False flag…? Prigozhin, Putin, Belarus – Really?

Well folks, it appears we have an interesting situation here with Prigozhin and Putin. Let me put on my Intelligence and Strategy hats for a bit, for a few areas to consider or ponder (or dismiss).

First, an individual who is reportedly worth approximately ONE Billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) is charged with by Putin as a dangerous terrorist but then, charges are dropped.

This individual, Yevgeny Prigozhin, got a large contingent of his soldiers to take over Rostov-on-Don and move on up to Voronezh & Lipetsk, Russia.

Without any real Russia military contested encounters.

Interesting right….?

Suppose this was all planned. Suppose the extra ammunition request and build up were for long term Ukrainian engagements and are to be redistributed to other fronts (or already were)…

Suppose this “March for Justice” tantrum build up was just noise for an alternate move.

We do not know any true details about the bombing of Prigozhin’s troop, purportedly 2,000 soldiers (mercenaries) were killed in that bombing. What picture evidence we saw, was lacking in any real number of dead troops.

Then, how does Prigozhin move, really, unchallenged from that bombed out location up to where he stopped…? Without taking a significant portion, if not all, of his forces to go north into Moscow.

And there is also the ‘mysterious’ government plane that left Moscow for St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) that turned off its planes’ transponder and went dark.

THEN, entering the picture is Belarus’ Lukashenko who magically brokers a deal with Prigozhin to come visit (stay in) Belarus. And it this component was VERY fast and approved by all parties.

Charges against Prigozhin – dropped. Charges against Prigozhin’s troops – dropped.

Do ‘NOT’ forget Lukashenko’s iron grip on Belarus news media – complete control. There would be no concrete way for us regular folks to know if Prigozhin is anywhere within Belarus. And if Prigozhin is in Belarus, there is ‘no way’ for us to know precisely where in Belarus – until Prigozhin commences attacking Ukraine via Belarus. That is, if that is the false flag effort…

Next, we hear the news that Prigozhin and his senior leaders’ families were threatened by Russia’s secret service. And with Russia’s iron grip on news, none of us have any idea if this aspect is true or not. You know of course, not to believe everything (or anything) you hear from Putin and country’s media – especially from Pravda.

Get it, Pravda in Russian means “Truth”…

Now going back Prigozhin. Suppose all this screaming and noise making was a false flag. A false flag to get Prigozhin situated into Belarus, likely into some city in Belarus just north of Prypiat, Ukraine.

Which is not that far from Kyiv…

Go back to that ammunition build up that Prigozhin kept requesting and finally received. Suppose ‘that’ build up reserve was sent to Belarus and was pre-positioned somehow. (I have no idea if that materiel was tracked by American intelligence/military and of course, none of us have a need to know.)

With all the hullabaloo that took place and rapidly calmed down, suppose, just suppose (open your mind for an alternative aspect of Putin’s crazy world) that Prigozhin “is” actually likely to open another front closer to Kyiv via Belarus.

Putin may not be the smartest of government, intelligence and military leaders (or thinkers) but, he does know about false flags, ever since he was in the KGB and covering up Yeltsin’s stupidly corrupt ways…

Think about it…

Trump = NYET!!!

For those who do not know, “Nyet” means ‘No’ in Russian.

The current president in the White House, well, not an individual a fairly large number of us would ever want to protect or give our lives for or share a fox-hole with. However, in doffing our hats to the Secret Service, in protecting the position for whichever person is serving as president – YOU DO AN OUTSTANDING JOB!!!

Now, getting back to the current American president and NYET.

• N = Not a role model any person alive on the planet would want to emulate. Who in a sane state of mind would willingly emulate a known pathological liar (there are many documented incidents out there and the reason why he is desperately striving to hide his tax and all financial records from ‘anyone’ ever seeing those documents).
• N = Narcissistic – [Okay, okay, okay… I snuck in a second ‘N’ but saying N^2YET or double N,YET does not translate well….] Need we say more – this is beyond the pale in the lengths this individual goes to, to say “Hey, look at me, I am the best there has ever been. We had the largest turnout ever for when I was sworn in. I have had more progress in the first year, no, the first six months of being in office. Everyone loves me, it does not matter that they are all dictators and authoritarian leaders who suppress their own people – why, those leaders control the voters, sorry, the votes by means of controlling the media and military and law enforcement. Those leaders are doing a wonderful job in their countries.” — In the meantime, in as many countries as possible, humanity is trying our best to remove all dictators and authoritarian leaders from office and move to a democratic process – and yes, it includes, China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Rwanda, Chile, Brunei, Venezuela and more (do not forget N. Korea).
  
• Y = Yearning to be even more Narcissistic, to be the one in the spot light even if it means shoving a Prime Minister out of the way in a highly public venue (recall when our president did that to the Prime Minister of Montenegro back in May 2017 at that NATO meeting….?).
• E = Ethics – well, there ‘APPEARS‘ to be no ethics at all where it concerns this American president. All that ‘SEEMS‘ to matter to this person is whether he can line his pocket with more profits (allegedly of course) or not and how he can put in place more yes men/women who will kowtow to him regardless of what the subject matter is. It could be putting in place people who knowingly vote in favor of this president – without any foresight on their part as to the amount of damage, harm and financial cost will take place as a result of their caving in… Wait, it is also possible these individuals may not care about the future results and only want the instant gratification they gain right now – as willing sycophants…
• T = Transparency – Can anyone in America explicitly and without qualifiers say that this current president is transparent in all matters? In any matter? We have a president who seems to solely embrace obfuscation (i.e. excessive lying), opaqueness, deceit and ever constant misdirection (in our intelligence world, it would be considered a successful misinformation campaign…). 

What is it going to take for Americans to come to their senses and see through whatever facade this president seems to have thrown up to bedazzle (blind) people to his many negative faults.

This of course is aimed at the many people who blindly follow this president without thinking through the logic. Are these people following the president:

• through so much delusion because they cannot use logic and think about the strategic benefits of doing certain activities?
• because these followers want to return to the 1960s and back, where people of a certain ethnicity (we have faith that you can figure out what is being discussed in this bullet) and primarily male had control of everything and suppressed people of color and women and gay folks? Do these followers really want to return darker days of suppression and repression; forcing women into back alley abortions; causing disenfranchised minorities turn to violent means to get the right to vote and be put on the same playing field as others?
• because the filter bubbles they seem to have been ensnared in is so reinforcing due to its brainwashing effects – that they can no longer see the abundant truth that is out there and easily found (ask the anti-vaxxers who slowly discovered that the anti-vaxxer world is full of deceit and lies)?
• willing to forego civility and return to barbaric methods to force out people of color and immigrants from America? Originally, this land belonged to people of color (Native Americans and Mexicans) – the land was taken away from its rightful owners by force and forced those people at that time into subjugation as well as bringing over slaves to build “their empire” – please remember that

This country has spent a significant amount of money in slashing successfully working regulations and practices and reverting to older, harmful and damaging practices. We now allow the:

• oil industry to oversee their own safety program in the ocean drilling zones (think back to the massive oil leak from the ocean floor when the safety valve failed on that drilling rig).
• energy companies to dump toxic waste into rivers – if you believe this is incorrect, go check out the ‘current’ practices Duke Energy of N. Carolina is able to do now (and keep potash dumps in mind when you do your own research…).
• Dept of Education to implement programs that are geared towards private schools and vouchers – INSTEAD of focusing on ‘PUBLIC education‘ and improving it to where it should be, ACROSS the board, in all communities, in order to match other countries with better educational programs and successes.

And you know what else that is even scarier?

It is going to take America decades to recover from the wasted efforts and revenue lost in the 2016 – 2020 time frame. From:

• tracking down and proving all the illegal activities (by this individual and those that this person put in place around him) prior to getting into the White House and since getting there,
• bad social and economic programs,
• poor diplomatic relationships with other countries – explicitly our long time allies to poor economic associations with our N. American neighbors and other prospering and suffering countries around the globe.

Think about it, health care, financial reform (in the public / private sectors as well as in politics), economic growth.

And let’s not forget the amount of incivility introduced into the world of politics and public discourse as of 2016 when this president brought gutter level conversation, interaction and thinking with him to the world stage. What sane, forward thinking leader would ever utter the words “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and not lose votes“? The worse of the worse came out of the wood works across America with other bad world leaders uttering the same garbage.

It is going to take us a long time to start bringing civility, where more people care about each other instead of reverting to denying them rights and space. It will take time for growth, for all, to take off again in America.

Do we have time…?  Look at the current lack of progress and thinking on Climate Change in America…. that should be the canary in the coal mine as to the path this country is on… We have a leader that has no path forward with regards to; diplomacy, military superiority in the in the name of peace and not fear, economic prosperity for all and a strategy as to how America and the world can grow – together.

 

Oh! And yes, this is the person that others refer to as the “Orange Man” and other ignominious titles/handles…

Hmmmm, a “possible” Chinese spy caught at Mar-a-lago – really?

So, does this not sound like a diversion tactic to anyone else? Anyone? Anyone….

