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This is the prevailing thought for the moment after hearing a disturbing tale today that emanated from a place I once enjoyed being. It prompted me to think about myself, the people around me and how we all inter-relate. Just what IS the difference between a leader and an alpha male?

In order to truly define a difference, one would have to define each role. In providing my own such definition, there would naturally be a backlash of subjective debate from those who may disagree with my assessment. However, I would feel less than effective if I allowed myself to concede the argument. Of course, those who know me and understand me know very well the source of this speculation and introspection on my part. Some might even disagree. It would be quite arrogant of me to state that such disagreement is wrong. What I CAN say is that my thoughts on the matter are well formulated and well-thought out and, at the very least, are deserving of consideration.

Alpha male, being a concept more than a specific entity, is difficult to clearly define. In its broad definition (as summarized in the Wikipedia article for “Alpha (biology)”) is “…the individual in the community to whom others follow and defer.” The typical implication is that the alpha male leads by dominance. In nature, this dominance is purely dictated by physical superiority. In our modern climate and culture, there is still a certain remnant of this pure physical dominance, however, there is the added intellectual factor: dominance dictated by position of authority or power.

In its purest definition, a leader is one who leads….more specifically, one who leads a group or activity. As it applies to discussion in our current culture, this word has taken on a more detailed inference: a leader is one who leads WELL. This opens doors to even further speculation on what it means to lead WELL. In my estimation, an effective leader is one who is naturally respected by his/her peers and leads the group or activity to its best possible outcome. There are any number of leadership styles at play in the world we live in. Some more effective than others and some that leave you wondering how and why an individual might have come to their level of power. This latter curiosity is what really fuels this discussion.

Human beings are creatures of volition. We each have our own motives and agendas that drive us and map out the routes that we take. A leader not only acknowledges this volitional tendency, but actually respects and attempts to work within the constraints of each individual’s own volitional fiber. The alpha male, in being driven purely by dominance would not do this.

A leader does not command respect. A leader EARNS respect. The alpha male EXPECTS it. Even the select few who tend to follow the alpha male do not respect the alpha male on the sole basis of being the alpha male. Respect must still be earned.

A leader does not automatically assume that he/she is right. A leader will continually make efforts to improve, acknowledging his/her own weak points. The alpha male has theoretically already proven to be superior and typically does not see the need to seek such improvement.

A leader will NEVER ask of another what the leader would not be willing to do him/herself. The results of going into battle on behalf of someone who is unwilling to fight will never match the level of going to battle with one who fights beside you. The alpha male may or may not be this person. More often than not, the alpha male would not deem it necessary to go into battle with subordinates, opting to watch from afar.

A leader MOTIVATES his/her subordinates into action, rather than demanding. The alpha male demands it.

More than anything, a leader holds a strong conviction. A leader does not look to his/her subordinate in ANY situation to say: I can’t help you. There are a wide variety of scenarios that this may apply to, but for purposes of simplification there are only two:

1) The subordinate is inaccurate or has missed some crucial point. In this scenario, a leader guides the subordinate’s thought process to the appropriate conclusion with logical evidence and reason.

2) The subordinate is accurate and has a valid request. In this scenario, a leader who says “I can’t help you” has turned their back on someone who is dependent on them for guidance and supervision. The leader has failed the individual and the group by placing him/herself in a position of powerlessness. The fallout from such a failure is manifested in a variety of ways. First and foremost, the leader will lose the respect, at the very least, of that one individual. More often than not, people being the great communicators that they are, the leader will lose the respect of the group. Further, this understanding that the trusted leader is now a powerless figure is almost guaranteed to de-motivate the subordinate and/or group of subordinates.

What comes into play in the second scenario are nested leadership structures. Each leader has their own leader all the way up the chain of command. Though the leader at the first level may not be the point of failure, somewhere up the chain is a leader that has failed miserably. Additionally, in everything that we do there  are tasks that we are expected to perform by our leaders and leadership groups. While being held accountable for these tasks, others must be held equally accountable, else the balance of respect within the group is shaken and fragile. When an individual within the group proves to be the most productive, this individual should be rewarded or, at the very least, should be afforded the respect that goes along with being the most productive. If a massive disparity in production is demonstrated within the group, the subordinates who are grossly underperforming MUST be held accountable. If this lack of performance is treated as the status quo it WILL become the status quo. If performance is not rewarded, it will NOT become the status quo.

