The Empty Chair

<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwKzDp82wHs2MOAJzlZkhiCY3gRXDil0tz1HmirYsAqngtjagK7nNtWtsp0lJjduczdcXLdjIxMH2CqD7xSJPf9GJahO4zuA2AU92qDGXpSlJq8GCJoxGDv-DyesJ1aKf1oqHebl1ecebarA7GZgSWrBfW3z5aYf3jA2e2ZtT37Z-RbNJDLbiWcyD/s2500/Vincent%20Van%20Gough%20-%20The%20Bedroom,%20digitally%20enhanced.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1964" data-original-width="2500" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwKzDp82wHs2MOAJzlZkhiCY3gRXDil0tz1HmirYsAqngtjagK7nNtWtsp0lJjduczdcXLdjIxMH2CqD7xSJPf9GJahO4zuA2AU92qDGXpSlJq8GCJoxGDv-DyesJ1aKf1oqHebl1ecebarA7GZgSWrBfW3z5aYf3jA2e2ZtT37Z-RbNJDLbiWcyD/w640-h502/Vincent%20Van%20Gough%20-%20The%20Bedroom,%20digitally%20enhanced.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><figcaption class="image-caption" data-pm-slice="1 1 ["captionedImage",null]"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The Bedroom</em> by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889. Original from the Art Institute of Chicago. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. (Wikipedia - <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>)</span></figcaption></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em></em></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“I swear to the Lord</em></strong></div><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>I still can’t see</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Why Democracy means</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Everybody but me.”</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em></em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em></em></strong></div></strong><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Langston Hughes, 1943</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>While there’s been a lot of talk about Democracy lately, leaders at work deal with small-d democracy. Or, a state of society defined by equal rights and privileges.</p><p>Simply put, leaders ought to ensure that everyone in their charge is made to feel welcome and included.</p><p>In recent years, this leadership and culture practice has been given an acronymized category: DEI, or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It’s not some corporate gimmick or trend; it requires empathy and thoughtfulness in how it is executed.</p><p>Daniel Gill knows something about inclusion.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When Daniel was growing up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, he experienced something that would stay with him for decades.</p><p>Daniel was invited to a birthday party in his apartment building when he was nine years old, and he decided to invite his friend Archie.</p><p>They rang the bell, and when the door opened, the mother of the birthday boy looked at Daniel, and then at Archie, who was Black.</p><p>“<em>We have no more chairs</em>,” she said.</p><p>Daniel was confused. He had been to this apartment many times and had seen plenty of chairs in it. He said he would gladly sit on the floor or go get more chairs, but the response was “<em>There’s no more chairs</em>.”</p><p>Daniel slowly realized that he was welcome but Archie was not, because he was Black.</p><p>The boys handed over the presents and left in tears. </p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Years later, Daniel Gill became a social studies teacher in the Montclair school system and helped with its desegregation. And in doing so, <a href="https://mymodernmet.com/teacher-keeps-empty-chair-in-classroom/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">he remembered that incident</a> with his friend Archie — with a small but significant symbol.</p><p>Gill keeps an empty chair in the center of his classroom. For a very specific reason.</p><blockquote><p><strong>“I put a chair in my classroom so that anybody who comes to my classroom filled with anticipation, like a party, would feel welcome.”</strong></p></blockquote><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%share_url%%","text":"Share","action":null,"class":null}"><br /></p><p>He keeps it there so students “know this is an accepting place. When they forget that, I point to the chair,” he said.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Isn’t that the job of a leader? To make everyone feel welcome?</p><p>The challenge is that everyone has blind spots due to their own background. We can’t all experience the world the way every other person has.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This thread and the replies are a great reminder of how our own worldview might not feel the same – or comfortable – to others. <br /><br />Inclusivity and empathy are essential for leaders. <a href="https://t.co/7uUvfttjOC">https://t.co/7uUvfttjOC</a></p>— Scott Monty (@ScottMonty) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMonty/status/1541576860026523648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p></p><div class="preformatted-block" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><p><br /></p><p>And so, the decent leader gets the input of other executives and employees, putting together different perspectives like pieces of a puzzle.</p><p>And having someone represent DEI isn’t checking a box or hewing to a trend. Being inclusive is simply showing that you care.</p><p>Inclusivity means everyone matters.</p><p>The empty chair reminds us of that.</p><p><br /></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap" data-attrs="{"url":"%%checkout_url%%","text":"Subscribe"}" data-pm-slice="2 1 []"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption"><i><b>If this spoke to you, consider signing up to receive more essays like this.</b></i></p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email…" tabindex="-1" type="email" /><input class="button primary" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p><br /></p><p>In a recent episode of the <a href="https://pod.link/timeless" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Timeless Leadership</em></strong></a> podcast, Dan Pontefract shared lessons from his book that outlined why caring is at the center of good leadership. Put it on your playlist:</p><p><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="12104" data-dashlane-rid="54324b0a532364f9" data-form-type="other" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="//play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/23517488/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/424242/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/s1118/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" style="clear: left; color: #007abe; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="1118" height="80" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/w640-h80/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/w640-h80/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="640" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p></p></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members get extras, such as exclusive essays and monthly leadership calls.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div></h4><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="12051" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4><p></p><p></p><p></p>

