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  • XXXIII. Going Against the Grain Is A Must for Leading

XXXIII. Going Against the Grain Is A Must for Leading

Stories of Leadership & Service Without the BS

A common theme across time has been the confrontation between moving forward and staying pat. The comfort of staying in the garden or being banished to the wilderness. Whichever way we choose, we depend upon certain beliefs, rituals, and practices to tell us we are ok. We go to schools and study the arts to prepare us for the journey.

We are always growing. The world we know is always changing. Nature is erratic, resources get used, unfamiliar faces emerge, communication styles change, history uncovers more hidden truths, and science makes jarring discoveries.

But our spiritual lessons are timeless.

That’s why most of us take comfort in them. I’m talking about loving thy neighbor, turning the other cheek, pursuing justice, community and charity, kindness and detachment, living in harmony, and freedom from suffering. These are the hallmarks of all the world’s belief systems. They are timeless because they serve the world at any time of any age. No matter what occurs, no matter who tries to tell you they know better, the right way is always available.

Let these age-old tenets of faith be your guide in an ever-changing world. When you hear people divide and scorn, preach fear of your neighbor, and speak of the unknown like they know, these are efforts to freeze time in place. The journey is stopped. You’re in the wrong crowd.

If you are gullible to being afraid of the future, check your faith. It’s not the other way around. Beliefs without knowledge is zealotry. Know what you don’t know. Genuine belief comes from the freedom to believe, or not to believe. You arrive there organically.

Always go back to the universal themes.

When we value wealth more than ending suffering, when we value control more than creativity, when we prioritize image over reality, words over acts, and allow morals to be defined by immoral users, this is an affront to our evolving. This is seeing the world only as our moment of existence, without a deeper appreciation for the longer timeline we are a part of.

Always go back to the universal guides.

When you have them, change is a natural and normative outcome of progress.

It’s all in your brain and your heart.

But you have to use them both.

Quick NO BS Hits

I don’t think I’ll ever not like a hamburger, and I’m sure meat has been cooked and eaten since an ancient man plucked a carcass from a burning forest.

In today’s world, the production of meat involves significant uncounted costs. Transitioning to meatless alternatives can lead to more sustainable, cost-effective, and healthier food production.

Here’s the No BS. Our food industry is top-notch. It produces a massive amount of food on less land than any time in the past and feeds a world of billions of people. However, if one is to consider total cost accounting, including all the water inputs, the waste outputs, and the vulnerability of centralized corporate operations vs. a landscape of family farms, diversity in our sources and types of meat is smart.

From an environmental standpoint, this is a promising development. I cannot think of any real reason for a ban other than to protect the existing agricultural industry. That’s understandable from a political perspective, though it should probably be consumers who decide this. This is a bit of government overreach since it is not a safety protection measure. Stay tuned to this and follow the money. That is where the truth lies.

Freedom of the press was included in the American Bill of Rights to ensure an independent media free from government threat. None of the Founding Fathers completely trusted who would come after them to make up the government. The free press works to hold government accountable and provide citizens with the information (preferably facts) needed to make informed decisions.

Here’s another leadership lesson. The Founding Fathers also expected citizens to make informed decisions. That means you must know the difference between news and scuttlebutt, facts and opinions, and integrity and entertainment. The true free press is not “an enemy of the people.” Whoever says such a thing, that is a gift to you to get away from them.

We tend to forget that public service under the influence of outside interests is no public service at all. Public service needs the flexibility and skill to adapt to an ever-changing world and combat the appetite for more. More money, more control, more power. This is a superb piece of writing that gives some history and the difficulties in regulating industries that have a powerful and sometimes sinister effect on fellow Americans.

I’ve said this many times. Leadership that is symbolized only by the ability to create transactions is highly dangerous. Be very concerned when business leaders flock back to an individual because of their supposed business acumen regardless of their ethical merit:

“Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization that represents the city’s top business leaders, said Republicans have told her that ‘the threat to capitalism from the Democrats is more concerning than the threat to democracy from Trump.’”

When the “rules of the game” get manipulated or paid for, the status quo always win. America would be nowhere without the level field and freedom of opportunity we struggle to protect. Remember: Every public and private industry has its lard bricks. Don’t be lulled into becoming one.

True story. Over a decade ago, I left a position I’d been in for 14 years. My long-time colleague and supervisor had been forced out a few months earlier. This was in public service and surrounded by unnecessary cuts and layoffs. When I said I would not support laying off staff when there were logical alternatives to do so, well, you know how that went.

The model in this story is incredibly important to understand because it forces the leadership to see things as a unit, something strongly missing in the public sector and probably missing in many businesses.

Each time a member of the team left, I looked at where our holes were and what made the most sense. If I have resources in this one area, let’s say from an empty position or extra budget, but the genuine need is now over here, I would adapt and realign. Not everyone was happy because there was a strong sense of wanting things to be equal or the same.

A good manager will differentiate, and as needs and trends change, one either adapts or risks going out of business. Though the public sector doesn’t go out of business, this lack of seeing things as a unit simply protects mediocrity and muddling along. A good manager knows better and the CEO of Hologic is saying exactly that.

This is not a crazy idea.

In fact, there are two or three public policies like this that would rocket our culture forward. The five-day workweek became common in the United States during the great depression. Before this, people worked six or even seven days a week and lived much shorter lives. Henry Ford, the famous car maker, was one of the first to give his workers Saturdays and Sundays off in 1926. It was an individual businessman who thought this would make them more productive and also buy more cars. Soon, the five-day workweek was the norm.

For roughly 80 years, despite all the advances in machinery, technology, and processing, we have the same model of what makes up full-time work. I believe a change will occur within the next ten years, as long as we remain a democracy. The levels of inequality are as high as the Gilded Age and this, along with the decoupling of healthcare from work, would change the course of American culture.

From a stoic standpoint, one should concentrate on things where one can make a difference. One should gravitate toward things that are uplifting and positive. However, one should also not live in a blissful state that ignores problems that can be addressed. When you read this piece, I would encourage you to remove any prejudicial barriers and look at this only from the standpoint of American schools and American kids. Then ask, how is this possible?

Over the past few decades, there has been a noticeable increase in the frequency and deadliness of mass shootings. High-profile incidents in schools, workplaces, and public venues have drawn significant media attention and public concern. Many often cite the availability of high-capacity firearms and the ease of obtaining them as contributing factors. Understanding these trends is crucial for developing informed policies and strategies to address gun violence and improve public safety.

How did it ever become acceptable to turn schools into prisons and believe that every individual is a rational human being?

No matter where you are, view your community as one, and all the schools as one. That's the only way we can address these things.


The great argument for democracy is not that it will produce good rule, but that it will prevent terrible rule, which is the worst thing societies can have, except for the absence of rule — in other words, anarchy. The more complete the set of rights, the more potent will be the constraints: there will then also be open debate, freedom to protest, free media and independent institutions.

Martin Wolf, Financial Times, April 2, 2024

And Now….

Hope to see you next time. Keep reading, practice your gratefulness, and remember to sew the seeds of love in your work and your community.

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