Friedman on Leadership…

I am starting to really like this guys… I wish he was still alive….

“Persistence in the fate of resistance and downright rejection. To succeed at a new venture requires a kind of relentless drive that sometimes may seem to border on the demonic. But no one has ever gone from slavery to freedom with the slaveholders cheering them on, nor contributed significantly to the evolution of our species by working a forty hour week, nor achieved any significant accomplishment by taking refuge in cynicism. The resistance leaders meet also comes from inside, the voice that constantly asks, “How can you have it right and everyone else be crazy?”

Verrazano was overly cautious and perhaps a little naive. With not towing service around for miles, he was petrified of going aground and his cautiousness ironically cost hi not only discovery’s but eventually his life. When drawing near to an island in the Caribbean he followed his usual habit of not getting too close to shore and instead rowed in with his brother.. He was promptly killed by cannibal inhabitants before the eyes of his shipmates because having anchored so far out, his party was out of the range of the longbows on their ships.

Magellan was fearless beyond belief. When one of his ships went aground, Magellan sent another one for help but remained with his crew, staying in charge, keeping them disciplined and maintain the oversight necessary for the survival of their cargo and their lives. The tenacity that enable him to accomplish one of the great sailing feats in history was also his downfall however. For after crossing the Pacifica and overcoming the difficulties of constant hunger, thirst, an s scurvy to reach the Philippines he was done in by the same bravado. Magellan became more invested in his fire-power than his mission, which was to circumnavigate the planet. He allowed himself to become involved in an internecine struggle between to factions on the island, when he should have stayed above it and left them to their own devices. he thus forgot his goal an purpose and was killed when he interfered in the minds of a fight, the outcome of which was totally irrelevant to his mission.

Columbus,in contrast always seemed to know “where he’s at.” Not reputed to be a great chartist, he was on the other hand, superb at “dead reckoning.” the capacity to chart a course through one’s own constant measurements rather thane relying on the use of someone else’s map-a kind of biofeedback with one’s environment. because he was so decisive, it is not surprising that Columbus responds as he did in a situation that easily could have thrown him off course, if no led to a complete aborting of his mission. As the (probably apocryphal) story goes, upon arriving t the Canary Islands on his first voyage, the reigning queen begged him to stay and be her navy so that she could get back at Isabella for exiling her there, presumably for flirting with King Ferdinand. but Columbus had read the Aeneid and know about Kido; more importantly, he had read The Odyssey ad knew about the Sirens. He bound himself to his mast, metaphorically speaking and respond, in effect, “Not me; I’ve got a job to do.

…. When the Pint’s rudder broke, Columbus decided to forge on ahead, he jots in his log” I see that I’m going to have to accept what I cannot control.” But the cost of safety was great. It meant that beating against those same winds on the way out, and that took its toll in terms of time, energy, supplies, and progress. What most differentiates Columbus is that he sais in effect, “I’ll work about returning after I get there,” dives south below the westerly’s to the launching pad of the Canaries, and substantiates the relationship between risk and reality.”

p. 189-190 A failure of Nerve, Edwin Friedman

November 12th, 2008 - Posted in General, Rock Star | | 0 Comments