The Empty Chair

The Bedroom by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889. Original from the Art Institute of Chicago. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. (Wikipedia - CC BY-SA 4....

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To Hope Is to Believe

<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAuhhuCRCn59_YxXuaaxGbL91mUBhFpnHYXtt7J3k8zqrQYb5fLDUP1UV0kw80r0lMaBSYnnqh8782A2UjuNwJyxjS_TaV4JwQ3-pPF8M-W2y48f6P-s-pB7pnAyX-kkTlJZ2AoYB7k2nfQqtzy1Cncj1gRob3vmHycdvo_xxpNNDhvdfVZGLkqI2/s1530/Domenico%20di%20Michelino%20-%20Dante's%20Divine%20Comedy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1530" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAuhhuCRCn59_YxXuaaxGbL91mUBhFpnHYXtt7J3k8zqrQYb5fLDUP1UV0kw80r0lMaBSYnnqh8782A2UjuNwJyxjS_TaV4JwQ3-pPF8M-W2y48f6P-s-pB7pnAyX-kkTlJZ2AoYB7k2nfQqtzy1Cncj1gRob3vmHycdvo_xxpNNDhvdfVZGLkqI2/w640-h482/Domenico%20di%20Michelino%20-%20Dante's%20Divine%20Comedy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">La commedia illumina Firenze</em><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> by Domenico di Michelino, 1465 (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_di_Michelino#/media/File:Dante_Domenico_di_Michelino_Duomo_Florence.jpg" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Wikipedia</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; color: #767676; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> - public domain)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;</em></strong></div><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;</em></strong></div></strong><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>This is alone Life; Joy, Empire, and Victory!”</em></strong></div></strong><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1820</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Hope-peddlers need more respect.</p><p>Often derided as being overly optimistic or dismissed with the cliché “hope is not a strategy,” it’s the hard-nosed pragmatists or even the pessimists who seem to be more in touch with reality.</p><p>But when we do battle with hope, we eliminate any chance of success as we simply tell ourselves and those around us to give up. </p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap" data-attrs="{"url":"%%checkout_url%%","text":"Subscribe"}"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption"><br />In Canto III of his <em>Divine Comedy</em>, Dante passes through the gates of Hell, on which is inscribed the phrase “Abandon all hope ye who enter here.”</p></div></div></div><p>A warning, certainly; but more than that, when we abandon hope we abandon a belief that something good can happen. Without a belief in better forces, better outcomes, or better people, we’re going to find exactly what we expect out of our society, our colleagues, and our families. </p><p>The challenge with being hopeful is that it sounds naïve to believe in the unknown. Pessimists are sure of what has happened and are likely to stick to what they know — the “we’ve always done it this way” crowd.</p><p>To hope is to put our belief in the unknown.</p><p>To hope is to try new things.</p><p>To hope is to change.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>Hope, Delayed</h2><p>I’ll give you an example of hope, change, and opportunity that I encountered just last week.</p><p>My older son was scheduled to attend a goalie camp outside of Boston for his next phase of hockey. The camp check-in was Friday at 5:00 pm for warm-ups and a Saturday morning start, so I figured taking a 9:15 pm flight from Detroit on Thursday gave us plenty of time.</p><p>That is, until about 8:30 pm when Boston’s airport called a full ground-stop moments before we were boarding in Detroit.</p><p>The crowd scrambled, and I immediately went into Plan B mode, trying to rebook through the app (ineffective), getting on the phone with Delta (a two-hour hold time), and standing in an endless line comprised of the passengers from three Boston flights.</p><p>If ever there was a time for Dante’s “abandon all hope ye who enter,” this was the place.</p><p>My son has anxiety, so he got worked up about the situation. I let him know that there were options, that I was trying everything I could because I wanted him to make it, and that if things didn’t work out, it meant it was beyond our control.</p><p>Reader, the flights were beyond anyone’s control.</p><p>The soonest we could catch a flight was Saturday, as three flights full of people plus all other affected east coast passengers tried to reschedule amid already-full flights.</p><p>I wasn’t ready to give up on the trip, but we had to alter our plans significantly: we had the airline pull his hockey equipment (which we later found out wouldn’t happen, because baggage staff went home at 9:00 pm), returned home for a good night’s sleep, and set out by car the next morning.</p><p>The only hiccup we ran into was that when we tried to pick up the equipment at DTW, we discovered it had already been sent to BOS. No matter; the 90-minute detour was a minor inconvenience if it meant he’d still be able to attend his camp.</p><p>And a silver lining: a father-son road trip over Father’s Day weekend meant 26 extra hours in the car together. We had conversations and shared moments that would not have happened on a shorter plane-bound trip.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Our toughest challenges require solutions that don’t yet exist (otherwise they wouldn’t be difficult). And while hope itself isn’t the answer, it is a torch lighting our way toward growth.</p><p>The future is uncertain. But with hope, we can illuminate and inform ourselves as we trod the path.</p><p>Without hope, what do we believe in?</p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/s1118/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #007abe; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="1118" height="80" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/w640-h80/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/w640-h80/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" width="640" /></a></div><p><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p></p></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members get extras, such as exclusive essays and monthly leadership calls.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div></h4><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="12010" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4>

