Erectile Dysfunction

No, your favorite blog writer does not suffer from ED, and this post is not going to expound upon the wonders of Viagra. However, I do wish to explore to topic of ineffective leadership, particularly in terms of 'erectile dysfunction;' that is, the problem oftentimes rests not within the situation but within oneself. It is my firm, fundamental belief that amazing changes occur not only because of serendipity, but also because someone was there to recognize the opportunity. Success, therefore, might be composed of 95 or even 99% luck, but without that 1% of preparatory work, there still cannot be a success.

As a member of student government at my institution, I have had the pleasure of recognizing this fact in our head honcho. In my observations of his behavior, his opinions, and his interactions with others (including myself), there seems to be a constant lack of personal accountability. As opposed to attempting towards working to improve himself in the station of his office, I have noticed instead a perchance to pick at the surrounding situation. Such a focus is reactive intrinsically; instead of preparing for perhaps a chance, it is a 'if I see a chance, therefore, I shall take it.' This outward focus in terms of situation analysis belays an inward focus towards personal growth and achievement and, in my opinion, is very much like ED.

Ineffective leaders are everywhere, oftentimes selected for non-objective qualities and irrational properties. While people oftentimes believe (including myself!) that the choices we make are based on objective logic and are quite defensible, it has been my experience (even with me!) that this is clearly not the case. Because of the social politics involved in leadership selection, it is oftentimes rarely the case that elected leaders are in fact, the ones most qualified for their jobs. When you throw in power dynamics into this situation, in which an easily manipulated candidate can be elected because of ineffectiveness, and then a dash of 'voiced concerns' as the primary focus of most people as opposed to problem solving, opening up any sort of decision-making process with a selection method based on popular opinion seems to grow very, very depressing.

To b sure, I do not mean to state (definitively or otherwise) that open processes everywhere are analogous to this situation. It is simply my opinion that the key points in traditionally 'great' leaders, such as charisma, willingness to listen, social popularity, etc etc etc are in many ways, the qualities that hinder progress the most. Such things must be balanced by a tenacity for problem solving, an inward drive to accomplish goals, and most importantly, the fearlessness to address issues and to admit when one is at fault. I unfortunately do not see these things often, especially not in head honcho.

Instead, when a leader's base of power is solely built upon not personal capabilities, but how those capabilities can serve a populace, such situations constrict progress and can have a poor effect on overall efficacy. So long as leader is focused more upon serving the general populace, the chance that a leader is willing to hardline an unpopular, but potentially rewarding situation decreases. Please remember that democratic processes always assume that everyone has the same level of information, and the same skillset competency (not necessarily type of skillset); however, this is never the case. We distinctly specify a leader because he is to be differentiated from others, and why should we be surprised that with the role comes information asymmetry that we are not aware of? However, the realization of such things in favor of transparency does not happen often, especially among students.

I am sad to say, and I'm sure everyone here is quite aware of this, that I have little respect for our head honcho in a professional setting for these reasons. I do not doubt that he is a nice person, and has all the wonderful personal qualities that one could desire, but in terms of professionalism and efficacy, I see no reason to give my respect, backing, or support to someone who does not look inward. Mistakes I personally make has always led me on bouts of introspection, to change and improve myself so I might be able to perform my future roles more adequately. I do not believe this same drive is present in all people, but I sorely wish it was.

Today, boring classes, hence I am lazy.

Cheers.