The alpha male will fail to acknowledge performance within the group. The group will perform simply as a side-effect of the alpha male’s dominance. Thus, an individual who is placed in a leadership role who exhibits the tendencies of the alpha male, demanding performance without motivating subordinates to perform, will ultimately fail to produce the best result. It should be noted that dependent on the strength of the individuals within a group or team, they may, by default, produce the EXPECTED result. But, they will never produce the best result. Over time, the alpha male mentality will ultimately thrust a group into a state of perpetual decline and performance will eventually fade to nothing.

While I won’t complain about having to overcome the adversity of being somewhat awkward and unusual, I will never understand the prevailing mentality that I was somehow at fault for others promoting mediocrity and shooting performance square in the face. I am guilty of one thing and, even for that I! AM! NOT! WRONG! (never was) I am guilty of being thoroughly repulsed and disgusted by the perpetuation of a culture of mediocrity, particularly by those I respected and expected the most of. The fact that they still fail to comprehend the accuracy of my own perspective is not only perplexing, it is actually relatively disturbing.

What is most intriguing is how someone who was a respected and trusted leader within a group could so quickly become a corrupt alpha male politician. I’d chalk it up to youth and a singular perspective, but that’s really no excuse. Even more intriguing is how others could be so blind to such a disturbing turn. Either way, it spreads like a plague and only perpetuates the eventual decline of a group that used to be functional and effective. They might do what you say out of fear for their own livelihood , but they won’t respect you and they won’t produce for you until you start rewarding productivity and show even the slightest appreciation and respect for your colleagues and subordinates.

I wrote a post about a week or two ago regarding the ever-escalating price of gas that, in retrospect, was a bit unfounded based on things that I’ve read and come to understand recently. Being who I am and in trying to keep up with my own sense of social responsibility, I feel it is necessary to make my own retort. I will leave the original post online and untouched in the name of demonstrating intellectual growth and progress.

I’m frustrated. Like everyone else, I see a four dollar price figure on the display at the pump and it is almost enough to make me want to vomit. As with all things, there are market forces in effect and each and every one of us has to be responsible and informed when making judgments and passing along word of mouth information.

I hear rumblings everywhere of how horrible the gas companies are and how they are reaping the benefits of this market trend towards escalated gas prices. And there can certainly be a case made for that argument, given that their profit margins are based on a percentage of the overall price we pay at the pump. However, if you break it down, our first and PRIMARY culprit in all of this is OPEC and the Oil Producing companies in the Middle East. These prices are set and regulated by the per gallon prices that have been dictated by the OPEC market for oil. When the overall cost of a barrel of oil increases, so too does the overall price for a gallon of gas that comes from our domestic refineries. A side effect of that is an equilateral increase in profit margins for our gas companies here, however, that overall profit margin is significantly overshadowed by the profits our own government generates in taxation on this alleged “luxury good”.

By the percentages, to my understanding, 81 percent of the overall price of a gallon of gas goes to the oil producers in the Middle East. Obviously, this being the root source of the basic elements, in market terms, this would make sense. Another four percent of that overall price goes to the gas company (Exxon, Mobil, et al). Keep in mind, this is not their pure profit margin……operating costs have to be taken into account. That leaves 15 percent of the overall cost of a gallon of gas. Where does that fifteen percent go? The US Government. In taxation dollars. So if the current rate is a flat four dollars per gallon of gasoline, that means the US Government is taking in 60 cents for every gallon of gasoline that we put into our cars, as opposed to the 30 cents per gallon they were taking in just a year or two ago (and even less, previous to the start of this trend).