To Hope Is to Believe

  La commedia illumina Firenze  by Domenico di Michelino, 1465 ( Wikipedia  - public domain) “To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite; To ...

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Being a Leader Means Having a Moral Conscience

<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyn66oeS0Ym5YbEJPAws7TSm7tF067rKzT9fSFs3clFiG8jYiWxAMMy6RPMT94I89xsmDuHsu4JtiP2ZimB7GcVzIFtAQHc6gkKVhCK9H9bhIDEKJ6xrfJdbzmda3z8Pxko1OkbHEmhHHxjBhDlCXCDvU37sEwIZoKwVJGJIIYrSorM0C58T0jb6Jy/s2000/Caspar%20David%20Friedrich%20-%20Landscape%20with%20Mountain%20Lake,%20Morning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1547" data-original-width="2000" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyn66oeS0Ym5YbEJPAws7TSm7tF067rKzT9fSFs3clFiG8jYiWxAMMy6RPMT94I89xsmDuHsu4JtiP2ZimB7GcVzIFtAQHc6gkKVhCK9H9bhIDEKJ6xrfJdbzmda3z8Pxko1OkbHEmhHHxjBhDlCXCDvU37sEwIZoKwVJGJIIYrSorM0C58T0jb6Jy/w640-h496/Caspar%20David%20Friedrich%20-%20Landscape%20with%20Mountain%20Lake,%20Morning.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Landscape with Mountain Lake, Morning</em><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> by Caspar David Friedrich, 1823-35 (</span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Landschaft_mit_Gebirgssee,_Morgen.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> - public)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <strong><em>“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Irene Dunne, 1945</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Everywhere you look, unethical behavior seems rampant.</p><p>We see lapses of judgment and an absence of being guided by our better selves. Good leaders know that corruption, greed, or calumny are selfish and small-minded behaviors that do nothing for the greater good.</p><p>That last word — <em>calumny</em> — isn’t widely used anymore.</p><p>Calumny is “a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something.”</p><p>And I was reminded of its famous use in a speech on June 1, 1950, by Senator <strong>Margaret Chase Smith</strong>, which still has familiar echoes today.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Earlier that year, Senator <strong>Joseph McCarthy</strong> began his campaign against what he said were Communists within the United States. He targeted public figures and private citizens alike, including members of Harry Truman’s State Department, calling it “a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity.”</p><p>Senator Smith was a Republican like McCarthy, but she decided she had had enough. She made a speech, titled “<a href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/margaretchasesmithconscience.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Declaration of Conscience</a>” in which she roundly criticized the House Un-American Activities Committee without naming McCarthy personally.</p><p>This was a risky move, as she might incur the wrath of her colleagues as well as her constituents, but she felt compelled by a greater purpose than party loyalty.</p><p>She rose, saying, “I speak as a Republican, I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American.”</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Even then, she recognized the divisiveness of calumny and how pervasive and accepted ignorance was.</p><blockquote><p><strong>“Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and the suspicions that are bred in the United States Senate to spread like cancerous tentacles of "know nothing, suspect everything" attitudes.”</strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Smith stated a desire to see a change in the administration but admitted that doing so without a moral conscience could do even more damage.</p><blockquote><p><strong>“Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to the nation. But I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”</strong></p></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Her declaration included <a href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/margaretchasesmithconscience.