He took it, managed to decipher my terrible penmanship, and wrote me a reply. I didn't ask him weighty questions about politics, I think I probably asked his favorite color. People's favorite color was a major interest for me when I was eleven. He wrote some questions for me, (perhaps also my favorite color, which was blue.) and soon we were in a conversation, the kind of sweet conversation where a thoughtful grown-up pays attention to a child.
Research finds that relying on regulations to determine your policies and procedures can result in ethical blindspots, or situations where people might think if there is not a rule for something, that it's permissible. After years of shifting towards values and culture-based compliance, leadership might be heading the opposite direction.
In the early 20th century, sociologist Max Weber noted that sweeping industrialization would transform how societies worked. As small, informal operations gave way to large, complex organizations with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, leaders would need to rely less on tradition and charisma, and more on organization and rationality. He also foresaw that jobs would need to be broken down into specialized tasks and governed by a system of hierarchy,
He is not worthy of the presidency. He takes bribes blatantly. And now he's being a racist, blatantly. They were supposed to deport the dangerous criminals. They were not supposed to go after small children, storm schools, bring terror upon, you know, the little kids and the women and children, not just the immigrants in the school. All the children are scared.
What do you envision when you think of meekness? You probably see a mousy doormat, someone sheepishly acquiescing to the will of the stronger. When Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," you might think that those wimps will hand it over without a whimper or word of objection to stronger, more ambitious people. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called meekness "craven baseness."
"Are you okay?" These were Alex Pretti's last words, said to a woman after ICE agents had tackled and pepper-sprayed her. Videos from bystanders show Pretti holding up a phone, attempting to document what was happening before he himself was pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground, and killed by those officers. He lost his life not for committing violence, but for documenting it, and stepping in to protect someone facing it.
Pretti was trying to help a woman whom federal agents shoved violently to the ground. A fellow ICE observer, the woman flew a few feet through the air and landed hard; it had to hurt. "Are you OK?" Pretti asked her, according to bystanders. Those were his last known words. He kept trying to help the woman, and the agents kept trying to stop him, finally shooting him in the head at close range, execution-style, and then at least nine more times.
But over years of interviewing people for my articles, I've learned something surprising: some of the coldest-seeming people have the warmest hearts. It's counterintuitive, I know. We're taught to read warmth through smiles, enthusiasm, and social ease. But what if I told you that the colleague who seems distant might be the first to notice when you're struggling? Or that your seemingly aloof neighbor could be quietly performing acts of kindness you never see?
That is, a way to speak your truth, even when it's unwanted, that allows you to honor our understandable fear, and also consider your actual reality. It doesn't mean ignoring the potential consequences, but at the same time, not letting the fear dictate your behavior, with no alternatives other than silence or inauthenticity. In other words, how to heal the dread associated with being displeasing and disapproved of that stems from your conditioning, generational history and experience.
We can visualize four different types of trust as directions on a compass. The different types of trust include trust in ourselves, others, reality, and a higher power than ego. Consider how we rely on trust in our daily lives and how we can grow that trust to manage life's challenges. Our trust can move in four directions: we can trust ourselves, others, reality, and a higher power.
You know that moment when you're loading groceries into your car and you see someone just leave their cart in an empty parking space? Or worse, watch it slowly roll toward someone's car? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after watching a guy in the pouring rain push his cart all the way back to the corral. No one was watching. No reward waiting. Just him, getting soaked, doing what he thought was right.
I'm finding it difficult living up to my morals where is the line between compromising a little, versus becoming complicit in what I don't agree with? I'm one of those people who believes we can each take a role in solving big problems, and that we should try to make things better where we can. For this reason, I've ended up working in public service and try to reduce how much meat I eat. I'm vegetarian 60% of the time, which is not perfect, but I believe doing something is better than doing nothing.