So while we can maintain our criticisms of the gas companies for their role in all of this, we also need to look at EVERYONE who is accountable. This leads me to MY biggest question (being a firm believer in minimalistic government): where is that significant increase in revenue that our own government is taking in going? While that money is being sucked out of our economy like water from a cactus, it would be nice to know what grand endeavors our care-taking government is planning…..it really would.

But there’s more. We have solutions to this problem. Why can we not drill our own deposits in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska? Oh, that’s right…..because it would thoroughly destroy our environment. Wait, Cuba is already drilling the Gulf of Mexico just 75 miles off the coast of Miami. In effect, what we have done, in economic terms, by being idealistic and (as I like to call it) PseudoGovernmentEMO, is taken ourselves out of a strong revenue generating market and put this into the hands of third-world countries that we have had a less than stellar history with- many of which tend to employ political systems that center around fascism and tyranny.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not in support of just arbitrarily destroying the very ground we walk on. Nothing could be farther from the truth. However, in times of economic crisis, it’s important to seek out, through standard market initiatives and practices, solutions to a greater overall problem that is having a more immediate impact. This is most certainly one of those times. Already, with talk of opening drilling operations here, Saudi Arabia has announced plans to increase production in response. The last thing OPEC wants to see is a new market for oil open up here, in a place where we tend to do things more methodically and efficiently.

I’m a firm believer in allowing the market to function as an independent entity. What we tend to do when we force the hand of a market is put a band-aid on a short-term problem while creating bigger, more wide-spread problems in the long term. One could make an argument that I am sitting here supporting grand government action in the name of fixing a short-term problem. What I’m actually seeking is for our government to reverse an action it had taken prior and allow a new and lucrative economic market to open up on our own soil and share some of the wealth that we have basically spoon-fed to the Middle East through years of inactivity.

This is one bright shiny possibility in what, to some, seems like the most grim times we have ever faced (commentary on the doomsday culture we currently live in withheld). The other bright and shiny spot (for all those nature lovers out there) is that this untimely and temporarily straining wrinkle in the market has opened our eyes to the fact that we have the power at our fingertips to seek out alternative energy resources. Already, some of the major manufacturers of Sport-Utility Vehicles have announced plans to pull some of their most gas-hungry products off of the market in direct response. Consumers are seeking out alternatives in the way of hybrid vehicles and alternative methods of transportation. Just the other day I spoke with a co-worker who has taken to riding his bicycle to work. The amount of money he is saving himself, when you think about (and, let me tell you, I have) is unreal.

To put the cost in perspective……driving to and from work five days a week, in addition to my own personal travel, generally takes up about three tanks of gas every two weeks (granted, this is the evil SUV-driver in me talking). My tank can hold 17 gallons of gas at four dollars a tank, which equates to 68 dollars per tank. Multiply this by the three tanks that I fill up with in  a given two week period and that sum total comes to 204 dollars. For those of us in that middle class demographic, this equates to anywhere between 10 and 20 percent of our total take home. It’s a drain to be sure.

But my overall point is, while it sucks right now, there are lights at the end of this long and winding tunnel and a stabilizing wind might just be blowing us in a direction of future progress.

It seems the value of oil has far surpassed that of gold and it becomes increasingly more difficult not to join the doomsday generation as I see gas prices soaring to levels that are exponentially greater than they were just a couple of years ago. And if only it were gas prices that change…….wages decrease, job availability decreases, the price of milk increases and the economy as a whole stalls.

If only I had hope that any of these fine specimens of Presendential Candidates were going to be anything other than a waste of our time, I might be less concerned. But, no….I’m concerned. We’re entering a crisis unlike any we’ve ever experienced before. And with a continual escalation in prices, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is nowhere in sight. I can see the effects in the nightly news. Acts of violence committed out of pure desperation where before, our violence hungry news media thrived on stories of violence that was grounded in pure greed, alpha male showmanship or general disregard for order.

