"... On Apr 29, 6:28 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: ... "
> I feel the not allowing oneself to succeed deeply Gruff. One could > take a deeply introspective line here - I think we all know that in > our differing ways. I am deeply saddened by what gets promoted as > success - it's usually some kind of covered-up failure. So true. Here's the kind of success I'm not talking about, but it's a nice insight into what leads what. From todays Financial times. >From "Narcissistic leaders need external controls" By Michael Skapinker Published: April 27 2009 Manfred Kets de Vries, professor at the Insead business school in France, who has written extensively about leadership psychology, says an error people make is they expect executives to behave rationally. But "irrational behaviour is common in organisational life", he told the Harvard Business Review in 2004. Prof Kets de Vries believes that "many executives are trying to compensate for narcissistic wounds to their self-esteem that were inflicted in childhood by parents who were either too distant or too indulgent". Many regard this sort of talk as psychobabble but, whatever the cause, the narcissism of many leaders is pretty evident. It is also, as Prof Kets de Vries observes, necessary. "All people, especially leaders, need a healthy dose of narcissism in order to survive. It’s the engine that drives leadership. Assertiveness, self- confidence, tenacity and creativity just can’t exist without it." Their underlings often idealise their leaders in this early stage. As the narcissism becomes more evident, employees can become disenchanted, particularly those who are not the leader’s favourites. But top executives usually carry on believing their own propaganda, as do their board colleagues, who are often the last to lose their illusions. Why? Because, as US law professor Jayne Barnard pointed out in an article, "directors may fail to recognise CEO pathologies because they share them". Or they may recognise them, but believe that "these pathologies reflect healthy, competitive, successful behaviour". Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 The sort of success I speak of encompasses accomplishment but doesn't reek of psychological or spiritual dysfunction. It's a work of love not need and is created in the spirit of sharing and giving. > Our really > utterly crap neighbours have now been evicted - Happy you're done with them. I understand your situation which has always made me loathe to own property. You don't get to chose your neighbors. If you're lucky you get to enjoy them but if your hit the average at least half of them will be a bane on your life. Fortunately my quick and easy mobility has always let me move on till recently but I never accounted for the loss of my own willingness and ability to move. > I see no one coming forward with > any real plan - the solution is to have enough money to live away from > all this, perhaps by working in the system that doesn't help these > people or their victims. Aye, and that has led me to purchase far more lottery tickets than common sense dictates prudent but at least the fantasy of ideal isolation has provided me with a few hours pleasure. A robot story of Asimov's that I've held dear for years entailed a robot detective which could move about freely in a society where everyone was isolated and rarely visited face to face. Human contact was considered rude and only tolerated under crisis conditions. I can't recall the name of the story but that part of it is still vividly present. > There's always a danger in becoming a martyr in autobiography and > suckering oneself into false enlightenment - one might say Henry > George is an example writ large in this area, or think of the killer > sect that has made itself holy enough to kill everyone else.. Yes, it's what I hope to avoid but I suppose some of it must leak in here and there. False enlightenment -- so far -- has been easy to spot. It doesn't withstand close examination and application and also requires more of an ego that I think I possess. Martyrdom has never appealed to me, at least consciously. But I suppose the guilt heaped in healthy servings by a catholic and jewish heritage dooms me to some degree of martyrhood. It's in the blood. It must be. I've never met any of my father's family and consequently have never been subject to their influence, yet I've met and befriended many jews in my life and surprisingly identified closely with them. > Even autobiography requires articulation and skills many do not have, but > it's at least some kind of start in a wider voicing. This is sadly true. There are many stories of value and interest out there which will never be heard because of a lack of those skills. It would be great if mass murderers and serial killers could clearly express their drives and feelings yet if they could they probably wouldn't be what they are. > the language-games go well beyond anything we write, though there > remain questions about how we can make more present. Well, we created a highly complex language. It stands to reason we'd play larger than life games with it. We're a complex species with a complex society which our understanding of is still severely lacking. Law is one of the two primary sources of my ability to express thought in words. The other came from reading good writing. If I'm given a good example, I've always been able to emulate it -- at least from forty on. Prior to that I was just playing hit and miss. It's true that life begins at forty. It takes that long to get out of our diapers. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