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">five principles</a> she hoped her party would adopt, as she concluded:</p><blockquote><p><strong>“It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques—techniques that, if continued here unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American way of life.”</strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Only six fellow Republicans signed the declaration. Others applauded her courage or privately expressed support, but refused to show the same courage themselves.</p><p>The country continued the wave of the red scare. It wasn’t until a full four years later on June 9, 1954, well into the Eisenhower administration, that Joseph Welch, a Boston lawyer representing the Army at the McCarthy hearings in the Senate, stood up to the bullying senator on national television and said, “<a href="https://www.happyscribe.com/public/it-was-said/ep-6-edward-r#paragraph_2263?utm_source=public_transcript&utm_medium=paragraph&utm_campaign=public_promo" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">At long last, have you no sense of decency?</a>”</p><p><br /></p><hr /><p><strong><em><br /></em></strong></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><strong><em>“Look at the facts of the world. You see a continual and progressive triumph of the right. I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”</em></strong></em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Theodore Parker, 1853</em></div><br /></em><p></p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>Moral courage and moral conscience can be difficult when there is so much outrage and outcry, particularly online.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><i><b><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/authenticity-takes-courage" target="_blank">Related: Authenticity Takes Courage</a></b></i></h3><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">But we’ve seen examples of businesses that are standing up for what they believe in, or for what they believe is right.</p><p>Such as <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/09/ceos-senate-gun-legislation-letter?" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">a group of CEOs sending a letter to the Senate</a> in support of legislation for improved gun safety. And <a href="https://www.inc.com/rebecca-deczynski/power-of-purpose-list-impact-driven-companies.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">companies that are actually making a difference</a> like they say they are.</p><p>These are risky actions. They may put off some customers who automatically reject anything related to “wokeness,” and they may anger some shareholders who want short-term results.</p><p>Such are the situations in which leaders find themselves and the hard decisions they sometimes need to make.</p><p>If they know what they stand for, then any kind of temptation like money, power, or fame will be impervious to their principles.</p><p>We need leaders who will be true to their convictions.</p><p><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/s1118/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="1118" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnNaxq0-3uicS2PmnZULtReHOTda937rY9rDQoqwcvcZ7s6EcF6USiE8uifHSxE9myvqCiFJxhLFCznUkbgd2sJpIFnt9FiTrBy1kShmI2OhKc8JSC5KDsnBvrKhR1tMNNJgrGBhcZHwR4SMoDo7c-4eATD_tHzZ-iAuYj5KLFB442ZyTtruhjgsH/w640-h80/Sig-Scott-Substack.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p></p></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members get extras, such as exclusive essays and monthly leadership calls.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div></h4><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="11953" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></h4><p></p>

Being a Leader Means Having a Moral Conscience

Landscape with Mountain Lake, Morning  by Caspar David Friedrich, 1823-35 ( Wikipedia  - public)   “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll...

