leadership hubris

LEADERSHIP HUBRIS

Nova's next installment posted earlier. 
*
When you are a leader, be it in a corporation or in government, you obviously think you are pretty hot stuff. You are top of the world, ma! While the movie “Scarface” ( the remake in the early eighties, not the older, gay one ) was one kick ass flick, arguably one of the top movies of all time, did you pay attention to the story? No, not the fact that Toni had weird taste in women, going for that anorexic bitch, yuk, how about a little meat on her bones you sick bastard. And while scoring a perfect ten on the most cool things ever seen on film, the fact that a chainsaw makes a very effective intimidation tool isn’t the lesson. Nor is it that short people have really bad attitudes, or that Al should have stopped acting after that since he was probably never as good ( seriously, think about it. The Godfather, then Scarface, and then…what? ). No, it is leadership hubris ( an alternate lesson is that I watched this movie way too many times ). The important thing to take away from this important teaching tool is that leaders become their own worse enemies. You start to buy into your own bullcrap.

*

It isn’t because they think they are all that smart. Nor that they are all that ruthless. But because they believe they can postpone the consequences of their decisions. If you are in charge, you can in effect make decisions that best serve yourself. When you make a bad decision, the next decision to solve that problem of your own making is again in your own interests. So, leadership hubris is merely caused by the knowledge that you are in control and can fix things as you like. It doesn’t take intelligence or ruthlessness, although both can help things along, to become arrogant. It just takes the ability to think you have an answer to all the problems. You know it might not be the best answer, but it at least in your hands. You can mold the consequences. Take a look at the last idiot in charge of the company that sells Maytag appliances. You know the commercials with the old bored repairman? He never got to go out on a call, since Maytag’s were built so well. Almost a hundred years ( okay, maybe it was only seventy years, whatever, it was a long time ) and the brand was rock solid. So what if it cost twice as much, if you wanted an appliance that lasted twenty years and never broke, it was a great investment. And then Herr Idiot came along, dropped the quality like a freefalling lead weight, made a few shareholders happy with a couple of quarters of record profits, and trashed a multi-generational reputation. I’m sure his thoughts went something like this ( as far as any mouth breathing jerk-off with an MBA is capable of thinking ). The board keeps pestering me with demands for more profit, to keep matching those we saw during the building boom, I’ve tried everything, this is the last thing I can do. Sacrifice quality. He could somewhat control the process and so it was a great option. He made it work long enough to get his golden parachute, and the board got what they wanted ( look out what you wish for).

*

Obviously this was a condensed version of the process of leadership hubris, but it illustrates it nicely. You control the descent. You are the last one effected aversely. You start out controlling the rewards, and if things get bad enough you start simply conferring immunity upon yourself come the fall. Hubris is always looked on as a comeuppance, but that is just for the Little People consumption. Most of the time, a leader can die or be dethroned before the consequences of his actions become too painful. Look at how this country has been run for almost a century, then tell me I’m full of crap. Now, the problem we have today is that the average American has taken this same attitude. It is totally unfounded, since they have no say in the game, but there you have it. They think that since they are at the top of the food chain, they are immune from all the bad decisions they make. They can consume resources indefinitely, because there are always more to steal ( well, their view is that since we’re bringing democracy to all the little brown people we deserve the rewards ).

*

It truly amazes me, the waste. People living in the desert watering their lawns. Soccer moms taxiing their charges to and fro as if petroleum will never dry up. The trash generation. But worse than the effects on our society, what the crap are these people thinking? Do they take into account how they themselves will be effected? You build your whole life around a car, including the ability to work to buy groceries, and give no thought to how that conveyance stays on the road? The fact that a car now costs what a house did a mere thirty years ago gives you no alarm? The fact that roads are being allowed to deteriorate means nothing to you? Obviously not. These idiots believe just being at the top means they will stay there.

*

Yuppies are the worst of the lot. At least poor Americans have had some taste of reality. They aren’t totally divorced from how the real world treats the masses. Yuppies, having been raised in a bubble, believe that being a well groomed marshmallow is actually how things are supposed to work. And they give no thought to their bubble being popped. One out of several thousand patrol the streets, and one out of several hundred thousand patrol the seas and middle east oil fields, and they feel safe? Seriously? The odds of us staying in power, of order and stability prevailing, are so bad I can’t believe anyone in their right mind would think to play them. Yet Yuppies are oh so slightly higher in the power structure and so actually believe they have some kind of say in how things are run. They actually think they can control the descent! Now that, my friends, is hubris in the classical sense. When you mislead your enemies you gain power. When you mislead yourself you’ve just suicided yourself and don’t even know it.

*

Yuppies are the American version of the Saudi royal family. They do absolutely nothing, they are given the worthless shiny baubles to reward them for being compliant, and in the end those actually in power will assassinate them. Yuppies are being sacrificed on the alter of system survivability as we speak, and actually think they are still in charge. This is such a delicious moment for me, I can’t express to you the joy. Millions of worthless pukes who lorded it over those of limited means, who actually worked for a living, they are now the target of our rulers. Yuppie Moms drove their ill mannered spawn down to the bookstore in their SUV to buy the latest vampire novel, ignoring the delectable irony that their blood was being sucked by the banker and corporate elite. Thought you were so damn special, did you? Oops, were did that 401k go to? Like to impose rules on the rest of us how we can use our own land, so yours stays up artificially in value? Oops, did that sucking sound just mean your house is now underwater? Eat me, you dirty rotten whores. You deserve this one and I hope you choke on it. Not that I’m bitter.

END
The Official Bison Web Site www.bisonpress.com

*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
Anyone can submit a guest article. No minimum word length, no writing skill necessary ( just get the idea across ). You retain copyright ( this must be your original writing ) and I’ll just use the once. I’ve yet to turn down an article, just don’t use the N Bomb or libel another that can sue me. Send by e-mail ( please, label as “guest article” so I can find it easily later ). Payment will be your removal from my enemies list.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon links in each article. You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.