Leaders

More thinking about that shadow structure of society, mentioned in the last post.

I have zero desire to be a leader. Been management more times than I care for and know ME, and that i can be the absolute asshole tyrant about things. I have little patience with incompetents, and the competent don’t need supervision. Most times on tour, I was able to pick my sound and lighting crew and never had to worry about anything except putting out fires with the cast and dealing with the venues and issues with our rider. We had two drivers of our rigs and I NEVER had to tell them how to do their jobs, nor make sure they scheduled maintenance: and they were priceless in letting me know if something were coming up and working with the tour schedule to make it happen in such a way there was no loss of transport.

But the inept, lazy, and just plain dumbs??? Oh knows, hell NO. More often then not I’d make em sit aside and I would handle the job myself. If I could find something they were ‘okay’ in, fine, but more often than not, that something would be milking the clock or jerking off in the head, or both. I have no patience for that, and maybe its a carry over from my jarhead days.

And as long as the job is getting done, I am very easy to work with and will even make an effort to get some lighthearted fun stuff tossed in. Personally covered more than a few BBQs and cook-outs to show my appreciation of my crew and their skills. A

And trained more than a few replacements for my positions. One I know is now working for PRG and last I heard was making 6 figures and had been to 20 different countries making noise sound good.(and I would have pursued that if my ears hadn’t quit on me.)

No, no leadership for this ol’grump. But I can make things, and keep things running, and find the unobvious solutions (I have three stickers on my welding hood: “Qwitcherbitchin”, “No problems, only unseen solutions “, and “what box? I dont see any box!”. And thats why Bossman n Son like to keep me around. My git-r-dun attitude, not the stickers 🙃) I wouldn’t be worth a shitte in the lead, but I can be one hell of resource for a good leader (and they’d better be or I’d unship so fast they’d lose a breath from the vacuum I’d leave behind )(barring mistakes, every body screws up now and again. But you can quickly see good versus mediocre or total buffoon.)

And I am an introvert. I don’t deal well with large groups. The most I ever managed was 12 and then only 4 at a time, depending on shift. I might be able to handle a squad, but not a platoon nor a company, and definitely NOT a community or town. I know my emtional constraints and any more than a handful, I start to shut down and that leads to bigger issues. And while I could manage a group of ‘lieutenants ‘ I would be end up being the cappy with no respect from my troops because I wouldn’t know them and there would be no personal attention to their needs. NCO is about as high as I could go and I know it.

And I am something of a lone wolf anyways. May not be the most effective way to live,, but I can operate within a team and not be a liabilty. I see many out there that can’t make that claim and make it walk: Ran into a few during the PatComs as well.

And that is part of the problem, in our world now, and in trying to build that shadow structure. So many that want leadership that shouldn’t be allowed near a starting whistle for a race. And then there are the ones that can direct, but have an over-riding sense of self that colors all their decisions. And there are the Oblammy’s of the world that manipulate and destroy while sporting a plastic smile and a silver tongue. 👹

Naw, I’m not a leader, and have no answers past what my little world needs to survive the ‘right here, right now’, and sometimes not even then, but I manage, and I pull through: maybe a little worse for wear, and a little lighter in pocket. But I am still upright and breathing and life carries on.

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