Blog Post #11

01/10/2019

Innovation 

Innovation in today’s market is required for companies to thrive. So as an executive or manager, you have to cultivate an environment that is flexible to change. Furthermore, it has to be open to innovation. Innovations often come from subordinates with ideas on how to improve efficiency. 

So how can you as a leader make the environment more accepting of new innovative ideas? In one of my previous blogs, I spoke of a bad relationship I had with my Sgt. One of my negative interactions with him involved an instance where he did not want to listen to one of my ideas. This caused me to shut down somewhat, I still did my job to standard, but I cared a lot less.

I learned from this so when I eventually was in the same position as team leader I tried to listen to my subordinates. I also asked for their input whenever I could to make them feel apart of the decision-making process. They felt comfortable coming to me with ideas on improving the efficiency of our team. It should be noted that this does not always work and is extremely dependant on the work environment.

I encourage you to attempt this. Create an environment where your subordinates feel comfortable approaching you. You can create this by getting to know your team, talk to them about their lives. You do not have to become friends with them, but it does not hurt to know what’s going on in their lives. Exchanging of small talk goes a long way with subordinates.   

If you do not feel comfortable trying to foster an innovative environment turn to one of your mentors for advice. Try different techniques to establish rapport with your team. Group bonding exercise ideas are available on google. Look at other teams or departments and observe what they do.

 

What do you think about creating an innovative environment? Have you ever fostered this if so how? Do you agree or disagree with anything I said if so please comment and be respectful? If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site. 

 

 

Blog Post #10 

01/09/2019

Perception

Your presence in the workplace matters a lot. Part of that presence is how you present your self to others. People want strong capable-looking people to be their leaders and coworkers. This is where fitness becomes relatively important, ensure you are well groomed too. You look good to employers and to employees. It never hurts to be better looking and you will feel more confident. This will also make being a leader much easier.

I have seen this personally in the military. According to studies, people feel more comfortable around attractive, fit looking people. In the Army, fitness is paramount for obvious reasons and plays a huge role in promotions. Perception is the reality, this is a common saying used in the military. This means that people’s perceptions of you actually matter more than how you perceive yourself, other people decide whether or not you should be promoted. This is applicable to civilian life as well. If your boss perceives you as a detriment to the sales team this could harm your advancement. 

I was in a very bad unit where the leadership was toxic to the work environment and I had a team leader that believed I was not a capable soldier. His first impression of me was tainted by a situation I could not control and thus we started off on the wrong foot. Time went on and things got worse between this Sgt and I. Later I got a great opportunity elsewhere to further my career and he tried to stop me from leaving the unit which would have kept me from receiving a promotion. The situation was never resolved but I managed to get out by pulling favors. 

A solution to having a good first impression with your boss is to be well groomed, well dressed and fit looking. You must retain some sort of work out routine and also dress sharply. Fit people statistically feel better about themselves and enjoy more success in their personal and professional lives. You do not have to reach peak physical fitness, but working out three times a week would release stress and keep you fit. 

With a more positive outlook, you will radiate success and people around you will feel that. Avoid talking about hot button issues and be respectful to coworkers. With a good perception of who you are, advancement will come easier. If you have never worked out before, light fitness programs are readily available on google.   

What do you think about the concept “perception?” Did you disagree or agree with anything I said? Please comment and remember to be respectful. If you have any friends that are interested in this content, please refer them to this site.    

 

Blog Post #9 

01/09/2019

Positive working environments

Leadership has its perks but, of course, it comes with more responsibility. Today consequences can be dire. You are responsible for much more today than ever before, you have to create a work environment that is safe and nondiscriminatory. This can be an issue due to society constantly shifting what is acceptable. 

My personal experience with this was during the policy shifts the Army was experiencing concerning gay and transgender personnel. The Army has different regulations for men and women concerning physical health standards and uniforms. One of the standing policies in the army is to create a safe, nondiscriminatory environment for your subordinates. The individual well being of soldiers is the responsibility of the commanders. I had to watch company commanders struggle to find regulations and memorandums instructing them on what to do.   

