Leading from the Middle

Caption: Photo by Lorne Kenyon, sunset over Whatcom County, WA, USA Sept 3, 2024

After a friend's passing, I decided to set my lack of a sympathetic awareness to the tune of a country western song with the first stanza written by me with a chorus by Chat GPT:

My old friend sends me photos of sunsets
I'm still looking at sunrises
A few days later, I hear he's died
I should have known better
Ain't that the way it is, when you should know better you don't and
When you do know better it don't matter

Chorus:
Ain't that the way it is, when you should know better you don't
And when you do know better it don't matter
Life's a winding road, full of twists and turns
Lessons learned too late, and bridges burned.


Caption: Sunrise on Three Mile Pond, Sept 18, 2024. Windsor Maine USA by John Lubans.
___________
John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text and Three Mile Pond photo by John Lubans 2024

Caption: Detail of illustration by Leila Snēbaha, 10 years old.* See her full illustration below.

A few months ago I was asked to take part in a project to commemorate Andris Vilks career and retirement as the Director of the National Library of Latvia. It was to be in the shape of an album amicorum, as the genre was known during its heyday in the 16th to the 19th centuries. A friends book consists of inscriptions, signatures, and sometimes even drawings from a person's friends.
I was inspired and delighted to take part. The bound Friends book was presented to Andris on August 26, 2024. A pdf version of the book can be found here.
Here's my contribution to the Liber Amicarum et Amicorum in Honour of Andris Vilks:
I recall my first one-on-one meeting with Andris Vilks.
It was during the snowy winter of 2011 at the old National Library building on K. Barona.
Due to the ongoing financial crisis, the building was dark, most lights were off. The heat was barely enough to prevent the water pipes from freezing.
We conversed in his dark office; the wintry light coming through the windows.
What a contrast to today's Castle of Light the new National Library!
Since that first visit, I've interviewed Andris several times about his leadership and how he overcomes obstacles and inspires others. In his younger days, when he was the captain of his basketball team he realized: I never like losing, and I never give up.
Now he captains a team of 400.
At the new building's grand opening in August of 2014, Gunnar Birkerts, the architect, likened Andris to a lion! Mr. Birkerts was saluting Andris' leonine courage and unwavering stamina in overcoming resistance.
In 2016, in the new building, I asked Andris, What's next? My question assumed his monumental task was done and now it was time to leisurely follow his many scholarly pursuits.
No, he told me, there was much, much more to do.
The building is only the skin. Now the focus is on what goes on inside. He shared with me a Herculean to do list, many of which have been achieved or are in good progress.
Indeed, the castle of light is a beehive of activity.
A beacon of sweet enlightenment.


Caption: Full illustration. Leila is the daugher of Alise Snēbaha who designed my book, Fables for Leaders (illustrated by Beatrice Coron).
Clearly, Leila already shares several of her mother's artistic abilities.
Bee keeping and honey are among Latvia's defining national attributes.

John's books can be ordered via these links:
Fables for Leaders
&
Leading from the Middle

Copyright all text by John Lubans 2024

Caption: Room and Board, ChatGPT. OpenAI, 7 Sept. 2024

Two Frogs in the belly of a snake were considering their
altered circumstances.
This is pretty hard luck, said one.
Don't jump to conclusions, the other said;
we are out of the wet and provided with board and
lodging.
With lodging, certainly, said the First Frog;
but I don't see the board.
You are a croaker, the other explained.
We are ourselves the board.
---------------------
What, pray tell, does this have to do with the modern world of work?
Quite a bit.
The snake is any boss or organization that exploits and uses up its workers, be it a financial firm that drives its bankers to mental exhaustion or a sweat shop of workers doing hazardous work, all to pay the rent.

* *Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899

For more insightful (and eternal) workplace fables, for imaginative discussion, from all eras and cultures, get this book. Order from BookBaby:


Copyright commentary John Lubans 2024

After waiting many a weary day to revenge himself upon a Lion for some unconsidered manifestation of contempt, a Skunk finally saw him coming, and posting himself in the path ahead uttered the inaudible discord of his race.
Observing that the Lion gave no attention to the matter, the Skunk, keeping carefully out of reach, said:
Sir, I beg leave to point out that I have set on foot
an implacable odour.
My dear fellow, the Lion replied, you have taken a needless trouble; I already knew that you were a Skunk.
_______
I have to admit, I ran into some skunks in my career. No doubt, perhaps for good reason, they thought likewise of me.
For the most part, like the lion in Bierce's fable, I was aware of who was the skunk and happily stayed out of range.
On a rare occasion, I failed to recognize the skunk in sheep's clothing and got a blast of its implacable odour.
Mostly I dodged the spray but some of its effervescence did cling and overtime, the stench got stronger and stronger.
Such is life, as Ned Kelly reportedly said, at his hanging.