What spy, with the deep pockets of a nation-state who can afford to have and use highly sophisticated spy craft and all the tools that go along with that – why would one make such a loud ruckus while carting around clumsy tools?

Did anyone notice the other real spy, the quiet one that was able to slip in and out with the better tools while the loud and clumsy “possible” spy was apprehended? Anyone?  Anyone… 

Now, with some hesitation on my part, there may not have been another one (spy, saboteur, whatever…) – that day…

It is just that, the various hats I’ve worn have been making me cringe inside.

My strategic brain is screaming, really, no one is making comments about this being a diversion?

My national security intelligence brain is screaming, come on, why not use an old tried and true ruse to get the better ‘spy’ inside with. i.e.: micro-recording devices, using microwave burst technology – designed to destroy itself after a certain amount of time. And other high tech tools such as bug size recording (audio & visual) devices (not roach size but fly or flea size) at their disposal.

My cyber security brain is screaming – really, bringing in malware on a USB drive (I believe that is what it was if I’m not mistaken). As if this woman was going to get close to a computing device to plug it in – but then again, it is Mar-a-lago, where many people with money and their flock come and go.

So, if there was a spy infiltrating that resort, how do you sweep it? How much manpower do you allocate to sweep? When do you sweep it? Do you allow the president, who with a small brain overrules everyone around who would know better, to continue going to the resort?

Then there are other questions, such as, who else had legitimate access to the resort and turned by greed to perform nefarious deeds. What about individuals who for various reasons were coopted (blackmailed/threatened) to do black deeds at the resort.

There are many, many, many things wrong with this picture and we have an individual sitting in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave who seems to be oblivious to real world activities, needs and demands.

A real spy could have easily gotten access, what is a $250,000 membership to a nation-state actor with deep pockets, over the past couple of years. Hey, the president who did not give up his investments and businesses as he should have, did tell the world, his resort is open for membership and business is booming…

What do we do as a nation for security when the top individual invites the world in the front door.  It is like watching a Vampiric horror movie where the unwitting home owner tells the vampire, sure, come on in for a drink….

New U.S. Tax Plan: I’ll Be Spending My Retirement Paying Down The Increased National Deficit

Yes, you heard right. Someone had asked the question “Hey, what are you going to do in your retirement? “

Yes, now that American House and Senate passed the new “Tax Reform (Tax Plan)”, this unfortunately is going to be the fate of many, many Americans.

This is for the Electoral College and the people who voted for this current president, who is causing a ripple effect of greed, pigs feeding at that swamp trough (the so-called swamp draining that was to take place, yeah, that never took place – it expanded in a somewhat vicious and explosive manner). Folks, you sure picked a winner, one who is causing some real pain and angst to spread across the country, now and over the next decade… Lovely, isn’t it…

 

Here, let’s take a look at an example of another individual who believed a “wonderful new tax plan” would change the state. That individual is, the wonderful Kansas governor (just being facetious here), Brownback, as he tried to impress and win the hearts of all those wonderful Kansans. Brownback, back in 2012, started putting in place a massive tax cut scam, err, scheme to show the country that he could do that successfully and grow his state.

That did not happen. Many of the steep tax cuts put in place, ahhh, they were repealed already or are in the process of going the way of the DoDo bird (last seen sometime in the mid-17th century). After the tax cuts started hitting, you know (well, many of the logical and long-term thinkers knew) that school budgets were going to be cut. They were.

Also, city employee staffing (fire fighters, police and housing budgets) was also cut to help make up shortfalls. Here are a few more ‘fiscal policy’ victims that hit Kansas (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-kansas-brownback-trickle-down-tax-fail-zorn-perspec-0621-md-20170620-column.html):

Public schools were planning to close early for lack of operating revenue. Kansas was shorting pension funds, skimping on road improvements, cutting Medicaid and slashing outlays for state universities.

Here is another quote from the article that is simply brilliant:

“It absolutely should put an end to the theory that tax cuts for the rich end up helping everybody, but you can’t kill it. It’s a vampire idea. No matter how many times it’s proven wrong, it keeps coming back.”

 

So, what is the lesson with these so called “tax cut plans” that will grow the economy?  And if you wish, ask the successors to Reagan and then even Bush (41) how they might feel about tax cuts. If the former was alive and the latter was allowed to answer.

The lesson is, which I am quite sure you already know the answer. When you cut taxes, the state and the nation take in less revenue. Then, how does the country or state make up for that shortfall – well, of course, you cut services everywhere. Cutting services makes for an excellent model of spending less money. However, when services are cut, the average citizens start getting hurt, big time.

• Needed services see reduced hours and/or reduced staff (which in turn puts an extreme workload on the remaining staff members).
• Fire in your neighborhood, hmmm, let’s see how many trucks are available since they took a hit in staffing (and if you need EMS, well…. they may be understaffed as well)
• Hospitals, doctors and nurses – well…. You might want to bring some aspirin with you because, as the tax cuts kick in, there is no mandate to have individuals have medical coverage – and when many of these who do not want medical coverage all of a sudden have an emergency, where do the go? Yes, they go to the emergency room. And what does that do, why, yes, the young man with the blue baseball cap, needed services get sucked into the emergency rooms along with the need for more funding and it has to come from somewhere. So be warned – do not get sick, there may not be enough regular medical coverage to handle the mundane, day to day medical issues (tax cut sucked up any extra cash lying around).
• Nice, serviceable roads to drive on, forgeddaboutit, they fall into disrepair – causing you to suffer car / truck damage. Be sure to up your vehicle insurance as you’re likely to have more bent wheel axles from bad roads (and yes, failing bridges).
• And do not forget about national and state parks and other areas – they may be closed or have reduced hours as immediate victims of revenue shortfalls due to this ‘grand tax plan’… You might have to re-think your vacation/week-end plans.

Then, what is the result of multiple services being cut, wait – why, yes, the older guy in the Hawaiian shirt – you hit it bang on, states start imposing cost hikes on many things in the state. And, oh yes, the young woman in the brilliant teal blouse, you are correct – the states start begging, dang, sorry, requesting the federal government for hand-outs, errr, more funding relief.

So, yes, again, so – what are you going to be doing over the next decade as this ‘grand’ tax cut plan starts biting while the national deficit continues to balloon with that purported $1.5 Trillion figure (which I am fairly certain it will swell far beyond that) is tacked on to the CURRENT national deficit.

It simply has not happened wherever and whenever tax cuts, to help corporations and the “middle/lower” class citizens, are put into law. Tax cuts end up being repealed with taxes going up again by another administration. Most corporations and wealthy individuals do what I (joe citizen) do, reinvest that money in myself (maybe in a savings or, gulp, a ‘401k’ account) for my own future. The majority of the companies who were “supposed” to be re-investing in its workforce to grow the company and those workers and by extension, the country – it just does not happen.

Do you think it is going to happen with this new, ‘grand’ tax plan? An expansion of growth across all American sectors…  Hmmm…. Think long and hard and most of all – do your own research (move away from the conspiracy theorists and hate mongers), then make that determination.

Your retirement may be in jeopardy because many states are going to be going hat in hand to the federal government for those hand-outs for the average citizens – us. And who will be looking out for you, guess who – it is going to be up to you to ensure you have enough salted away in your nest egg. That or continue working until you’re in your 70’s and 80’s…

 

What happened to strategic thinking in our government?  Where did it go? Where are all the forward thinkers? There are supposed to be adults in the American Congress, Senate and White House. Wait, I forgot, many of them were pushed out of many federal entities because they were smart and they used science-based as well as evidence-based data to drive new ideas and to disprove invalid/incorrect viewpoints. (Golly, I really hope I won’t get into any trouble for using words the HHS is attempting to ban from scientific and other professional use in HHS & CDC – Fetus, Transgender, Diversity, Vulnerable, Entitlement and the two I mentioned {that is, if this actually is a true situation…***}.)

We, Americans, cannot even put in place a decent equitable number of women and other ethnic groups of people in these institutions. This is because so many people are only thinking “right now, right here and for me only” – instead of what is ahead, down the road, 5, 10 or 20 years to be who we can truly be.

Leaders of the free world, hmmm, not sure about that anymore, it appears the best and brightest gave up and left a lot of the slower thinking, short-term thinkers and less savvy individuals in charge, those who appear to only want to line their pockets.

Our future of growth looks bleak, very bleak and it will take quite some time to recover to where we, Americans, are great again. It’s the people, all the people, not just any one party over the other – it is not Conservatives or Liberals or Libertarians or Green Party or Religious groups or Atheists or gays or transgender or old or young or women or men – it is the people who come together for common good.

What we have right now is: “Me, me, me – gimme, gimme – I don’t want to share. I don’t want diversity. I want people to be like me and that’s it.”  That is what is scary, the lack of diversity – those not willing to embrace diversity in all of its wonderful possibilities.