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The Blame or Fault Is Yours

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PVcD73Jgl2MTCy781Fi30PZbdOhpw6KKcWjH-8gxD74Kfp1ZmazWDrXpfmkLeXQwg47NUyWJg5tpKDN6_2M68-sGTTR7ZfHE0mT5s0tZmJ-dhUb8j6SA1RmM8pZBZUNGrGga6WunUtQZCrGBbE37h97Ptk-3XLDfddNhRpAeoPSmgdteYQaL-nP7/s2047/Robert%20Huffstutter%20-%20The%20Allies%20Liberate%20France%20D-Day%201944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1567" data-original-width="2047" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PVcD73Jgl2MTCy781Fi30PZbdOhpw6KKcWjH-8gxD74Kfp1ZmazWDrXpfmkLeXQwg47NUyWJg5tpKDN6_2M68-sGTTR7ZfHE0mT5s0tZmJ-dhUb8j6SA1RmM8pZBZUNGrGga6WunUtQZCrGBbE37h97Ptk-3XLDfddNhRpAeoPSmgdteYQaL-nP7/w640-h490/Robert%20Huffstutter%20-%20The%20Allies%20Liberate%20France%20D-Day%201944.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="captioned-image-container" data-pm-slice="0 0 []" style="text-align: left;"><figure><figcaption class="image-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Allies Liberate France: D-Day 1944</em> by Robert Huffstutter (<a href="https://flic.kr/p/br4GoF" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Flickr</a> - <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a>)</span></figcaption></figure></div><div class="preformatted-block" style="text-align: left;"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="captioned-image-container" data-pm-slice="0 0 []"><figure><figcaption class="image-caption"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></figcaption></figure></div><p><strong><em></em></strong></p><blockquote><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and future. Of these, the present is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain.” </em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Seneca, 49</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When we look back upon major events in history, we see them as turning points.</p><p>Caesar crossing the Rubicon. America taking on the greatest army in the world in 1776. The largest military maritime landing in history in 1944.</p><p>As we look at them now, they’re certainties. But Caesar didn’t know his gambit would pay off. Many Americans were in doubt about the revolution and were still loyal to the crown. And the Allies didn’t know if they would successfully land 150,000 troops to storm the beach at Normandy.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Seneca’s observation above is an important one: nothing in the future—nothing—is certain. Leaders need to have contingency plans and to adapt to the changing market forces, on the fly if necessary.</p><p>Every leader needs a plan. But they also need backup plans.</p><p>Great leaders know it’s not enough to have a plan. They’ve seen things go sideways before. And like any self-aware person, they know that it could happen to them.</p><p>Take General Dwight Eisenhower for example.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>Overlord</h2><p>He prepared his troops as best he could for Operation Overlord (aka the D-Day invasion). He prepared these marks, delivered over the radio and in writing:</p><blockquote><p><strong>“You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. We will accept nothing less than victory! Good luck!”</strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>That wasn’t enough, though. He knew that they needed to know he was counting on more than luck — he was counting on their bravery and resilience, and in doing so he built their confidence:</p><blockquote><p><strong>“This operation is planned as a victory, and that’s the way it’s going to be. We’re going down there, and we’re throwing everything we have into it, and we’re going to make it a success.”</strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>But Ike knew that there were variables that were out of his control: the number of enemy troops awaiting them, the complete secrecy of the plans, and the weather.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>Forecast: Cloudy</h2><p>During the planning for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, meteorologists informed General Eisenhower that there were a series of storms heading across the Atlantic that would delay the operation, which was originally scheduled for June 5.</p><p>Conditions had to be just right: calm seas and clear skies.