And it sends me into fits of intellectual thought and introspection. I mean, we are supposed to be an advanced race of people……intelligent enough to overcome our physical inferiorities and to create a world of technological and philosophical advancement. Yet we seem to continually chase ideals that have ramifications that we tend to ignore. Lost is the concept that a healthy economy is driven by the small business……localized economies that feed each other and are focused in direction by individualism and a complete lack of the collective mentality that dilutes and stifles corporate America. Yet we still seem to cling to the idea that government can rule and regulate a healthy economy, regardless of how archaic and false this notion is. Seriously……we regulate business with the mindset that said regulation will tear down the fabric of a Corporate economy, when in reality, the Corporate entities are the only ones who can afford to keep pace with regulated business practices.

I am reluctant to call myself a Republican, because I do not want to be classified amongst the neo-Republican dirt that has scarred the surface of what Republicanism ever was or ever meant. Yet in all reality, I am a classical Republican. A Madisonian Republican. A true believer in “Laissez Faire” Capitalism and a free and open market economy. Where did this economy go?

And yet I sit here hopeful that our government will intervene into our current gas crisis. My greatest fear has become my only hope and I think that bothers me more than anything. I do not want, nor do I condone, government interference. Yet, it seems that government interference, in the short term, at the very least, is the only way to stop the bleeding.

I’ve even lent credibility to the argument that gas prices remained well below the rate of inflation for quite some time. I fielded that argument and accepted it as reality until we surpassed the two and a half dollar mark. We are so far removed from that point that my sixty-seven dollar tank of gas makes my ass pucker a bit. Seriously. I cringe at the pump.

I’m at a point where I’m almost ready to take action. Problem is, each of us as individuals within this crisis economy are fairly helpless to change much of anything. And yet the pumps in Texas keep churning up oil for us to store away or, better yet, send to Iraq to save our military the expense of paying Middle East prices for oil.

If anyone at all has a viable and realistic action plan on this, I’m all ears, because I really can’t stand the thought that we might be facing a crisis that will have lasting effects for the remainder of our lives. Again, I’m trying not to join the doomsday generation, but my spoiled American ass has some concerns……..

7:34 PM - Ego
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life

It’s funny. I’m sitting here on a Monday afternoon…..St. Patrick’s Day…..all is quiet after delivering my roomie to the Urgent Care facility and all I can think about is this unfortunate election that is on the horizon.

It saddens me. There was a brief time when I thought a choice between Al Gore and George Dubya Bush was the worst thing that could possibly happen. There was. Briefly. Until now.

Mind you, I’m fully anticipating a complete and total thrashing by those of you who are mesmerized and entranced by these savage and mindless clowns who are competing in this circus called Election 2008. I know you’re out there. I know you’re going to read this and the temptation to reply to this and completely ridicule my stance on the subject is going to be far too great to overcome. I accept that. And others of you who are as sick to your stomach as I am will come on here rejoicing in sorrowful song with me. I accept that too. But it changes nothing.

What I wonder is how many people are going to vote for a candidate, not out of love for said candidate, but out of spite for the opponent. And this is the sad reality……that we can produce NOTHING to challenge the empty black soul that will ultimately win this thing in the name of power and greed. Is there not one amongst us who is charismatic enough……honorable enough……and intelligent enough to deliver us from the darkness of expanded government and imposed morality into a light of prosperity? Not one amongst us who has the will and the good, not of the majority, but, rather, of our reality as human beings to stand strong against the growing tide of Kantian philosophy, hedonism and excess?

In conjunction with this forthcoming election, there are events and actions I have seen in my work that have brought a principle to mind. And I just need to get it out there…….bear with me……you might like this one……

Many people will say that ego is the downfall of man. And, to an extent, I would almost agree. But then it dawned on me. It’s not the fact that the ego exists……the ego is natural……a product of our existence as rational and intellectual beings. The problems arise when one’s ego becomes larger than the process they’re involved with. Be it politics, careers, relationships……this applies to everything. Look at divorce rates. I say this. And, again, I’ll probably be burned at the stake for saying such a thing…….but our egos have gotten so inflated that they overshadow everything we were trying to achieve.

I remain optimistic that, as with every fluctuation in the flow of the universe, there will be a reverse trend. There was light (relative) at the end of the Dark Ages. And there will be light again at the end of this time. But why are we so resistant to what should be obvious?

