New Pope Enjoying Widespread Popularity Now

I'm glad to see that people in general, and especially the practicing Catholic population, seem to be okay with the new Bishop of Rome, that is, the Roman Catholic Church's pontiff or Pope.  Cardinal Robert Prevost, originally from Chicago in the good old USA but with dual citizenship in both America and Peru after serving there for more than a decade, was elevated to Cardinal status by Pope Francis two years ago.  He was then elected in the secret Vatican Conclave to replace Francis, who died recently.  The Pope, in centuries gone by, at one time actually did have a lot of direct political/military power...that's how the Crusades got started.  Now, though, his power is that of persuasion, bringing to light in the world its spiritual, social and physical needs through the bully pulpit that his high office accords him.  I wish Pope Leo XIV, as he has renamed himself, the best and hope that he isn't surprised when he inevitably gets around to ruffling the feathers of our Narcissist-in-Chief. Leo is also the first Pope to be around my age level, born the year before me...he looks pretty fit, wonder what kind of exercise routine he has, if any...

Quote of the Week...from Groucho Marx

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...well, I have others.        ---Groucho Marx

Back when Citizen's United was being decided by the conservative wing of the United States Supreme Court more than a decade ago, justices bandied about concepts like "corporations are people" and "spending money is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment".  Yet it seems that whenever conservative politicians...who almost unanimously claim themselves to be highly principled advocates for freedom of businesses to make their own decisions without government interference...including what to do with their own money and how to conduct their affairs...it all goes out the window whenever convenient.  So Major League Baseball decides to move its All-Star Game from Atlanta after Georgia's new voting law was passed, and Senator Ted Cruz urges Congress to pass punitive legislation against them!  So cruise lines operating out of Florida have reasonably decided that crew and passengers need to provide a record of their COVID vaccination...our state's conservative governor has decided to interfere, decreeing that they are banned from doing that!  But Ron DeSantis' "principled when it suits him" mentality goes further: earlier he signed a law making participants in public protest demonstrations and marches potentially liable for the actions of others in those events, a direct violation of the First Amendment if I ever saw one.  And what about all these election laws passed by different "red" state legislatures and governors that give those partisan bodies the right to arbitrarily nullify any election they have a problem with (in other words, when Democrats win) while claiming the laws are necessary in principle to restore public confidence in elections?  Oh yeah, I'm "confident" that if a Republican wins an election in one of those states by 10 votes there's no problem but if a Democrat prevails by 10,000 somebody will dig up a bogus fraud charge, leading eventually to a partisan vote to overturn the results and install the losing Republican candidate...you just know this going to happen.  And what about all this bemoaning of "cancel culture" and criticism of Facebook and Twitter by Republican congressmen when these private companies fact-check their users' posts and remove the more habitual abusers, while overwhelmingly ostracizing one of their own...Liz Cheney...for simply telling the truth about the 2020 election and Trump's culpability in the Capitol riot on January 6th? I think this pronouncing and then shameless shirking of principle isn't just confined to politics, though: it is a sad trait of our universal human nature.  And only a master of cynical comedy like Groucho Marx could have put it so succinctly, as he did in the above quote... 

Quote of the Week...from George S. Patton

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
                                                               ---George S. Patton

George Smith Patton, Jr. was a famous general during World War II, commanding the Third Army through north Africa and the invasion of Sicily and the Seventh during the invasion of France and Germany.  He has always been known as a tough, demanding leader strong on discipline and personal responsibility...and of acting decisively in a timely manner.  To Patton, too many leaders plan too much when perhaps less perfect preparation and more prompt implementation would have produced better results.  To this end he depended on the resourcefulness of his officers and the soldiers under them to solve problems as the situations arose on the battlefield.  It isn't always possible to be able to pull out a manual that explains in detail how to do things, and those in leadership positions can't always explain their orders step-by-step.  So it is necessary to place some trust in those of subordinate positions to use their own abilities to come up with solutions.  This not only applies to combat situations in war, but also within the workplace and carries an important application to life in general...

With the above quote comes the implied assumption that those told to do things have been already judged to be competent at those tasks...whether a surgeon, repairperson, soldier,  or anyone else with a specialty, they obviously need much detailed training before reaching the point where the General's statement applies.  But sometimes within the managerial structure of an organization, folks forget that their subordinates have already been vested as to their competency and intelligence...and are quite able to come up with methods and solutions without someone up the authority ladder continually hovering over them and dictating each step and how to do it.  The analogy carries further, too, to how we manage ourselves in our personal lives: when faced with a challenge that involves variables and a bit of on-the-spot decision making, it won't do to beforehand sit down and try to plan out every contingency before even beginning.  In other words, much of the time you just have to wing it...

Quote of the Week...from Ronald Reagan

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.                  ---Ronald Reagan

The antithesis to this quote from one of the greatest presidents we've ever had at leading and positively influencing people would be the micromanager's creed: assume the people under you are stupid and incompetent, run around and interfere with their work continually, distract them by raising and emphasizing trivial issues, see the situation before you as static instead of dynamic...and then, when those over whom you are exercising authority consequently display little initiative or motivation, use that as an excuse to micromanage them further.  

Regardless of the nature of the organization or one's leadership title, any position of leadership is one of entrusted stewardship.  Leaders cannot allow themselves to fall to the tempting delusion that they ARE the position, and they need to demonstrate respect for those subordinated to them...just as they are entitled in turn to respect.  Micromanagers are like an infection in the organization, continually behaving disrespectfully to those around them and, in turn, breeding further disrespect from others.  A wise leader will be careful to notice when micromanagement is occurring and to quickly take steps to eliminate this danger to the vitality and mission of the organization...

Effective leaders, like Ronald Reagan, delegate authority and recognize the talents and intelligence of those working for them.  This, not micromanagement, is the template for effective management...