</p><p>If the operation went ahead as planned, it would have been a failure; if the Allies waited for the next cycle of tides and improved weather, they would have lost the element of surprise.</p><p>However, an updated weather report came through showing a high-pressure system that would intersect with Normandy on June 6th. It left a very tight window.</p><p>The Germans saw the same forecasts, but didn't think the brief moment of calm would allow the Allies to advance. Field Marshal Rommel was convinced of this and left for a few days in Paris.</p><p>Later, asked why D-Day had been a success, Eisenhower said, “Because we had better meteorologists than the Germans.”</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap" data-attrs="{"url":"%%checkout_url%%","text":"Subscribe"}"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption"><br /></p></div></div></div><p>While this makes sense from a pithy storytelling standpoint, it’s actually not true. The meteorologists on both sides of the war saw the same data.</p><p>But German leadership failed to take into account just how much the Allies <em>wanted to win</em> the war.</p><p>General Eisenhower inspired a sense of loyalty, confidence, courage, and desire to succeed among his men.</p><p>Those attributes were invisible, unable to be seen by the naked eye or monitored by meteorologists. And thus were not part of the calculations made by the Germans.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2>Mine Alone</h2><p>Another thing that was unseen: the uncertainty that Eisenhower had in the plan.</p><p>Looking back now, we marvel at the accomplishment of D-Day and of the bravery of the men who fought and were wounded or killed there.</p><p>But on June 5, it was far from certain. Ike prepared a note (which he misprinted as July 5) in the event of a catastrophic loss that day:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zlfennljQRxWu9yFpelYrp0SD6ugQjEBmN6xg9WJtxL3U_pVndqUjkrCTyAVTkpaXHY3gra5V2cGID1VBuIo7YlPzC7tPnmS2hpOdTkZeaFFc5uISSpG8e69-r9ty1nS8NR4V6KHmepdo_imtTMGAOv_Ler9HddYuaM3OHmiwkKw0H2hOmKMPh9m/s936/Eisenhower%20D-Day%20failure%20letter.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zlfennljQRxWu9yFpelYrp0SD6ugQjEBmN6xg9WJtxL3U_pVndqUjkrCTyAVTkpaXHY3gra5V2cGID1VBuIo7YlPzC7tPnmS2hpOdTkZeaFFc5uISSpG8e69-r9ty1nS8NR4V6KHmepdo_imtTMGAOv_Ler9HddYuaM3OHmiwkKw0H2hOmKMPh9m/w410-h640/Eisenhower%20D-Day%20failure%20letter.jpeg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><figcaption class="image-caption" data-pm-slice="1 1 ["captionedImage",null]"><i>Image credit: <a href="https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/in-case-of-failure" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">the National Archives</a></i></figcaption></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><strong>“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”</strong></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>It was the largest military landing in history, and here was one man — one extraordinary leader — who was willing to take the blame if it failed. Without reservation.</p><p>The “blame or fault…is mine alone.”</p><p>Considering the tens of thousands of military personnel who helped plan and execute the D-Day invasion, and all of the elements that were out of his control, General Eisenhower was still willing to take accountability for the outcome.</p><p>Decent leaders know how to be accountable.</p><p>And being accountable speaks volumes about character.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDn1UZ0UgW3HboiuuQnaXWVIYUl8J15J9l7afuPRQxDV8kPcYF95bpi55lTV70KJP2KirqRcbdixbEBoigg_aJTJq1weaVUUcmk1x42sUHVqO6WwDGgCWdKKh0bEGCqUJZoX07Ye0HXli_QpcsPQI1fnRmYLRonxeIG-4FMoa5V4MQK_xG5QeX6oKG/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDn1UZ0UgW3HboiuuQnaXWVIYUl8J15J9l7afuPRQxDV8kPcYF95bpi55lTV70KJP2KirqRcbdixbEBoigg_aJTJq1weaVUUcmk1x42sUHVqO6WwDGgCWdKKh0bEGCqUJZoX07Ye0HXli_QpcsPQI1fnRmYLRonxeIG-4FMoa5V4MQK_xG5QeX6oKG/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); color: #be007a; display: inline; font-weight: 700; height: auto; max-width: 95%; opacity: 0.7; padding: 4px; text-align: center; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><p></p></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive a Saturday bonus newsletter from the Off the Clock, a quirky look at words and history. Exclusively for word nerds.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="4316" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />

The Blame or Fault Is Yours

Allies Liberate France: D-Day 1944  by Robert Huffstutter ( Flickr  -  CC BY 2.0 ) “Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and f...

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What You're Missing By Constantly Running

<div class="preformatted-block" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"></pre></div><p><strong><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPbDb6WoipV2H_rEZYteM5ycehJqAwLqkUco0mdtflw8_vJgCT_QePr-yhSEJbODw4AzM_nEUWpYMh-H3lRIxLLk9Rq94Ev172jRyhl8w-PL4FWys9cLuWw8ze49Iny9HSb4vsE1a5iy2bUHYH_JbHwHqt_V45xbuZaXvl7G-hhdS47ijOikF03yW/s1024/Jean%20Baptiste%20Vanmour%20-%20Whirling%20Dervishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1024" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPbDb6WoipV2H_rEZYteM5ycehJqAwLqkUco0mdtflw8_vJgCT_QePr-yhSEJbODw4AzM_nEUWpYMh-H3lRIxLLk9Rq94Ev172jRyhl8w-PL4FWys9cLuWw8ze49Iny9HSb4vsE1a5iy2bUHYH_JbHwHqt_V45xbuZaXvl7G-hhdS47ijOikF03yW/w640-h474/Jean%20Baptiste%20Vanmour%20-%20Whirling%20Dervishes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Whirling Dervishes</i> by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, c. 1720-1737 (<a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/SK-A-4081" target="_blank">Rijksmuseum</a> - public domain <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/" target="_blank">CC 1.0</a>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><em><br /></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><br /></em></strong></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><blockquote><em>“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”</em></blockquote></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Socrates</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The span of the last ten days in my household has been a whirlwind, and I’m just catching my breath.</p><p>We had a first communion, two birthdays, and a high school graduation. Doctors advise avoiding that much cake intake in such a short period of time.</p><p>As we completed each event, we were immediately prepping for the next; only now do I find I have a chance to reflect on each of them. One incident during that span made me realize something important about leadership.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>As the graduates exited the auditorium, my son and a group of his friends lit their celebratory cigars (evidently this is a tradition at their school). My son is a very sociable sort, so as he puffed on his cigar, he flitted from group to group to pose for photos.</p><p>When he was with us, I warned him to take it easy on the cigar — if you smoke it too quickly, it can affect you. He poo-pooed the notion with that all-knowing attitude that only a graduating high school senior can muster.</p><p>By the time he finished with his photos some 20 minutes later, his cigar was down to a stub. And he was down too, sitting on a ledge near the edge of the plaza, leaning over and trying to keep the world from slipping out from beneath him.</p><p>The lesson for the day: cigars are meant to be savored rather than quickly consumed.</p><p>And so it goes with major accomplishments. We need time to enjoy them afterward as well as in the moment. We need time to <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/solitude-and-reflection?s=w" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>reflect</strong></a>.</p><p>The pace we’re all on these days can seem frenetic, even on the best days. From a perpetually clogged inbox that can dictate our every action, to calendars that are filled with so many meetings we have scant time to do any actual work, the rigors of work life take a toll.</p><p>Kahlil Gibran perfectly captures why our busyness and logorrhea may be a blockade to reflection in his classic work <a href="https://amzn.to/3qISUAc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>The Prophet</em></a>:</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;<br />And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.<br />And in much of your talking, your thinking is half murdered.<br />For thought is a bird of space, that in a case of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.<br />There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.<br />The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.<br />And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.<br />And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words.<br />We seem to be always running to one thing or another—and in some cases, running from ourselves.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>As leaders, we’re expected to give feedback to our team constantly. Feedback is what helps people become aware of their behaviors and how those behaviors are affecting others around them. What they choose to do with the feedback is up to them.</p><p>But when you’re always busy managing others, trying to run your team and keep up with the latest developments in your company and in your industry, it can be hard to find the time you need for <em>you</em>.</p><p>Taking the time for yourself first, whether you’re a freelancer or managing a team of people, is essential.</p><p>When you know yourself, you’re better positioned to help others.</p><p>And isn't that what leadership is all about?</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><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDn1UZ0UgW3HboiuuQnaXWVIYUl8J15J9l7afuPRQxDV8kPcYF95bpi55lTV70KJP2KirqRcbdixbEBoigg_aJTJq1weaVUUcmk1x42sUHVqO6WwDGgCWdKKh0bEGCqUJZoX07Ye0HXli_QpcsPQI1fnRmYLRonxeIG-4FMoa5V4MQK_xG5QeX6oKG/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDn1UZ0UgW3HboiuuQnaXWVIYUl8J15J9l7afuPRQxDV8kPcYF95bpi55lTV70KJP2KirqRcbdixbEBoigg_aJTJq1weaVUUcmk1x42sUHVqO6WwDGgCWdKKh0bEGCqUJZoX07Ye0HXli_QpcsPQI1fnRmYLRonxeIG-4FMoa5V4MQK_xG5QeX6oKG/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); color: #be007a; display: inline; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; height: auto; max-width: 95%; opacity: 0.7; padding: 4px; text-align: center; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" /></p><div>P.S. If you're a Premium Member, you can also check out these related entries:</div><div><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>While shame can be humiliating, there’s something to learn from it as you go <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/from-shame-to-self-awareness?s=w" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">From Shame to Self-Awareness</a>.</li><li>When setting your goals, you’ll want to be aware of <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/the-best-leadership-advice-of-all?s=w" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Best Leadership Advice of All Time</a>. </li></ul><p></p></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive a Saturday bonus newsletter from the Off the Clock, a quirky look at words and history. Exclusively for word nerds.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="5410" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></h4>

What You're Missing By Constantly Running

Whirling Dervishes by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, c. 1720-1737 ( Rijksmuseum - public domain  CC 1.0 ) “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” ...

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