*** A Seven-Word Mystery at the CDC https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-19/a-seven-word-mystery-at-the-cdc

 

The Pulse Night Club: A Sad & Horrific Day – Worst Shooting in U.S. History – June 12, 2016

Another Black Flag day… and it happened at the Pulse night club, in Orlando, Florida, America…

49 happy people – no matter their race, gender or sexual preference – are gone now, possibly more over the following days. And all because one person disagrees with the lifestyle (possibly) and lack of Islamic faith (possibly) and decided to strike a blow in the name of ISIS (again, possibly) in the U.S. because of our western lifestyle. (UPDATE: June 13, 2015 – we definitely now know it was for ISIS/ISIL/IS)

We are all saddened and heartbroken that this happened.

What does this horrific event now mean for:

• Americans,
• Gays,
• Non-gays,
• The religious,
• The non-religious,
• The gun owners,
• Non-gun owners,
• Privacy (what’s left of it) and most of all
• Freedom

Just because ‘you’ are against gays and the non-religious and women who wear scanty clothing and anyone of a different religion from yourself; none of these things gives anyone the right or justification to kill anyone else.

It is completely wrong and not up to you to make that kind of choice.

So, what will this mean for the people of America? Are more people from the small list above going to become targets…?

As the weeks progress, will it mean an immediate and much more intense crackdown on all known and wannabe ISIS sympathizers across the country? American citizen or not?

Will this tragic event mean that it is time to finally get down to brass tacks to create and implement a national registry for automatic weapons (and any automatic hand guns – i.e. machine pistols)? Will this registry be created, even if the gun lobby and the NRA are against this kind of tracking – even if dozens of people were killed with an automatic weapon…

Will it mean a further erosion of privacy for Americans? Let’s hope that it does not erode too much more of our privacy and freedom that we hold dearly.

 

Are people finally going to come together (as they always seem to in any tragic situation) but this time, forcefully and united, demand actual enforcement of current laws or implementation of tougher laws on automatic weapons, along with that national registry for law enforcement to use before another tragic situation occurs as it did in Orlando?

This should have taken place after the Sandy Hook shootings…

 

What will transpire in the future after this shooting? Well, we – all of us – will need to come to grip with what will continue happening if nothing concrete is done about it NOW. And that could mean more mass shootings and maybe even robbing you of someone you know and love…

However, what could happen might be something meaningful. For example, having this automatic weapons’ registry means it could be cross indexed with anyone on a list such as the FBI’s list of ISIS sympathizers. We ‘will‘ need to collate as much data as possible in tracking down and stopping these individuals before they commit any kind of crime. This will mean even more usage of analytic tools such as Palantir, Analyst Notebook and the like to compile, analyze and spit out reports of likely candidates. It is clear that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed with the number of suspects to track and figure out who might do damage to the people of this country. We could also enlist the aid of something like IBM’s Watson to process the huge quantity of data that should be collected, collated and analyzed.

Now if this list were put together in a decent manner, using strategy and forethought, the list should well include, wherever possible, known associates (sympathizers or not) who most likely would buy the weapons if the shooter him/herself were unable to purchase the weapons – because of that list…

Just don’t try to start going around arresting all Muslims – because they, as everyone should know by now, are not all the same… O.K.???

 

The gun lobby, the NRA, members of Congress and many of the people in the U.S. will have to realize that we will need something like this registry to aid in preventing future shootings, such as their own family members.

Otherwise America, if we cannot create some kind of system where correlations can be made, nationally – we will see more and larger body counts of the dead from shootings that could have been prevented, if we tried better.

 

And yes, there will be many who completely pooh-poohs the idea of any kind of national registry for automatic weapons so they can buy 4, 5 or a dozen of those themselves without anyone tracking that information.

On the other hand, there will be a lot more who actually want something like a registry so they can have peace of mind that law enforcement knows who has automatic weapons in case anyone plans to (social media) or goes on a killing spree. Again!

 

I hope the gist of what I am trying to say comes across because I vacillated all day whether to write anything because of my raw state of mind. The next shooter(s) may not be an ISIS sympathizer but could be an ordinary American such as Dylann Roof who shot up the church in Charleston or any other individual angry over something trivial…

Finally, and obviously, I did but I am still so wound up due to all the needless deaths, all because of one person disagreeing (likely) with the western lifestyle… Sad and Angry…

ISIS, Boko Haram & Home Grown Terrorists – in the U.S…. Surveillance time?

**** moved from http://patrick642.wordpress.com ****

It appears that we are entering another era of pain and trouble, globally.

When I say we, it is not the ‘Royal “We”’ but we as in citizens of the world, in the Western developed countries and most especially those of us in the U.S. 

We, the United States, have stepped into a situation in the mid-east that should have been handled by that country’s own military and security forces. That country, yes, is Iraq.

Due to Nouri al-Maliki, of the Shia sect, Prime Minister of Iraq being ‘unwilling’ to logically, diplomatically, politically and economically share power with the Sunni and the Kurds of that country – he failed on a massive scale. So, as a result, we now have the outrageous growth of a group of religious zealots – the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, formerly ISIL and even further back, an off-shoot of al-Qaeda (or al-Qaida or even al-Qa’ida – depending on your viewpoint and background).

 

In doing our humanitarian bit of sending our resources (men, women, financial, materiel, etc.) to willingly go into harm’s way to help those that cannot help themselves, we may have painted another bulls eye on our collective back. ISIS is easier to type than writing out their latest and newest name, kinda like some rock star constantly changing names depending on where the moon is in the sky…. so, I will continue using ISIS.

As it stands, there is no other country willing to step as far forward and help other countries with the advancements of equality, democracy and openness. These other large countries only make token drops of assistance during times of disaster or humanitarian need.

Yes, yes, yes, the U.S. – we DO still have problems but we are continually working on them, much better than many other large countries seem to be doing. For example, we do not censor or block Internet access just because some official (or government) does not want transparency and/or takes offense at someone or some group making disparaging/revealing remarks/statements …

 

A couple of days ago, Abu Mosa, a spokesman for the terror group ISIS, in talking about America made this statement (1): ““We will humiliate them everywhere, God willing, and we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House,” he added.”

Now what does that tell you? Keep in mind, this group of zealots has taken over banks and control of vast amounts of money to fund their growth. Also keep in the forefront of your thoughts, the world community cannot willy nilly freeze the Iraqi currency, the dinar, to keep it from being used…

And in addition, remember, these zealots have taken over Iraqi bases and armories, facilities full of weaponry that can be moved across borders. The weapons I refer to are things that can easily be smuggled, RPGs, grenades, mines and other projectile bombs and mines.

Think about it, if people and other illicit items (drugs, alcohol and cigarettes) can easily find their way into the U.S., so too can this kind of weaponry find its way onto American soil – for a price, via down on their luck (or not) traitorous U.S. citizens.

Many of you out there already are aware of the ‘Home Grown Terrorist’ growth in the U.S. and how so many people want to be part of a Jihadist movement – for whatever reason. These ‘home grown’ individuals are from many parts of America and take many forms as you have seen:

• Mexican American
• White American
• Black American and all the
• Displaced/Immigrated – legal/illegal mid-easterners – Iraqi, Palestinian, Syrian, Jordanian, Yemeni, Saudi and on and on and on…

Now that ISIS has their hands on quite a bit of money, manipulative propaganda and weaponry, the next step you have to take is in asking yourself, “How much of these new resources can ISIS move into the West (and the U.S.)?”

Then you have to ask yourself “How fast can they do it?”

Following these two basic questions, you should be thinking, “Can we see this movement in real time and stop it, using tools like the power of the SWIFT network (2). Will we possibly use the power of our intelligence agencies to take peeks into the meta-data of phone, internet communications “BEFORE” something catastrophic occurs in the U.S., similar to our 9/11 rather than attempting to connect the dots “AFTER” whatever happens, happens.

The only snag here is, will the American people and people of other western countries be willing to allow tighter surveillance and scrutiny to stop the growth and insidious spread of ISIS and whatever harm they will continue to do…???

We now, more than ever, will need to strategize on how to counter a newer crop of home grown terrorists in light of the funding that ISIS has on hand and is getting. Some of that funding is and/or was purportedly from some U.S. allies – Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, I have no way of corroborating this other than going with content from several news outlets, two included below (3,4).

Will the Western world be willing to have tighter security in advance of ISIS or wait and see what happens, after it is too late? We, the U.S. will need law enforcement in conjunction with intelligence agencies, local/state/federal governments to develop and implement even better strategies on dealing with a ‘possible’ slew of more new home grown terrorists…

We already know that this group wants to put its imprint on everything and force everyone to bow to their way of life – sharia law, follow Islam or die, the continual destruction of ancient artifacts and buildings simply because they are not Islamic.

We also already know that the mass number of Muslims around the world do not stand for this brand of Islamic beliefs. However, I am very surprised that many more Muslims are not helping to stop this cancerous growth or condemning what ISIS is doing.

 

Boko Haram is likely hitching, or probably willing to hitch their wagon to ISIS, though I have no way of knowing if either group wants to be connected to the other.

 

No one should be fooling themselves into thinking that ISIS will never create trouble (or death) on the homeland that is just a waste of brain cells. These people are serious, deadly serious.

