improved life, driven by promising aspirations?</p><p>Every leader has the power to shape the future, informed by the past. The question is whether we lead people to that eventuality with hope or with fear.</p><p>Whichever one we choose, the outcome may be drastically different.</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><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p>The related episode of <em><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em> (released every Thursday) is now available. Our guest is Kate O’Neill, author of <em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3bbGUSB">A Future So Bright: How Strategic Optimism Can Restore Our Humanity and Save Our Planet</a></strong></em>.</p><p><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/realism-Rwdft57xQj2/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p></p><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay and the audio version of it, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<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 the club by signing up below:</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="3639" 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></div>

Is the Past Really Prologue?

Via Appia at the height of Quarto Miglio , Vincenco Giovannini, 1884 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain) “The less a man knows about the past...

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