I have had intelligent human beings denounce science….science as a full and complete entity…….because science is not aligned with the tenets of Christianity. It pains me. Not that they don’t agree with me. Rare are two human beings whose belief systems are perfectly in sync. Rather, because they are intelligent enough to create, build and grow businesses and fortunes, yet they don’t allow themselves the capacity to open to very real and tangible possibilities.

And this is why we’re stuck in a cess pool of election mediocrity. Not ego in itself. But ego that is larger than the process.

Can we change it?

I got into a conversation with a total stranger today and it was somewhat inspiring, albeit quite depressing. what happened to this country? were we not founded on basic principles of limited government and capitalism? it has gotten to a point where corporate greed has intermingled with flawed socialist counter-action and mired us in a desperate situation where the blue-collar workforce and small business have been diminished in favor of a top-heavy economic heierarchy.

i have to believe that thomas jefferson and james madison would be proud of what this country has become to this point, but would look on the past 40-60 years with skepticism. and they would certainly view the past twenty as an outright failure. as housing costs and gas prices are sky-rocketing, corporate figureheads are padding their pockets and stagnating the economy. damn the war. our situation is in a much more precarious position state-side and is in need of a major overhaul. but what can we do?

the lobby in this country is out of control. every law and every bill that is passed in our legislative system adds figures to the cost of doing business. with each figure added, small business is placed in a position to struggle and fail. those that do succeed are forced to nickel and dime their work-force nearly into poverty. the divide between the upper and middle class thus grows wider.

and yet we, the middle class, the majority in this country, continue voting the same crooked, every man for himself politician into office that we can. so is the solution to turn to third-party candidates? it seems that third-party has come to mean the same thing, only slightly modified. they still want to over-legislate and over-regulate. and the one party that has a solid platform for returning the economy to small business has squandered their chances by allowing anarchists to over-run their walls and their image to become tarnished with an anti-drug war sentiment.

i want a voice. i want to champion the cause of entrepreneurship, small business, the working class. but in a way that works FOR the cause, not against it. unions merely agitate and aggravate the issue, with labor costs being passed on to the consumer, thus negating any positive gains for the working class. forced legislation against employers only favors corporate entities, being the only organizations that can afford to meet the steep demands of said legislation. but where do i find this voice if my peers continue down a path of apathy and compliance?

our oil-tycoon president and his pals ignore our pleas for a reprieve from heavily escalated gas prices. and yet this is a complicated issue that reeks of controls and incentives. we have been spoiled up until this point with gas prices that have not escalated in parallel with the rising rate of inflation. but the disparity has been doubled in the past two years, if not tripled. and with talk of prices rising to as much as $4.00 a gallon at the pump, when do we say enough is enough? and this issue affects the average american consumer in multiple ways. we pay for it at the pump. we will eventually pay for it, if we haven’t already, in escalated shipping prices for goods and services.

i have to know: have we all gone mad? is it to a point where the only people who can realistically run for public office are the ones who have the funds to not only back campaigns, but also pay for public relations machines that keep their public images free from tarnish?

and how many people are quick to blame “capitalism” when what we are seeing is a system that has been bled of its energy source and has come to resemble a hodge-podge or a melting pot of every economic system possible?

am i alone in my frustration? am i alone in feeling compelled to accept the social norms of silent acquiescence and a life of perpetual credit hell?

in order to sustain a healthy economic status, the money must continue to flow freely amongst the consumer masses and industry. but in our current state, our pockets have been sewn shut. add to everything above, a technology sector that saw a significant drop-off in the early part of this decade and you have a multi-headed monster bearing down on us.

i’d like to see a light at the end of the tunnel. i’d like to have a voice. i’d like to share that voice with others of the same voice. but we must be empowered and inspired to believe that all that we see in front of us will only change if we will it to change. else the monetary divide will continue to grow and the many will be owned by the few. the only thing worse would be pure democracy- mob rule- but that’s a conversation for another day.

tell me: am i wrong?