And I have not heard it yet but I would not discount anyone stating that these people have airplanes (after taking over so many Iraqi facilities) they can use as a form of WMD…

 

Is anyone willing to believe that ISIS could not make it to the U.S.? Is anyone going to be foolish enough to make a bet on that? Because as far as I know, no one on planet Earth is omniscient, at least not until someone reaches the long heralded Singularity…

Is anyone foolish enough to believe that we should not be making “better” preparations for Home Grown Terrorists ahead of ISIS aiding any maladjusted, misguided and dare I say ‘crazed’ individuals?

We already saw a significant spike in militias and sovereign citizens since our 44^th President took office – we do not need more.

 

And hopefully I do not come across as a dogmatic scare-monger; I am just looking at the landscape and down the road – especially if the people of the mid-Eastern countries cannot take care of this ISIS problem…

 

References

1 – ISIS Threatens America: ‘We Will Raise The Flag Of Allah In The White House’, http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/08/isis-threatens-america-we-will-raise-the-flag-of-allah-in-the-white-house/, 8 Aug 2014

2 – SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), http://www.swift.com/about_swift/index

3 – America’s Allies Are Funding ISIS, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html, 14 Jun 2014

4 – The United States’ biggest ‘allies’ are funding ISIL, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/08/374537/americas-biggest-allies-funding-isis/, 9 Aug 2014

 

Religious Jihad… Caliphate… Putin & Crimea… Global Problems…

Global Concerns

Around the world today, we continue to face multiple global issues (only going to discuss a few here), issues large enough that the entire global community must weigh in and do more than talk. And oh yeah, we will need to provide the UN and Interpol with much more bite (punishment and enforcement) – they absolutely require it.

Yes, these concerns and issues are all highly serious but we must start doing more.

The spread of one religion full of zealots is not just an issue for one region of the world – it is a significant issue for all citizens of the globe.

And a country using its military might to take land and/or to instill fear by proposing military expansion under the pretext of “to insure our citizens are not harmed” can no longer be tolerated or allowed.

 

One does not need to hold the highest security clearances to know or see what is happening around the world, there are plenty of news outlets to cull information from, using your own research efforts. But – you “HAVE TO” use your own mind and brain power to make your own informed decisions. It will mean watching portions of multiple network TV or cable news programs, radio shows and Internet news feeds. You “cannot” filter all of your news from just one or two sources; you must broaden your horizons of where you get your news. Listen to news coming from multiple political parties, not just your own.

Anyone publically disavowing science yet does not nothing about any aspect of the science they are attempting to disprove, i.e. evolution, global weather patterns, financial economies, the science of diplomacy or military arts and so on – is that the type of person you want to listen to and to follow?

Listen, if you continue to diligently listen to only a couple of sources, you are no better than the kids being brainwashed in the numerous madrasas in multiple parts of the world. And we, many of us, all know that many of these madrasas are pounding select knowledge and no more into the heads of all the impressionable men and boys (remember, girls and women are not worthy of education). Many of these impressionable men and boys are taught to dislike, disavow and hate the lifestyles and teachings of the western world.

In the end, the mass majority of individuals leaving madrasas are still ignorant and mostly uneducated… but frighteningly have their sights set on hating and killing anyone not of their religion or are from the western world.

 

One does not need to be the best National Security Intelligence SME to analyze open source (not classified) information from around the globe. You can use that significantly important organ of your body, your very own brain, to dissect and analyze the information you see and read for yourself.

YOU, you are smart enough to compare multiple news items and see which ones hold water and which ones do not, especially if you do your own research to see if what is being discussed is true or not. You are your own intelligence analyst – you’re an intelligent human being, I sure hope you are.

One just needs to open their eyes and “see,” not just look, what is occurring and extrapolate about what is happening now and onwards into the future. Extrapolate the information you’ve analyzed and see where the path ends up a week from now, a month or year from now. You have to project forward intelligently.

 

Religious Jihadists

To spread the word of Islam by killing non-believers of all other religions – that is one goal of a religious zealot or some type of Jihadist. To be very clear here, many of us know that the mass majority of Muslims are peace loving – it is the minority of dangerous zealots, who want to make the world over in their image, following Sharia law that we have to worry about.

 

A group of individuals, no matter what religion they purport to be part of or are from – no can kidnap women and girls, killing the men and boys and force those captives to follow an unwanted religion. There is no justification for it.

What zealous religious individuals around the globe have to understand (I know, I know – they may never understand) is that there is the matter of free will and expression. They cannot force others to follow a religion that was created centuries ago out of ignorance and grew over time with religious leaders evolving over that time as well. Those religious leaders, zealot or not, evolved over time, holding titles from witch doctor, shaman, priests, imam, apostle, dalai lama, swami, abbot to sun gods, etc., etc….

The choice of free will means people can choose to believe in any one of the many gods out there and to follow whatever religion they want – but it is their choice to do so, or to ‘not’ follow any god or religion. Just because a group of people spurred on by someone claiming to be their religious leader, who commands their followers to commit Jihads or Fatwas, it does not make it right. And make no mistake about it, a Jihad or Fatwa that dictates killing someone is not legal in many, many parts of the world. It is just murder.

The growth of modern day terrorists and their aims lead them to want to transit international boundaries and create fear and death by any means handy. These terrorists say it is to right the wrongs of all the years of western superiority. Unfortunately, I will say, many of our ancestors did take many, many things by force and in the process, suppressed the people who lived in those affected countries, including the U.S…

Today, we have many people following varying religions around the world, religions that rose up out of superstition and lack of education from 10s of thousands (if not 100s of thousands) years ago and then passed down through the ages to us, the descendants’ descendants.

And please, if anyone wants to follow an ancient tradition that is their right but those people cannot force others to do so, it has to be of free will, if that is desired.

   

A Caliphate?

Now, as everyone should be aware of, we have a hard core group of individuals in the mid-east who, under their leader – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (the piously humble man wearing a very expensive wrist watch), wish to create an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (now calling itself, the Islamic State…). Or if you will, al-Baghdadi wants to start the beginnings of a new Caliphate.

This is still a terrorist activity even if the terrorists believe it to be some kind of holy crusade.

In their drive to create this Caliphate, suppose these individuals, who are hell bent (pardon the pun) on doing whatever they can to demolish, destroy and flat out create massive deaths around the world, suppose these terrorists start using hidden explosives (and vastly improved miniaturization techniques) in wearable’s such as FitBits, packed into the frames of many pairs of glasses or even within the handles of suitcases…?

Suppose they actually get more American’s or visitors to the U.S. here on a Visa to successfully cause deaths by poisoning the water supplies of small towns (or larger cities) or other such dastardly acts of violence…?

What do we do, start doing even more pervasive and extensive searches of citizens around the globe to prevent the spread of terrorist activities…?

For all we know, in the future, Boko Haram may want to become of that group, growing their own list of horrific acts…

In any regard, a Caliphate led by religious zealot(s) is a dangerous thing for the world to deal with.

 

Putin, Russia, Crimea, etc…

Okay, we have the mid-east as a very hot spot, what about in Eurasian? Look at Putin of the Soviet Union, errr sorry, of Russia. It really appears as if he wants to pull the Soviet Union of yore back together again. What else can explain the inextricably odd actions that the man is doing?

Or is he simply off his noggin in annexing a portion of Ukraine – Crimea, to grow Russia back into its former self – the U.S.S.R…? Is he seriously looking at Georgia, Moldova and others? Has he absolutely gone wacko in threatening Finland? If you do not recall or did not know:

• Putin in 2012 [1] stated, “Saying that Finland will surrender its right to act independently in the event it joins the western military alliance, Putin added that Moscow will respond to deployment of any NATO attack missiles based in the Nordic country.”
• Then in 2013, he threatened Finland with reoccupation [2] and
• In 2014 [3], “According to Andrej Illarionov, the President’s chief economic adviser from 2000 to 2005, Mr Putin seeks to create “historical justice” with a return to the days of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Soviet Union under Stalin.” Also from the 2014 story: “Parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership.”

So what does the world do with an individual who has delusions of grandeur, which is what it appears to me? Does the global community stand by twiddling its collective thumbs waiting to see what Putin does? Or does the world come together in sending a clear and definitive statement to Putin that he cannot cavalierly move his military into other countries with the belief that his predecessors were wrong in granting sovereignty and land to other countries – Ukraine, Finland, Belarus, etc.

Yes, the EU does get a large amount of fossil fuel from Russia but at some point, the world, especially the EU and its neighbors must put the pedal to the metal and show Putin how much solidarity there is in that hemisphere and that he cannot continue bullying countries because he has a larger military.

 

There will be some initial pain in putting up a strong cohesive front towards Putin but a bit of sacrifice early will likely quell any future problems – such as another military incursion into places like Georgia or Crimea.

 

Then too, it’s likely that Putin is desirous in occupying those areas of Ukraine for the vast energy reserves (gas and oil) below ground, within the Ukrainian eastern borders. He took Crimea for the naval base infrastructure currently in place.

