Gordon Graham's Blog, page 5

There Oughta Be A Law

I dedicated quite a bit of space in my book “The Intrepid Brotherhood” to the practice of constructive discharge or constructive termination. Today it is called quiet firing. This is a great description of that questionable practice.

https://hbr.org/2022/11/are-you-being-quiet-fired

Stay Courageous,

Gordon

Purpose

I did this interview with John DeSimone shortly after we had completed the manuscript for “The Intrepid Brotherhood”. We both felt that the greatest value of our work was as case study material for business and leadership courses at the collegiate level. It really is a poignant example of the damage that toxic leadership inflicts.

The recent recognition that the book received from Readers’ Favorite (https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-intrepid-brotherhood) provided the opportunity to publish this interview on LinkedIn and other platforms. I hope you enjoy this ‘story within the story’ about what the circumstances actually were during the period covered in the book. Many thanks to John DeSimone for creating this interview.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/case-study-business-ethics-leadership-under-extreme-duress-desimone/?trackingId=fZFnkvfbSdqwddhzx2Su%2BQ%3D%3D

A Really Warm Fuzzy

As a first-time independent author, I am humbled and thrilled to announce that “The Intrepid Brotherhood” has been conferred a Silver Award in the Non-Fiction – Gov/Politics category by Readers’ Favorite. Readers’ Favorite is a site that has earned the respect of world-renowned publishers like Simon & Schuster, Random House and Harper Collins. They have also received the “Honoring Excellence” and “Best Websites for Authors” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. The link to the award and associated review is here:

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-intrepid-brotherhood

With gratitude to my collaborator, ghostwriter John DeSimone. Although this is my story, my timeline and primarily my research, his professionalism and knowledge of his craft created the story arcs and put it all into words. This recognition is as much his as it is mine.

Self-Help Book Ghostwriter — John DeSimone

As Always – Stay Courageous,

Gordon

The Timeless Themes of True Leadership

Today I am going to try to juxtapose some Aristotle quotes with themes from contemporary leadership philosophies, especially Leadership First (The Inspirational Leader) https://www.leadershipfirst.net/. The purpose is simply to show that the path to great leadership today has foundations that were established centuries ago.

Hope I can pull this off!

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“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution, it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny”. – Aristotle –

“The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle –

“At the intersection where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein you will discover your purpose”. – Aristotle –

“Truly inspiring leaders have a sense of purpose”. – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas –

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“Greatness of spirit is accompanied by simplicity and sincerity”. – Aristotle –

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”. – Aristotle –

“Truly inspiring leaders practice humility and empathy”. – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas –

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“Life is only meaningful if we are striving for a goal”. – Aristotle –

“Truly inspiring leaders have a clear vision for the future”. – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas –

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“Laughter is a bodily exercise, precious to health”. – Aristotle –

“Truly inspirational leaders have a great sense of humor”. – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas

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“The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think”. – Aristotle –

“Greatness of spirit is accompanied by simplicity and sincerity”. – Aristotle –

“Truly inspirational leaders are authentic”. – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas –

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“He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader”. – Aristotle –

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know”. – Aristotle –

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing”.

– Aristotle –

“A fool contributes nothing worth hearing and takes offense at everything”. – Aristotle –

“Truly inspirational leaders listen” – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas –

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“It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil” – Aristotle –

“Truly inspirational leaders are very trustworthy” – The Inspirational Leader, Gifford Thomas –

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“Power Shows The Man”. – Aristotle –

“If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity, only a great man can stand prosperity”. – Robert Ingersoll –

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Stay Courageous,

Gordon

The Foundation

Ed Warren and his wife Lorraine were “paranormal investigators”, or ghost hunters. They had a colorful and controversial career. Perhaps in contrast to others in their industry, they belived strongly in demonology and possession so they approached their work with a spiritual focus. Regardless of how you feel about paranormal activity, this quote by Ed Warren is a poignant reminder of how the decisions we make in our interactions with others determine what we will accomplish and how we will be remembered.

“Diabolical forces are formidable. These forces are eternal, and they exist today. The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.”

Stay Courageous,

Gordon

The Proper State ……..

