XXIX. Learn History, Lead Wisely

A quick note of thanks to readers Pops, Sandra, and Deborah for the tips!

History is the roadmap to the future. Sometimes it doesn’t enlighten you immediately, but you build and meander and look for new clues or observe the cracks in the old beliefs. From there, you learn to go deeper seeking only the truth, open to new insight, and hopefully get to a mindfulness that sees many things instead of one.

Years ago I read several books on the war in Iraq to get a better sense of what was going on. This led me to historian Thomas Ricks and then to Andrew Bacevich. As one of my professors once said, you’ll get beyond looking for subjects and start noticing particular authors. The more you read, the more themes, viewpoints, and biases you can pick up when listening to media or others.

That’s progress.

There is nothing new in our current lives that a firm grasp of the past cannot help to shape or avoid. Someone who knows history knows what’s been tried, has a keen appreciation for mistakes and successes, and develops the patience for real work and originality. Even history that no one wants to talk about can be a shining light on future actions.

But be aware that history can also be purposely rewritten or ignored, especially if the populace is more embraced of fads or entertainment. Every strong man in every country has rewritten their history books when given the chance. In the United States, some of this is left up to the whims of state administrations more bent on cooking the books than relying on facts.

The main question is how would you know the difference?

Over the next several months Americans will be marketed to and manipulated by outright lies and innuendos. I will encourage you to be prepared and go to historical resources for guidance. Do not depend upon only what the talkers of the day tell you to be scared of or to support. Know the difference between fact, opinion, and covfefe. Do your own research, real research, and don’t depend upon TikTok or the news to educate you. That can only come from a regular reading of history from trusted and verifiable sources.

This doesn’t mean every reader will be a born leader or that the right actions will always be taken. Sometimes leaders emerge after mistakes and hardship, yet the more you read, ironically, the more you will learn to see.

The propensity to get things right again will have a higher likelihood of happening when we stop using our ears for seeing.

I was asked by reader Tom about what I read. The short answer is a lot of variable stuff. What I use for sources depends upon my making the time to go through them. I make notes from what I read and try to work them toward common themes. I have subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, NYTimes, Tallahassee Democrat, Kyiv Independent, The New Yorker, and Washington Post. I receive news and information from several newsletters, podcasts, and periodicals. I also have about three books going at any one time (currently on Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton) and pick up information from Facebook, Reddit, and X. On top of that, my wife and others regularly send me things they read. Across all these sources, if I see something that piques my interest and I can include comments related to how I see the connection to public service, personal leadership, or being a good citizen, that’s my current methodology.

• There’s no such thing as education if it is based on policy, and not results. 

• If you have Netflix, see the history of Reading Rainbow and getting kids to read.

• Some things must be done for the good of it, not for profit or treated as a transaction.

If you have not been to Montgomery for the historical museums they now have, it is well worth a drive. The experience can be moving, sad, and provocative. Part of real leadership is understanding the history of others, and one thing the South has continued to struggle with is its legacy. Most recently, there has been a big pushback against the so-called Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) models of education and hiring practices. This has come from groups on the conservative side such as the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute. They argue that such programs promote identity politics and undermine meritocracy.

My experience has been there are many reasons why we are still struggling with racism.

DEI programs are not one of them.

For example, my career has predominately been in the environmental field, whether education, conservation, or health. I’ve also been involved with conservation-based groups. Minority representation in these areas are very low. We can make several assumptions on why that is, though it does not change the current status.

If we are okay with the current status, then there is no need for DEI programs.

If we are not, then I suspect that the very low representation of minorities will drop to almost zero without proactive initiative. The issue is not DEI. It’s a lack of a true love for diversity and the strength that it brings.

Diversity is desperately more important than most things we are bombarded to support. We need to return to a conservative principle, best remembered as Sen. Barry Goldwater's belief in limited government, which can be paraphrased as: "Let the market take care of things, but if it fails, then government intervention may be necessary."

Public service programs supporting diversity from Ellis Island to Civil Rights are what have made America great.

Realize that the abolishing of certain words, phrases, or programs is typically not based on fact. They are usually meant to limit future freedoms and actions for the sake of status quo privilege and patronage today.

What is mentioned here is common across public services everywhere. The younger generation is looking for fulfillment, yet we’ve gone through decades where public services have been purposely degraded and limited.

In my last position, I created resources by vacating one position so I could spread it across several positions. Over a three-year period that included the pandemic, I was able to raise the pay of every single staff member, whether temporary or permanent. I supported work mobility and flexible scheduling for numerous reasons related to quality of life. Mobility and flexibility are the easiest of the choices to make.

Most public service jobs are still lagging where they need to be in terms of compensation. Interesting to note that even with the union representation of workers in Hawaii, they are still not in good shape. Rebuilding the esteem and expectation of public services will probably take decades. We could use a good marketing campaign to remind people that public service is an investment in us. If they are cut, it’s a cut to the “We the People” part of America.

Don’t take good governance for granted. Until people who believe in public service are in charge of public services, we will muddle along. Keep an eye on surveys related to faith in government. When and if it goes up again, that means progress, and you’ll see it take fruit in many ways.

I cannot imagine a world without books. It is the simplest step to education and wisdom, to being a better conversationalist, to understanding how other people live and how the rest of the world works. It is bad enough to have an incarceration system with mixed results, let alone not having access to books and libraries, probably the easiest and most inexpensive item to offer.

I always asked new hires what they were reading to assess how much interest they had in continuing their education. You cannot lead in today’s world without being a routine reader. The world will greatly change during our living years, and we must change with it. Some get into positions of leadership and do it without reading, but the rest of us pay for it. Lifelong learning is of paramount importance to anyone who wants to lead.

This is science fiction, no? Or have we evolved enough in our science and technology that we can learn nonhuman language? Nature is our provider and teacher. With all of our technological advances, I’m hoping that something like this will provoke new mindsets and new ways of thinking. This is humbling to consider, and humanity could use a little more humility. Share this with your kids if you want to spark some creative conversation. Things once thought unthinkable could be doable.

In the spirit of learning from this week’s results in the New York criminal trial, this quote from writer and expert on fascism, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, is dropped here to provoke some thought:

As I age, I realize that many of these issues being used to promote differences are not issues at all. Education was never meant to be weaponized or feared, and here again, we have a teacher who is engaged and motivated to teach and make learning fun. American history is so broad and so vast, that one could spend ten years doing nothing but studying as much of it as possible and still miss some very key features.

A good teacher is priceless and will help students access numerous sources of information and then teach them how to discern fact from opinion and right from wrong in the process.

That’s what learning is. There is nothing to fear here.

And Now….

Hope to see you next time. Check out our new Independence and Nature t-shirt in the store, just in time for the 4th of July. Keep reading, practice your gratefulness, and remember, real freedom is freedom from ignorance, assumptions, and hate. Be a good human.