 

And as for the U.S., no, we are not exempt from problems. We know that we have a good number of individuals in the U.S. that want to create problems like not paying taxes, attempts at secession in the state they live in and on and on (i.e. militia, sovereign citizens – for which their numbers grew when someone of a different color became President). There are multiple issues of a long list of problems in the U.S., such as gun violence, racial disparity (still), educational woes and on and on…

 

Our Global Future…

Education

We have to set a goal, one primary overarching goal – that of providing better, much better education to everyone around the globe. Yes, the education will have to be modified for whatever country but everyone should be educated, to learn to read and write and think for themselves. In providing ‘quality’ education, it will allow more people the chance to grow their own choices and make better choices for them and their families.

Of course this is not an easy task, we are still working on in many of the developed countries but we have to spread education and the tools to gain that education. If we do not, we will all have a bleak future. If people grow up ignorant and only see, hear and read selected teachings from their country’s education system or from a religious group, they do not grow and these people only see things through a possibly much distorted lens, lenses which could continue to cause anger and hatred and jealousy.

A lack of education amplifies ignorance and ill will.

Communication

We all need to make better efforts in communicating – “talking” – to each other. We need to find acceptable common grounds to meet on (such as peaceful coexistence). We need to talk to each other, not attempting to force one country’s belief on another or one’s religion on others.

We need to talk to each other and in doing so, we “must compromise” – no one can have everything they want. It is just not possible, without engendering hatred and violence.

Collaboration

We need more collaboration between all people, all nations! If the world continues on as it is with more nationalism growing in different countries, more secessionist attempts within countries, deepening of certain religious branches – we are going to end up in a world of separateness, with no one wanting to assimilate within a country’s borders. Nor will we have people looking past the ethnicity, race, religion of others, just because they are different – outsiders…

We will have a future plagued with more:

• Violence,
• Terrorists,
• Gangs – Mafia, Triads, Mafiya (Russia), Yakuza, MS13
• Nations hankering to take land from other country’s for water, mineral and energy within the other country (just because they have a bigger military),
• Etc., etc., etc. – I could go on all day 

We have to work together and help the weakest nations grow and begin to prosper. We have to do away with all the remaining dictators and corrupt President’s, in certain countries, along with their crony politicians and business leaders.

We have to do more.

 

Definitions

SME   Subject Matter Expert

 

References

1 – Finland will lose ‘sovereignty’ if joins NATO – Putin, http://rt.com/politics/putin-finland-nato-missiles-509/, 22 Jun 2012

2 – Putin threatens Finland with reoccupation, http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2013/03/15/17466.shtml, 15 Mar 2013

3 – Vladimir Putin ‘wants to regain Finland’ for Russia, adviser says, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-wants-to-regain-finland-for-russia-adviser-says-9224273.html, 30 Mar 2014

Successful Leadership! Part II

Successful Leadership

What it does not mean

What it ‘should’ mean

Role Model

Strategy 

Diligence, Conviction & Drive

Failure

Knowledge

Delegation

Seeing

Cognitive Diversity

Thinking

Examples of Successful Leaders

Communication

Understanding/Empathy

Respect

Listening & Feedback

Conclusion

 

SPOILER ALERT: This paper does not, in any fashion portend to include all there is in being a successful leader. Additionally, “successful leadership” and “successful leaders” are synonymous terms.

 

Successful Leadership

What it does not mean

It does not mean being dogmatic, on anything, with anyone! Sure, one has a right to think and believe what they desire but is that how you would choose to lead, successfully?

To me, this is a big topic and I wanted to include some definitions on being dogmatic as well as discuss it. We have far too many people who are of this bent, who are unwilling to actually ask questions or look something up (from multiple sources) to see if what they know is valid or not. And if it is not valid, then be able to learn from what they have discovered. They would rather try to bull their own, ill-conceived and incorrect conclusions on everyone around them…

From various dictionaries, the meaning of dogmatic:

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles…

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary

Asserting opinions in a dictatorial manner; opinionated

Collins English Dictionary

1a (of a statement, opinion, etc.) forcibly asserted as if authoritative and unchallengeable

1b (of a person) prone to making such statements

2 (Philosophy) of, relating to, or constituting dogma: dogmatic writings.

3 based on assumption rather than empirical observation

So, do you really want to be seen as that kind of leader…?

Being a successful leader also does not mean being a brow-beater or dictatorial in your everyday interactions with subordinates. And it certainly does not mean that you are a softie, caving in, meekly at every turn for every employee/follower’s demands.

Being a successful leader also does not mean that one is full of pretense and bluster or beats around the bush – or, if you will, blowing smoke up someone’s pant legs

What it ‘should’ mean

Being a successful leader ‘should’ mean that you are someone that others are intentionally willing to follow.

It should mean that you have the character and integrity to say ‘no’ as much as you do in saying ‘yes.’ It means, because of your integrity that you are known for your tactful (and maybe at times blunt) honesty with those around you. You want everything to be on an open and level playing field in your interactions with others, without giving away any secrets of course…

It should mean that you have courage, the courage to stand up for the weakest amongst your team as well as for your own convictions.

It should mean that you are willing be the leader, even with knowing the burden that will be placed upon your shoulders in assuming that leadership. It might even mean your gaining gray hairs and wrinkles from assuming that position…

Role Model

Congratulations, you are the role model for all those around you, are you up for it?

One thing is for sure; you definitely are not going to be going around stating “I am your role model, so follow me.” What you ‘will’ be doing is, well, just your job but doing it to the best of your ability, all day and “everyday!”

Being a role model is not something one turns on and off, it is simply something you do that others will want to emulate and take after you. There is no higher compliment than someone watching you, listening to you and then doing the same thing – to the best of their own ability.

A bonus – someone asking you to be their mentor would be quite the compliment…

The thing is, once people see you as a role model, you cannot let people down by going off (verbally or physically) on some weird tangent/shortcut against all reasonable expectations and doing something that makes no sense or is contrary to what you stand for.

You should want to be one who is setting the example of being good, if not the best; in everything you do rather than being someone who is of the ilk of mouthing the phrase “do as I say, not as I do.”

Successful leaders do the right thing (morally), as much as they can, whenever they can. For example, you do not engage in corporate espionage.

Strategy 

Successful leaders are full of commitment to or for a cause or project; they want to see that cause or project through to fruition, a successful culmination that makes everyone happy and feel good about the ensuing results. They have a strategy about success and some of that strategy has to do with drive, conviction, diligence, openness and cognitive diversity. No successful leader should be without these…

There are many more aspects to strategic success but are not all listed here. However, I have written about other aspects in the predecessor paper to this one.

Diligence, Conviction & Drive

A successful leader has a bullet proof and solid reputation of getting things done (and done very well) and doing so through their constant diligence and drive. This leader uses this diligence and drive in order to complete whatever strategic goal they have in front of them.

It is a sterling reputation if that leader’s conviction is well known to others for reaching a successful goal, not just for the task at hand but for their team, for their customers and for the company.

Successful leaders keep driving even in the face of adversity, i.e. – resource shortages, long, long days and/or tough conditions (no a.c. or heat or pressure cooker situations). Tough leaders pick up the slack whenever and wherever they can – they are not afraid to get their hands dirty.

Failure

A successful leader also learns from mistakes, learning as much as possible from what did not go right and then incorporating those corrections for the next iteration of effort. All without letting the failures break their spirit and drive.

This leader, man or woman, seeks to take what others view as abject failure and implements it into a strategy for continuing to be successful.

A successful leader adapts and learns – period.

Knowledge

A successful leader learns all the time, as much as possible looking for any new applicable and theoretical knowledge they can in order to become better. Anyone looking to be successful embraces this concept, learning to be better – always striving to be better informed and aware, learning from everyone they can, no matter who the other is. That other person can be a peer, subordinate or a stranger – it should not matter if the knowledge being acquired is true and worthwhile.

Delegation

A successful leader knows that they cannot do everything in their division or team nor can they afford to micromanage. Being successful means that that leader knows to delegate and trust their teams to get the mission, task or issue resolved.

Micromanagement is not a way to success – what it does do is cause anger, resentment and high levels of attrition.

Seeing

As part of any strategy, successful leaders use their eyes (and ears and brain and mind) to really see, not just look at, what is happening in front of them. They use theirs eyes to see what is now and what could be, if, if that leader engages their own resources and those of others to realize a successful goal.

Many people only look at things, objects, people and ideas at the surface level, while successful leaders make the extra effort to see what is below the surface, at the deeper layers to pull the true content and essence of whatever they are seeing for an advantageous goal or result.

Cognitive Diversity

A successful leader is one who has a broad background – culturally, educationally and work experience – to draw from in going forward. Having that broad background means the successful leader can be flexible and shift gears accordingly – all without too much pain or grief.

Then too, having a background that is strong due to their cognitive diversity means the successful leader is able to adapt – willingly and adroitly – to the vagaries of daily work life (or just life itself) for whatever situation is thrown their way, overcoming any obstacles that spring up, taking it (whatever occurs) in stride.

Cognitive diversity is not just for the leader but it also applies quite well to the peers and subordinates around that leader. The more cognitive diversity or experiences a person (or group) has, from across a very wide spectrum of life and work, it will mean that more

• Brain storming can be done
• Innovative solutions can be brought to bear to solve problems or snags in the workplace
• Forward thinking can take place in the group rather than the standard, staid, traditional isolated/insulated thinking that happens in many workplaces.