* *Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899


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Copyright commentary John Lubans 2024

A Drunken Man was lying in the road with a bleeding nose, upon which he had fallen, when a Pig passed that way.
You wallow fairly well, said the Pig,
but, my fine fellow, you have much to learn about
rooting.
__________
I've un-embargoed this fable. I was going to use it for a New Year's eve, when It's Commode Huggin' Time in the Country, but decided to post it sooner in keeping with my recent run of Ambrose Bierce fables.
Down the hatch!

* *Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899


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Copyright John Lubans 2024

An observation from 1899 relevant to today's headlines:

A Political Leader was walking out one sunny day, when he observed his Shadow leaving him and walking rapidly away.
Come back here, you scoundrel, he cried.
If I had been a scoundrel, answered the Shadow,
increasing its speed, I should not have left you.

*Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899

It feels right, a few days after America's Day of Independence, to reflect about democracy both of nations and in workplaces.
Years ago, William Cobbett (1763-1835) ,writing as Peter Porcupine, offered a prescient tribute to the new nation:
This America, this scene of happiness under a free government, is the beam in the eye, the thorn in the side, the worm in the vitals, of every despot upon the face of the earth."
And, I would add, that freedom is anathema to petty workplace tyrants.
My friend Sam (not his real name) is a micromanager. He is a boss and at the top of his field - well regarded by external peers - but I would say Sam's organization is working far below capacity. His inability to trust, his lack of confidence in subordinates creates dysfunction.
One staffer likened Sam's authoritarian style to Kim Jong-Un, the ultimate micromanager.
Over the years, many of Sam's best people have sought refuge elsewhere. Unfazed at the defections, Sam pats himself on the back; his people are in demand because of the high quality experience they have gained by working for him!
Perhaps worse, since everything has to go through Sam, a lot is left undone; new outreach programs, new uses of existing resources, remain in suspense.
I pick up on the notion that since he is convinced he can do everybody's job better, that even competent staff do lackluster work; which of course fulfills Sam's low expectations of his subordinates.
I once asked Sam for the email of one of his subordinates. I wanted to express my thanks for her above the call job she had done for a group of visitors. Sam responded that the staffer was only doing her job. No need to praise her!
Why bother to do your best if whatever you do is ignored or nitpicked to pieces?
I like Sam, he's a good friend, but then I do not work for him.
Some MMs are mean and petty - they enjoy finding fault and taunting; Sam's not one of those.
Were he to ask me for advice about improving his leadership I would start the conversation with a valuable bit of democratic work place philosophy from Charles Handy, that champion of subsidiarity: "Choices, in fact, are our privilege (our right), although they come disguised as problems, and stealing people's choices is wrong."
If Sam mulls that over and wants more, I would recommend Rebecca Knight's article, How to Stop Micromanaging Your Team from the 2015 Harvard Business Review.
Why is micromanaging harmful?
Knight responds: It "displaces the real work of leaders, which is developing and articulating a compelling and strategically relevant vision for your team."
In my experience, leaders who do real work develop highly productive and successful organizations.
Ms. Knight prescribes several ways by which to bring about a change in Sam's jaded view of his colleagues.
She would ask: What can you do to give your people the space they need to succeed and learn?
In brief, a provide a freer hand.
And, for someone reluctant to let go, how do you get comfortable stepping back?
She recommends a cross-evaluation assessment. Have a trusted third party gather confidential data from your reports. Of course, confidentiality has to be guaranteed.
What Sam will hear will be sobering and may trigger a denial. But if he can subjugate his ego, he finally may understand the broader patterns and reactions and the impact his micromanaging has on his organization, and he will seek to make constructive changes.
Looking back on my own career, that cross-evaluation assessment would have benefited me, an extreme macromanager, (sometimes, hands off is worse than hands on!)
And, I could have been a better boss for my direct reports had I asked these questions:
How can I help you best? Are there things I can do differently? Are our overall objectives clear to you and do you feel you have the support and resources to accomplish them?
I always assumed that my high flying objectives were clear to others. Bad assumption.
So, there?s a balance to strive for.
The newbie employee needs direction and supervision, the veteran less so. It comes down to knowing when to let go.
Will Sam ever know? Not long after I wrote about Sam in 2016, he was side-lined with a lateral promotion.
*This is a revised version of my essay from 2016:
Stealing People's Choices Is Wrong.


