tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post3180650769679905803..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Great Leaders Take AdviceStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-71228960595043879482015-08-03T14:45:15.541-07:002015-08-03T14:45:15.541-07:00Ares Olympus @August 3, 2015 at 5:41 AM:
Excellen...Ares Olympus @August 3, 2015 at 5:41 AM:<br /><br />Excellent, substantive comment. Regarding Gov. Ventura, I always wondered how much anyone really thought he could screw up any worse than the careerists with D or R after their name. From your telling, he seemed to bring humanity and openness to the office. Much needed... everywhere. <br /><br />And your comment speaks to the Teddy Roosevelt quote about "the man in the arena."Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222603717128565302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-59419989618905586292015-08-03T13:06:08.610-07:002015-08-03T13:06:08.610-07:00Taking advice is one thing.
GOP midgets take ord...Taking advice is one thing. <br /><br />GOP midgets take orders from the likes of Koch Bros. priss rulesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-82971271578431155972015-08-03T11:27:36.236-07:002015-08-03T11:27:36.236-07:00Excellent comment, Ares!Excellent comment, Ares!Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-67429316307468380602015-08-03T05:41:39.942-07:002015-08-03T05:41:39.942-07:00Minnesota elected Wrestler Jesse Ventura for Gover...Minnesota elected Wrestler Jesse Ventura for Governor from 1998-2002, winning as a third party in a 3-way race between a democrat and a republican-turned-democrat. I think its generally agreed he knew his limits and appointed good nonpartisan experts to help advise him.<br /><br />Perhaps all "entertainers" like Reagan and Ventura and Trump know their limits and after elected they (did/will) pick and follow their experts more than their own amateur knowledge.<br /><br />On the other hand, maybe its also vital for a leader to be able to question his experts, not just when they say what he doesn't want to hear, but to understand the reasoning behind a position, enough to be able to articulate the reasoning, and then also see what other experts think.<br /><br />And things like the economy, war or climate change don't always have enough information to make "right" decisions, so a leader has to be willing to accept not only his own ignorance, but the ignorance of the experts, and make a decision anyway, or advocate for a position that isn't completely defendable, and yet be willing to take responsibility whatever the outcomes.<br /><br />I remember George W joked "If this were a dictatorship it would be a heck of a lot easier... as long as I'm the dictator." I didn't think badly of him for the joke because a dictator with 100% of the power also has 100% of the responsibility of outcomes, while a democratic president has limited power to take responsibility. The maligned executive orders perhaps is the only semi-dictatorial power he can take 100% responsibility.<br /><br />And it does seem to me that whenever we have times of crisis, whether economic or war or natural disaster, people want a decisive leader who doesn't sit back waiting for a dozen experts to make decisions for him, but looks at clear need, and makes dramatic choices that help relieve immediate suffering or fears.<br /><br />The trickiest thing I wonder about leadership is honesty. If you think something is a lost cause, do you say so, or hope you're wrong and offer brave words just in case it makes a difference. Its tough if we expect our leaders (and the experts who guide them) to do the impossible and blame them for failing.<br /><br />Perhaps pride means most leaders can never reverse course, but have to depend on letting someone else rise to power, and offer a different course. And yet if the first leader never admits they made a mistake, then the rising leaders have to exaggerate their case to gain power, and fall into the same traps of overconfidence against possibly intractable predicaments, reacting into the opposite extreme as the path of least resistance.<br /><br />I imagine many leaders would like to admit their mistakes, but in a political climate of exploiting any weakness, no one dares to admit anything, and its easier to double down on something than to try to tweak a position and be called a flip-flopper and all that nonsense.<br /><br />Perhaps the best advisors are not experts on political subjects but ones who can see what is troubling a leader, and force him at least to admit it to himself, and then when the elephants in the room can be seen at least for those moments.Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.com