Thinking

Being a successful leader means that you absolutely must learn to think and think creatively at times, sometimes with ingenuity and innovation, vertically and even laterally (thinking outside the box). You must make time to think deeply and thoughtfully – you must find a quiet spot or a quiet time and do this.

You cannot be successful if you do not put enough brain power into being successful and as to how much, well, if only we knew that answer… But it is up to you to determine that answer, you have to commit to doing deep thinking as often as possible, to think through consequences, extrapolating into the future. Using data analysis (and/or vision analysis) software tools will help with your deep thinking success.

Examples of Successful Leaders

There are plenty of examples of excellent leaders using various modes of leadership and/or strategy to achieve their goals. Look at Eisenhower, Kennedy, Benjamin Banneker, Lincoln, Israel’s PM Golda Meir and even the first president, Washington – they all used their leadership in being successful. A couple of the strategies they employed were those of listening and collaboration, while at the same time not simply caving in to someone else being dogmatic on some issue.

Communication

Communication, in all of its various forms, is what we all need to work on and to improve to be become better at our everyday engagements with others. It means you have to:

• Listen better,
• Understand – or at least make huge strides in trying to understand better,
• Giving and receiving feedback to improve,
• Seeing what is in front of you and
• Be respectful, this point alone will pay dividends

Understanding/Empathy

Whoever works for and/or with you, you as a great leader will need to know that the old saying of “leave your home problems at home,” is not a valid saying. It is the rare individual who can compartmentalize that well to leave ‘all’ of their problems at home and only focus on work. It just is not that easy. An individuals’ problem(s) may be severely significant and will interrupt their daily productivity.

And rest assured, just because a leader exhibits empathy and understanding, it does not necessarily construe any negative meaning that the leader is weak or has no backbone.

You have got to be able to understand that from person to person, they all have varying needs and you will need to be able – and want – to work with them on an individual basis. It might mean giving them an early release for the day or half a day off to go work on their home problems. These individuals that you help, the smart ones, will be very appreciative of what you do for them and will be more productive down the road to show their gratitude.

Now, those individuals who are “not smart,” well they may attempt to abuse this time off from work. For these folks, they get one additional chance (in my eyes) before they are booted out of the company, before they waste too much of anyone else’s time at the company.

Respect

Being respectful of others, not just kowtowing to what they want you to respect, but just in making the attempt to be respectful moves people. They will notice, sometimes visibly notice it, while at other times, it is noticed subconsciously.

Being respectful to others means that you pay attention to the differences that may be present between you and the other person and try to accommodate the other. Sometimes you may not be able to understand the differences but you should try.

You need to be respectful of the other’s gender, age, race, culture background, their educational background, of whether they are a parent (especially a single parent) – to show you understand (without being in their shoes) what they are going through as they go through a rough workday.

Successful leaders respect all around them. It does not matter the other person’s rank or position, the other person could be a U.S. cabinet secretary or they could be a mailroom clerk; they could be someone older or younger; they could be a man or a woman. The point is, it should not matter who the other person is, as long as you give respect to the other person, respect due their position and respect towards them as another person.

Now, that does not mean that the successful leader kowtows to everyone. What I mean by that specific statement is that not everyone deserves respect simply because of their authoritative or senior position. That other person may be a heinous individual who gives short shrift to everyone else and holds their authoritative position through some Machiavellian machinations, which possibly means that the position was not gained honestly and fairly.

Respecting a person for whom they are “and” for the position they hold is a rare privilege and should only be afforded to those who deserve it. You do not just roll over for everyone.

Listening & Feedback

You have to learn the highly coveted skill of listening to those around you – period. What someone is talking about or discussing, it may very well be of little consequence to you and the company. But to that individual talking, it might mean a great deal and knowing that someone is ‘actively listening’ to them could mean the breakthrough to their personal logjam, allowing them to become highly productive workers.

Listening to others may also generate great ideas and solutions worthy of following up on, to break through some sticking point on the production line or in creating a Big Data algorithm that is more efficient in culling massive mounds of disparate data and generating lucrative monetized results.

Listening more than anything, means looking the talker in the eye and paying attention, absorbing what they say. It does not mean, moving your head left to right, looking for something else to grab your attention. If I am not mistaken, it would be very annoying to you when someone else does it to you, correct….?

Feedback, feedback, feedback – VERY critical, for everyone…

It should not matter who is involved or where or for what reason; good, solid feedback and constructive criticism is of paramount importance for everyone.

You want to be better at your job, right?

You want your staff to be better at their jobs too, correct?

Then feedback is needed. No one is exempt from not receiving feedback. It should never matter, as long as it is done respectfully and in the vein of helping to improve the other (or yourself), of who is giving/receiving the feedback.

It should not matter if the other person is older or younger, straight or gay, male or female, senior or subordinate, colleague or stranger, etc., etc., etc. As long as the feedback conversation is done openly, honestly, above-board, with no hint of malice and, again, with respect – then no one should have any problem with getting useful and beneficial critical feedback.

Giving or receiving this kind of feedback may hurt a bit at times but it has to be done to raise one’s abilities to a higher plateau or risk being stuck on the same plateau for months (or years), going nowhere.

Conclusion

There are quite a few things that make a successful leader but as I indicated previously, this paper only scratches the surface with a few of the long list of notable aspects.

A successful leader is also not afraid to say “I do not know.” This is a valid response because no one knows everything on every topic – no one is a subject matter expert on everything today, simply because there are too many topics with too much information for anyone to be that knowledgeable. Now, if there is someone like that, my hat is off to him or her.

Just because you do not know something is not necessarily a bad thing. But, if you do not know an answer to a question or issue, your very next statement should be “I will find out and immediately get back to you.” So do not fret or run yourself into the ground out of fear due to not knowing something. Do not be afraid to say you do not know – just go find the needed answers, the best possible answers.

A successful leader:

• Looks out for their subordinates – you are willing take the hit and the blame for failures and mishaps. On the other hand, you generously parse out shares of credit for jobs well done,
• Is willing to mentor and share knowledge and to help out when the need arises,
• Is tough when it is necessary, even if it hurts one or many of those around; it is something that has to be. But, just because that successful leader is tough, it should not mean that leader is not level-headed. The successful leader should be fair-minded in all of his/her dealings with everyone around them and ‘not’ playing favorites because of looks, or age, or race, or political leanings, or what college someone went to. Being fair-minded means what it is implied, being fair-minded,
• Thinks, continually, about the common good and goals for all, sometimes even at their own expense…

To those unaware, for which this will be a kicker, lastly and most of all – successful leaders and leadership does not require that one have any specific title to lead successfully. Anyone can be a successful leader through their actions, their words and with their heart – as long as whatever they do is true.

A successful leader will be apparent to those looking and observing, if that observer can take their own ego out of the equation…

Strategy, Brand & Innovation – Achievers, Problems and Headaches

Great strategy and fantastic innovation, two of the biggest ideas out there, yet they are so difficult and illusive to actualize.

 

Strategy      

Strategy in its simplest form is nothing more than taking what you know right now, or even after you’ve done your due diligence and research and looking at what the market and economy is like for your area – your region. Then, projecting down the road, three months, six months or two years to see what your possible outcomes could be. You are strategizing to see if you can be successful at some point in the future.

And, yes, you do have to consider who will be your competition. That competition could be other direct competitors or it could come from firms who could, once they see your success, create a new division within their organization solely to compete with your business.

Having a very good Predictive Analysis (or Visual Analysis) solution will help immeasurably with this effort so you can see what you can do using a good Dashboard component. But if you cannot get your hands on that kind of software, then good ole thinking and brain storming is going to be your salvation.

You have to take your thinking seriously, very seriously. And make no mistake about it – it will be some considerable thinking on your (and your team) part.

 As you go through your thought processes, you have to plan ahead as far as feasible, while considering the multiple, possible stumbling blocks you ‘might’ come across. Part of the problem however, is getting buy-in from others on the team or a champion/sponsor from management and/or the executive staff.

Sometimes however, you will come across people who will ‘only’ want to use their thoughts and ideas. And this may occur at times when that ‘other’ will know that they are in the minority or are just wrong in some venture.  These individuals may be part of a culture of people who do not want to collaborate or be part of a team – they just ‘might’ prefer to see only their name on this or that project and are not willing to share any credit.

Beware of people who:

 — Do not want to collaborate

 — Intentionally lie to you just to get your input and ideas and do not share the ensuing credit

 — Listen to you (to patronize you) and then just throw your ideas out the window while continuing on with their own ideas

On the other hand, “ALWAYS” look for people who ‘want’ to strategize and collaborate together to maybe work on some innovative ideas. These are individuals who:

 — Are always asking others for thoughts and ideas to see if they are beneficial for an ongoing project

 — Do share the credit of success

 — Are willing to take on new team members

 — Are willing to listen (more later on)

 

Thinking

But let’s talk about thinking for a moment.  Thinking is a significant section of everything you do and it desires its’ rightful place.  You must think about what people are telling you, think about what you see and read – then form your conclusions based on what you have gathered.

