Loved this flip-the-script take on boss vs. leader—it nails Pope’s fool-poet paradox.
First reaction (not dwelling on why)—but: If Machiavelli and Monty Python teamed up (against all odds and centuries) to co-author a Substack article on management (...but why? doesn’t matter), it’d probably sound a lot like this.
The section on Confusion reads like excerpts from someone’s diary—not saying whose ;). Just a hunch that plenty of people have an entry involving the denying, the “just joking,” and the conveniently forgetting—right when it’s least convenient for everyone else (almost as if by design?). Aka, gaslighting wearing Groucho glasses.
Genuinely tempted to forward this to a select few with zero context—but I’ll resist, if only out of self-preservation.
Always a pleasure to read your work. Now onto the four Cs of Leadership...
I’m always happy to entertain as I edify—or so I hope. Sadly the descriptions of bossing behavior I have seen are accurate but toned-down versions of real events.
A significant part of emulation is learning what NOT to do. It's as essential as watching someone who exhibits the values and behaviors we want to replicate. It certainly is not an easy experience, depending on the circumstance (especially if dealing with the extreme 4 Cs you listed here). Still, I've found that we can observe and learn both aspects even in watching one individual.
I call that process “learning form the negative paradigm,” which means taking lessons from others’ failures and the failures of broken systems. It’s a way of making toxic bosses useful for a change.
Loved this flip-the-script take on boss vs. leader—it nails Pope’s fool-poet paradox.
First reaction (not dwelling on why)—but: If Machiavelli and Monty Python teamed up (against all odds and centuries) to co-author a Substack article on management (...but why? doesn’t matter), it’d probably sound a lot like this.
The section on Confusion reads like excerpts from someone’s diary—not saying whose ;). Just a hunch that plenty of people have an entry involving the denying, the “just joking,” and the conveniently forgetting—right when it’s least convenient for everyone else (almost as if by design?). Aka, gaslighting wearing Groucho glasses.
Genuinely tempted to forward this to a select few with zero context—but I’ll resist, if only out of self-preservation.
Always a pleasure to read your work. Now onto the four Cs of Leadership...
I’m always happy to entertain as I edify—or so I hope. Sadly the descriptions of bossing behavior I have seen are accurate but toned-down versions of real events.
A significant part of emulation is learning what NOT to do. It's as essential as watching someone who exhibits the values and behaviors we want to replicate. It certainly is not an easy experience, depending on the circumstance (especially if dealing with the extreme 4 Cs you listed here). Still, I've found that we can observe and learn both aspects even in watching one individual.
I call that process “learning form the negative paradigm,” which means taking lessons from others’ failures and the failures of broken systems. It’s a way of making toxic bosses useful for a change.