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? Copyright John Lubans 2016 and 2024

Caption: Ambrose Bierce and Another Pal. Microsoft Copilot, 2024

Two Dogs
The Dog, as created, had a rigid tail, but after some
centuries of a cheerless existence, unappreciated by Man, who
made him work for his living, he implored the Creator to endow
him with a wag.
This being done he was able to dissemble
his resentment with a sign of affection, and the earth was his
and the fulness thereof.
Observing this, the Politician (an animal created later) petitioned that a wag might be given him too.
As he was incaudate it was conferred upon his chin,
which he now wags with great profit and gratification except when he is at his meals.
The All Dog
A Lion seeing a Poodle fell into laughter at the ridiculous
spectacle.
Who ever saw so small a beast? he said.
It is very true, said the Poodle, with austere
dignity, that I am small; but, sir, I beg to observe that
I am all dog.
_______________
In an election year, on the Fourth of July, the wagging of political chins goes into overdrive. Pray that we are spared from any stemwinders of rousing rhetoric, or rambling blather.
I've known a bombast or two in the workplace. They really could talk.
Lacking was the ability to act.
It was often the taciturn, like the laconic Vermont farmer, who got stuff done without any need for blather. He or she went ahead and make improvements, large and small.
While I envied anyone able to speak for a few or more paragrpahs without repeating himself or winding down into repetition, I never acquired that skill.
Instead, I was OK for doing it and if it worked, well, OK. If not, so what?
Nothing ventured nothing gained.
Still superiors do admire the good talker.

*Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM?S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899


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Copyright all text John Lubans 2024

Caption: Ambrose Bierce and pal. Microsoft Copilot, 2024

The Dog and the Reflection
A Dog passing over a stream on a plank saw his reflection in
the water.
You ugly brute! he cried; how dare you
look at me in that insolent way.
He made a grab in the water, and, getting hold of what he
supposed was the other dog?s lip, lifted out a fine piece
of meat which a butcher?s boy had dropped into the
stream.
The Dog and the Physician
A Dog that had seen a Physician attending the burial of a
wealthy patient, said: When do you expect to dig it
up?
Why should I dig it up? the Physician asked.
When I bury a bone, said the Dog, it is
with an intention to uncover it later and pick it.
The bones that I bury, said the Physician,
are those that I can no longer pick.
The Disinterested Arbiter
Two Dogs who had been fighting for a bone, without advantage
to either, referred their dispute to a Sheep. The Sheep
patiently heard their statements, then flung the bone into a
pond.
Why did you do that? said the Dogs.
Because, replied the Sheep, I am a
vegetarian.
_____________
Ambrose Bierce was one of America?s greatest writers. Wittily dark, caustic and critical, his writing survived his mysterious disappearance in Mexico and is an ongoing influence in American literature.
I'm guessing he inspired George Ade, 1866 - 1944.
Why?
Ambrose Bierce's Fantastic Fables came out in 1899. George Ade's Fables in Slang appeared in 1900. Mr. Ade had his own inimitable style, but the whimsy evident in Bierce is in plentiful supply in Ade's writing.
Several of Ade's fables are in this blog's archive. Enter George Ade in the search box and enjoy the many I have included along with my commentary as to how these fables relate to the world of work.

*Source: FANTASTIC FABLES By AMBROSE BIERCE
New York and London:
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, The Knickerbocker Press 1899


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Copyright all text John Lubans 2024

Caption: Cicada as ceramic vase. Unlike the USA where the emergence of the cicadas are viewed by some akin to a plague of locusts, in Provence they herald the lazy days of summer: Il ne fait pas bon de travailler quand la cigale chante, or It?s not good to work when the cicada is singing.

Having sung the summer through,
Cicada found herself quite destitute.
And when the North Wind blew,
Provisions being less than scant,
She crawled on down to neighbor ant
With cries of famine,
Hoping to borrow just a bit of seed
To tide her over till the coming Spring.
"I'll pay of course," she tried to plead,
"Before the month of August,
Both interest and principal.
Come, trust a fellow animal!"
The ant however is no lender;
Lending is the least of all her flaws.
"Could you tell me what you did
On all those hot dry days?"
She asked the borrower.
"Night and day, my pardon to you ants,
I sang, for one and all."
"You sang" I am enthralled!
Now all you have to do is dance."

In the workplace, I'll take the happy cicada over the uncharitable ant. As we know, there are lovable fools and hopeless fools. And we all know "competent jerks" - the exacting ant - who have gotten ahead by crushing other people.
So, while the cicada, the lovable fool, may not be your star employee, he or she, does bring sunshine to a windowless office.

*Source: Fables of La Fontaine. Compiled by Koren G. Christofides and translated by Constantine Christofides and Christopher Carsten. Seattle: University of Washington Press 2006


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Copyright all text John Lubans 2024