All of the podcast hosts that I have interviewed with have asked me about my references to the Greek philosopher Aristotle in my book The Intrepid Brotherhood. Many readers have probably wondered about the same thing. When asked, I have tried to provide my interpretation of why the principles espoused by ancient Greek and Chinese philosophers are ingrained in the modern leadership practices that are effective and successful today. I never really know if I am qualified to explain the concept adequately, so …. I thought I would confuse the issue even more and write a blog about it!

There are countless books, articles, blogs, research papers, theses and dissertations on the application and meaning of the ethics espoused by ancient philosophers. In fact, I get a minimum of two per week on the subject from my subscription to Academia.edu. Consequently, it is too easy to get bogged down in the academic analysis of the application (or misapplication) of these teachings to today’s business environment. Fortunately, some of the authors have focused on what I believe is the real value of these ancient philosophies to our interactions in the workplace and, indeed, in life.

It seems that everyone who writes about Aristotle’s teachings on ethics focuses on the Greek word “arĕte”, which has traditionally been interpreted as “virtue”. So, we typically see Aristotle’s teachings referred to as “virtue ethics”, to which people have continuously tried to assign moral values. Morality is always interpreted subjectively and, since the emergence of major religions, has typically been subject to things like Christian doctrine. In other words, you cannot be ethical unless you fit the moral description of a certain religion.

But what if “arĕte” is better translated as “excellence”?

Aristotle wrote “we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence”.

Then the moral ramifications of Aristotle’s ethics can be better described as simply “performing well in the function of being human”, or “the proper state or condition for a human”. This interpretation lends itself better to translation into modern leadership practices.

The Learning Organization; Inspirational Leadership; Servant Leadership all share components that reflect these values that flow naturally from the “excellence ethics” interpretation:

Knowing thyself;

Continually assessing the worthiness of human deeds;

Intentionally striving for good by means of knowledge;

Looking beyond the immediate context to appreciate the impact of actions on others;

Fostering inquiry and dialogue.

Excellence in leadership may not be extremely easy to achieve, but the foundation is definitely there …… as well as the modern guidelines for improvement. It ‘aint rocket science (wink, wink).

Stay Courageous,

Gordon

More From The Real Talent

Happy Labor Day!

Dan McConnell asked me to include some links to his more recent work. Glad to oblige.

Dan McConnell, Cartoonist | Facebook

Dan McConnell (@cartoonydan) • Instagram photos and videos

Stay Courageous,

Gordon

The Real Talent

I was privileged to be granted permission to use some of the cartoon sketches of Cashmere artist Dan McConnell in my book “The Intrepid Brotherhood”. All of the sketches that I used were produced by Dan during the actual timeline of the events related in the story, so I was able to insert each one in the manuscript at precisely the right place. But his talent and accumulated catalog of works is so much more than I could even hint at in my book. I recommend that you take advantage of the links below to begin discovering just how perceptive and capable this man is as an artist, and how much his work is a reflection of the world we live in.

Stay Courageous,

Gordon

wafreepress.org/cartoons/mcconnell-ar...

www.nationalcartoonists.com/member/da...

https://cartoonydan.blogspot.com

cdanmcconnell.webs.com

Review of The Intrepid Brotherhood from Reader Views

I am thrilled to share a recent review of my book from “Reader Views Book Reviews”. In my opinion, it is very perceptive and insightful. My only wish is that the reviewer would have made it clear that we were an obvious exception to the “deadwood” scenario and that we fully understood corporate backroom maneuvering. Ours was a hopeless situation simply because of the diabolical manipulations of the CEO and those who subscribed to his maniacal ideas.

Here is the link: https://readerviewsarchives.wordpress...

Stay Courageous,

Gordon

New Podcast with Doug Thorpe, Host of “Leadership Powered By Common Sense”

I had a great time talking to Doug about my book and about leadership in general. I really enjoyed this session so, if you have 45 minutes to spare, please take the time to watch (yep, it’s got video!) Hopefully, it will inspire you to watch more of Doug’s podcasts and to follow him on LinkedIn and other social media.

Stay Courageous,

Gordon