What you’ve gathered may be conjecture, fanciful thoughts, concrete examples and rock solid facts – they will all add up and it falls to you, and your team, to remove the chaff from the needed bits of data.

You will need to have some periods of quietness, amidst the chaotic storms of many open-pit workplaces today, to do your solid thinking, free of distractions and disruptions. Very, very few people, these rare folks, are able to concentrate and block out everything around them for hours at a time. You might need to go to a quiet zone, if you are lucky enough at your firm to have these, or outside to a meditation area (again, lucky). But if you do not have access to these kinds of areas, it makes it difficult to have “quality” periods of thinking. You may have to wind up going to the lunch room or cafeteria, taking some supplies (pen and paper for sure) with you to work with. When you do go to the cafeteria, you will need ear plugs… Lastly, you are going to have to break in other employees that you want to be left alone if they see you are working and not there to shoot the breeze.

 

Critical thinking    

Then there is the necessary area of critical thinking. Not only do you have to do some quality thinking about what you see, hear and read – you have to do critical thinking at times.

You have to think, not just from your own viewpoint but also from the perspective of someone else.  You will at times need to put yourself in the shoes of others and then see:

 — What are the pros and cons of making decision A or decision B or decision X?

— Or, can we afford this, can we not afford that?

— What are the effects tomorrow, next week or a year from now?

— Roadblocks – are there any impending blockages that could rear up in the form of recalcitrant or contrarian people, a work environment not conducive to success or the lack of available tools needed for staff to be successful in getting your product out the door

You have to consider, critically, how the surrounding environment of wherever you work or where your product is intended for – what will the ensuing effect on creating your product or finishing your product.

You have to consider who is going to receive your product, the environment of where that customer(s) works and what that customer does in their daily lives. You do not want to create something that does not jive with the customer(s) expectations. You have to create your product specifically with that customer in mind. You have to be critical in thinking about what goes into your product.  Will that customer want a:

  — High level product or one full of details – will they appreciate it if you give/sell them both versions

  — Glossy, slick product that is eye catching

  — Product with a good balance of images and info or no

  — Product with only the exact requirements they requested or do you take a risk and provide more – this is a fine line here and you had best know your customer in order to get them the product they want or believe they want

 

Listening

Yes, you absolutely must listen with serious consideration to everyone around you rather than with just giving others a miniscule amount of attention or lip service to what they are saying or putting forth.

You need to listen to the experts as they give you their learned advice but – you need to take that advice and information with a grain of salt. The reason is that there are experts and there are experts, each of them may have a different perspective as to their knowledge. Their advice may vary little from other experts or it may vary radically. Sometimes, they do come together for one conclusion on some topic.

Then, there are others who may not be an expert in that field but may still have valuable information to share if you are willing to listen. It may be enough to tilt an entire decision process because that person may have sparked an even better idea.

Listening is an art form. If you look someone in the eye and are giving them your undivided attention as you listen to them – well, that makes you a winner. People want to be heard, even if you listen to them for two minutes. Those two minutes might mean the world to them and yes, the two minutes may have to come out of your busy schedule…

 

Creativity & Innovation

What can I say here?  Hmmmm…. 

How about this?  You have to push yourself to think differently. You have to recognize that you will need to get out of your comfort zone to gather ideas which could be counter to what you are used to.

You have to think of ways you can improve the work you are doing, the way you are doing it and how you engage with others in getting yours AND their tasks completed.  Sometimes you can gen up multiple ideas on your own – if you have a broad world view and have been exposed to many things throughout your life. But it may not be easy at first as you try to breech those thick, built up walls that have congealed over a lifetime.

You just need to start looking at things differently, thinking of ‘What if’ for what you see. Go watch a sci-fi movie or a zombie flick and let your mind wonder and ponder the possibilities of what you can take away from that movie, in using some piece of some scene you saw.

Or go to a park and watch how people go about their lives and look for something that someone is doing and see if a light bulb goes off in your head.

Get outside your usual zone and become serendipitous – visit other web sites you don’t normally go to, watch news programs you never go to in order to gain different perspectives, listen to some of the various shows on
TED or TEDx (science, sci-fi, educational, art, music, global environmental issues) – or go to museums to see what can spark your fancy to get your juices flowing…

You simply have to work at generating ideas – as many ideas as you can. Many good (and bad) useful and beneficial products come out of this cornucopia of ideas. It does not matter if they are good or goofy, as long as you generate them. Sooner or later one or three of them will be something worthwhile.

Being creative or innovative means you are not constrained to some previous idea and you only want to stick with it because you, YOU, are comfortable with it. That or your bosses are the ones who are holding things back… You have to have divergent thinking or be willing to work at having divergent thoughts and ideas to see what shakes loose from that money tree.

 

Image          

I include image because the idea that one “must” dress up in a suit and a tie, or skirt, blouse and jacket combo to be professional, well, I just find it preposterous (yep, an archaic and ancient word but it is one that is most apt).

One can be a successful professional in jeans and t-shirts, yes, you really can. But not torn jeans, fishnet t-shirt or tank tops.

It is about what you, you as an individual, convey in your mannerisms and your attitude as you go about getting things done and working with others. Clothing is only a small part of who you are. If others are focused on how you dress and how you look (good looks versus less than good looks) rather than how well you perform – the person doing the looking (and judging) is losing out on your productiveness and what your company can gain. Hopefully of course, you are not dressing up as a bum or a punk in ratty, torn clothing…

It is up to the company to convey to the customers how important your productivity is to the firm, more than how well you can dress – that makes the firm so successful.

 

Brand

In addition, it is also about your brand, your own brand – your reputation.  It is about how credible you come across to others in your professional and personal life. If you manage to come across with the attitude of:

 — Being confident, 

— Getting the job done,

— Being aggressive (not overbearing aggression) and

— Doing what you say you can do (and then doing a bit more than promised)

you will “always” be successful in making your image that much more credible and marketable.

If you are a productive and successful individual, it should never matter whether you are:

  — Older

  — Younger

  — Male or female

  — Of a different race or culture

  — Not as attractive

  — Gay or straight or even if

  — You talk differently (accent or not as educated as others)

None of these traits should matter if you are successful or if you show you are a high caliber worker / employee / staff member / team member. All that matters is if you can successfully engage with others or if you are willing to try to engage, continually trying to engage…

While you, the individual, have made your own brand successful, you in turn, will also make the firm you work for successful. That simply adds to a favorable brand for the firm…

 

Bottom Line

The bottom line is, is that you are all successful. Some people are more successful than others, in all kinds of situations. But to me, the most successful people are those who help others become successful. The successful bring others along with them on the successful ride, with the clear hopes and aspirations that it will continue for a long, long time.

All aboveboard, free of any and all subterfuge, free of any chicanery that many like to foist on others.

Being smart and/or having an Ivy League education are only part of the battle in strategy and innovation. You can have community college level education and still be successful. It is also about how you use what you know, what your team mates know and what the community knows of which you can borrow from mistakes already encountered and of knowledge already gained and put it to use in your firm.

Do not let the idea of you ‘not’ being creative or innovative slow you down; this is only a minor obstacle or problem you need to overcome. If you work at it, it will happen. You can be an achiever, you just need to work at it and show it in whatever you do. Failing at some task or project is only a minor impediment (or it should be). What is important is that you learn from that failure so you don’t do it again but can put it to great use the next time around.

Value

Value, or some method of valuation, is what should be the end result. You should show something that everyone can see the value of, even if others cannot see the value tomorrow – they may see it for what it is worth next month or next year.

However, sad as it is to say, it would be best if others can see the value of your strategic and innovative efforts tomorrow.

Successful Leadership

Strategy 

Creativity

Leadership

Type A individuals

Communication

Respect

Leaders

 

Successful Leadership

What does it take to be a successful leader eh? Is it being:

• autocratic,
• dictatorial,
• never listening to anyone but yourself or
• looking down your nose and patronizing everyone else

The answer as you might well know – is none of the above.

 

Being a successful leader encapsulates many, many things, too many to enumerate here. I am only including some of the more well-known and best indicators, in my eyes that is, from years of watching and observing other successful leaders.

Many people have written books on this topic and I only wanted to jot down brief notes on this. I do know there is far more that could have been included here.

 

Strategy 

Successful leaders need strategies to remain such a person for years to come. The best strategy is to listen to those around you, which is the very reason why you hired others.

