On Leading
Breeze into their waxing comfort
Change what they notice
Audacitize them.
Prioritize and scandalize them
Show them by example
how to think unthinkable thoughts
Gently rip their bureaucracy
out of their guts
Tear ‘em a new one.
Show them how to care in a bona fide way
With the rational mind instead of
fuzzy emotion for the poor and needy
With pragmatism. Unlike social workers.
Show them how to milk the greed
of the high, the powerful, the arrogant,
with capitalism. And cunning.
Show them how to think at a forest
The whole entire bloody damn forest system
with originality
creatively, innovatively,
in a new way, a ducky way
from a different perspective
using their wasted God-given genius.
Show them how to translate
a negative into a positive
Show them how to make everybody win
Show them how to create and pull off
a huge practical joke—author anonymous
Show them how to love life
by having fun as they work.
They still don’t understand?
Well, keep on demonstrating the example.
Show them how to politic quietly
And how to give all the credit away
to others who just love to get it
Show them how all good comes back with interest.
Stroll with silent farting through a crowd of pomposity
Demonstrate the springing cup of workahol
Assure them they need not drink it
Then praise them
for being themselves
Demonstrate your respect
for their integrities
Your tolerance for their frailties
for the unworthy carping
Sow love, show caring on each personal level.
Get angry, get excited, get depressed, get thoughtful
Be enthusiastic, beat your phone to death
Be at all times steadfast
in the purpose you lead
Be clever, down-home, witty, proud
intellectual, action-oriented, modest
then brag a little
Intensively churn out some major workpiece
that no one else thought of.
Love Muhlenberg, love Kentucky, love people
Respect your inner temple. And your own drummer
Do all these things incessantly,
incorrigibly
The way the old teachings say we ought to.
Show us all, by your irrepressible example
how to beat the system, how to have fun,
how to be ourselves, how to accomplish some good.
Gadfly. Radical damn Turk.
Lead on, my friend.
February 1984