• Listening is the best medicine (strategy) but you could possibly adapt but you have to do it judiciously and with an open mind. You should listen, intently, to what others have to say but you must take everything with a grain of salt and judge whether what you heard makes any kind of sense and is potentially useful. You do not just dismiss everything others tell you. Listen to your junior staff members as well as your more experienced members – they just might surprise you with a relatively new or unique way of solving a problem or improving a product line.
• Collaboration (a very favorite theme of mine) – a lot of folks talk a good game about this and working together with others but don’t wholeheartedly and actually follow through in the mistaken belief that they do not need anyone else to be successful, as if they always know the answers and solutions to problems/issues. Surprise, you do not, no one knows all the answers and here is where I say again, go back to the first bullet in this section – listen to others. But when you do collaborate, share the credit, better yet, parse out that credit to all the other members, let them have the lime light for the success and on the flip side, take the fall for failures – shield your team, your company from the bad spotlight, protect them.
• Learning from failure – this one goes without saying or it should. We do not just become successful by being lucky, we also become successful when we fail and learn from that failure. As a leader, you have to let people fail and hope they ‘do’ learn from that failure rather than failing time after time and not learn anything, causing a serious loss of operating expenses… People sometimes need to fail and you, the leader, may have to bite your tongue and let it happen
• Stop being reactive and try very, very hard to be proactive in all matters. Getting ahead of the curve, in as many areas as possible, is the best scenario to undertake.
• Being innovative in as many ways as possible to boost your firms bottom line will show significant dividends in ways you may not have forecasted. Yes, you may have to spend more money upfront but – do you want to ‘not’ spend money upfront and waste your staff members’ productivity? If you provide for more ergonomic chairs, keyboards, more powerful PCs, better networking infrastructure (100Gbps links, better WAN optimization, document de-duplication [instead of everyone sending and resending the same doc to each other wasting bandwidth and server space], better lighting [full-spectrum instead of the mind and soul sapping depressing yellowish florescent and dull white] – I can just keep going on this one. Being innovative also means, for the brave, being disruptive to gain that edge – not reckless disruption but disruptive innovation that brings good, solid exponential growth
• Being innovative might even mean, treating your staffs to surprise breakfast pastries now and then to perks such as training classes [the good classes and not just the plain vanilla boring CBTs they already know and not helpful to their careers]
• Being empathetic to others who work for and with you is another perfect strategy – and not being standoffish, aloof or whatever else you may believe yourself to be
• Look for creative sparks in others – in addition to when you are attempting to ignite creative juices of your own. Many believe they not do have that potentiality of being creative at times but they do, they all do. They, or you, just do not know what that moment of creativity will occur. You have to go with the flow and let serendipity take its course and encourage creativity

 

Creativity

Light up your creative juices and bring along all of the cognitive diversity skills that you can bring along. I mention this in the preceding section; get the creative juices flowing in your teams. Try to get them (and you too!) to be thinkers as well as doers in solving problems.

If you see people at their desks with their eyes closed, please don’t automatically assume they are sleeping… They might be trying to get to a sweet spot of thinking and creativity for whatever they are working on.

As it is, many, if not most, firms do not have quiet rooms or nap rooms where employees can take a break to get rejuvenated, away from hectic and chaotic environments.

 

Leadership

Leading is about listeningand being in charge, smartly.  It is about communication, insight, respect, integrity and ethics.

Leading is also about courage and by this I mean a leader must be willing to learn from others around him/her (I’ll just be using ‘his/he’ after this point). It is about being the ‘buck actually does stop here’ when things go wrong. Then too, it is about sharing the credit when things go right! Leading is about setting the right example! If you do a good job, those around you may like it and will attempt to emulate the examples you are setting. Trust me on this count, it does work – just do a good job. Don’t tell people to do what you do, just do a good job and others will likely follow your example(s).

Yes, you are the leader but, if you as a leader cannot learn from those around you, believing that you know all the answers – you have already failed. No one knows all the answers and you should not be afraid to listen and learn from those around you. This is your team. They are your backstops, just as you are theirs. You must also not blow smoke, beat around the bush, mislead or lie about things going on that affect your team, your customers. I am not saying your team is always right, of course not but, they may have an aspect that you could use. They, or you, may have an insight that could be useful for that project, that task or some effort down the road.

Being a good to great leader means being a thought leader too. You are what you present to the company, to your teams and to the public. It is in your demeanor, your character – the way you hold your head up when you walk and look others in the eye. And being loud, brash and outspoken is not always the best way of leading – many successful leaders are quiet and understated…

Being a successful leader means that you are not afraid to listen to those who may be smarter than you, in multiple areas, yet you still listen to their input. And it should not matter who these folks are, whether they: have a different sexual preference than you do, are older/younger, nerds, of a different race or male or female. They all have a voice and a voice that might mean the difference to success for the organization.

Being a leader means that your handshake and word is your bond – at least that is what it means to others I have encountered over the years and for myself. It is too bad that so many people around the world have sullied that aspect, reducing it to lip service, rendering it meaningless in lots of circles.

By this I mean those folks who say they have an MBA to gain a leadership role in some firm when they do not, they only lied about it and were eventually found out later. Or those who state they have a Masters’ or even a Doctorate when they only made it up and printed out the certificates at home. These individuals make promises that they have no intention of keeping or knowing full well that they cannot come close to some successful agreement. These people are simply braggarts.

You may have read or heard me talk about integrity and ethics before (many times) but I cannot emphasize these enough. These two are corner stones of what makes an individual and leaders specifically must have these two aspects. To me, they are not only corner stones but are the foundational bedrock of a person.

For the time being, as we all observe daily, we still have ethics issues around the country… In all levels of life!

 

Type A individuals – we don’t always need or want an individual who will drive themselves into the ground, or worse, drive those around them into the ground needlessly (or worse still – intentionally). Sure, some of them end up being very successful, while many do not. And look at the cost of these folks.

Many of us have seen and worked for this type of person. We have far too many Type A’s ruining the lives of others or causing those team members to leave that company for what is hopefully a better workplace elsewhere. These Type A’s are individuals who think they know all the answers while no one else does. Or that no one else really matters. To these Type A’s, the end goal is everything – no matter what transpires in getting to the goal.

As a result, the staff working for that leader may end up providing answers the leader wants to hear and not the answers that should have been provided. Just to keep the leader happy.

Why can’t we have more Type A leaders who actively use moderation? We need leaders who are willing to critically listen to feedback and possible answers and use that information, not just toss it out when that team member leaves the room. We need leaders that can recognize when they are stressing out their team and others around them. We need leaders that can recognize when to slow activities down and when there is the need to move things along a bit faster.

 

Communication

All good leaders have got to learn or know how to communicate, whether it is speaking or writing – a good leader has “got” to know how to communicate to the team; subordinate, equals and that person’s own leadership.

Good communication means that that leader conveys valuable, timely and effective information to all who needs it by ensuring that:

a) The communication has “got” to include enough nuances to ensure the message is coming across as intended.

b) That leader knows his audience and is aware of how he crafts his message(s) to ensure it is received as intended (see below).

c) That leader needs to determine how best to craft and send his message because some people in the audience prefer written information, while others prefer getting that same info verbally – or even visually.

Sometimes, saying more is too much. Sometimes, saying too little is bad. The point is, one has to be aware when one is talking too much as well as being aware when the message is not coming across to the various levels of the audience.

By that last statement, I mean that, as much as is possible, one has to know who they are addressing;

1) Educational levels of the audience,

2) Cultural backgrounds,

3) Age ranges,

4) Economic levels,

5) Gender

6) Etc.

Sometimes, delivering bad news info requires that a leader will also need to know how to do that eloquently, elegantly, respectfully and with dignity…

 

Then we come to Respect.

Respect is a two way street but it has to be earned. I personally am happy with everyone using first names, regardless of titles, as long as everyone respects the position they are in and that others hold. Respect should be earned and not used without any forethought.

I ‘do’ realize these are my own observations and desires but they are ideas and ideals I prefer. As a result, I continually try to get those around me to try to follow these principles:

a) Show respect to each other, and yourself, as much and as often as possible – do not take others for granted,

b) Listen, constantly and consciously, not as an afterthought,

c) Show courage, especially when you have failed in some task or endeavor – you only learn from your mistakes, you ‘must’ learn from your mistakes to grow

d) Provide insight, useful insight, whenever possible to ongoing tasks – use some of that cognitive diversity that each of us has (we all have different learning’s, different backgrounds and different experiences) that can prove beneficial and most of all

e) Leaders encourage others to speak up, especially the shy team members, the non-confident team members so their voices too can be heard.

 

Leaders

Leaders also know right from wrong – or they should, even though we continue to see so many leaders in the news around the world with their hands in the cookie jar or doing something so egregiously wrong.

We probably need more ethics classes, not just in college but in high school, junior high and likely, even grade school. It should be a mandatory class/course – and repeated a couple of times along the educational track, using real world examples. And yes, I need to say it, we need to expand ethics classes/courses in the workplace – private companies, city, state and federal organizations too, that is, those not currently doing so.
Successful leaders are not made up of liars and those who do not give 100% of themselves. These successful leaders engage and share and collaborate (yep, I used it again) and they look to the future and not just the right here and right now…

GREAT leaders have ethics and character and useful charisma, the type that encourages others from all walks of life to follow them without asking them to. Not the fake charisma where the individual in question is only looking out after their fortunes and not helping others.

GREAT leaders tell you the truth, even when it is bad news. GREAT leaders make time to talk to the mail room clerks, the front desk receptionist and even have good words with the cleaning staff.

GREAT leaders treat all those around them with dignity and respect because others are people too, people who like being respected and listened to.

GREAT leaders help others become successful.