I had a transgender soldier under my command. I had never heard of this before meeting this person, so I looked into it later on Google. The soldier was born Female but identified as a male. I opened an honest dialogue with the soldier explaining that I had never dealt with this before.  I asked for them to have patience if I offended them and to talk to me if I upset them. The soldier was much more understanding and I informed them I would do my best to make them comfortable and accepted.   

Throughout your career standards of human interaction will change in whatever field you are. The solution I have found is honesty and open communication with coworkers. Be respectful even if you do not agree with their lifestyles. If you are the manager do what you can and be honest.

I encourage you to look into the policies your job has concerning your what is expected of you in the workplace. Usually, as long you are polite you will not have any issues, most people are understanding. Make an effort not to treat them any differently as well. Tell your subordinates that they can always talk to you. Make yourself available.

what do you think about my solution of open dialogue? Do you agree or Disagree with anything I said? Do you have any solutions that might work better? Please comment and be respectful. If you like my content please encourage friends to take a look at this blog, let’s build this community.     

 

Blog Post #8

01/09/2019

Eliminate Excuses 

As a leader, you must take responsibility for everything. This includes everything that is done and everything that is not done. Taking more responsibility can both improve relationships with your boss, and your employees. Evasion of responsibility or constantly giving excuses only serves to make you look unreliable and untrustworthy.

When I was a teenager I evaded responsibility often. My parents, teachers, friends, coaches, and mentors all dealt with a constant stream of excuses. This trend continued until I went to basic training. This is when I learned that bosses and people, in general, they want someone to take responsibility. They want the task or whatever was not done to be completed, but most importantly they do not want to hear excuses. 

When I was in basic training, my battle buddy (The guy assigned to watch my back) improperly cleaned his weapon. The Drill Sgt was furious. My battle(slang) was hurt from training the previous day. I knew he was not going to be able to do the push-ups and running the Drill Sgt most likely had planned.

I was the second most fit person in my platoon. I knew the workout would not be that bad for me so I told the Drill Sgt it was my weapon. The Drill Sgt obviously knew that this was not my weapon but he had to make an example of someone. When I came back from the corrective action I discovered that my actions had impressed my platoon.

I had gained respect for taking responsibility. Once I became the head trainee for my platoon I continue practicing this leadership technique. When my subordinates failed I took responsibility and the punishment. This encouraged my platoon to work harder not to fail because they did not want me to get in trouble and it encouraged my subordinates to take more responsibility. It also impressed the Drill Sgts and in turn, they trusted me more. 

So I encourage you to attempt to do something similar. Take responsibility do not give excuses, give results. If you drop the ball and forget to do something do not give them a list of excuses. They do not want to hear it, just say you are sorry and that you will get on it immediately. There are exceptions if there was a death or injury that is an acceptable reason to provide.  What do you think about taking responsibility? Do you have any similar experiences? Do you disagree with anything I said? Please comment respectfully. If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site. 

Blog Post #7

01/09/19

Lack of leadership

The concept of Leadership is something I happen to have a lot of exposure to. There are many forms of leadership while none are considered the best, some are considered bad. Different forms of leadership are seen as being effective depending on the situation and job.  Leadership is a consistently occurring theme in the modern workplace and in the military. The military prides itself on its ability to create leadership, instead of relying on natural talent the military molds leaders from all creeds and walks of life. We consistently see poor leadership throughout the workplace

I have been in the military for almost four years now, while also participating in the Army program, ROTC. I do not claim to be an expert but in my very short time in the military, I have had the pleasure of meeting some extremely capable men and women. I have also had a few mentors as well and I have seen many forms of leadership from toxic to transactional.

The military has been grooming me for the past four years to become a platoon leader. So I have been given military training and have been afforded the opportunity to practice leadership. When I was a team leader for a short time, I got to deal with leading three other soldiers and participated in multiple training exercises. Through these training exercises had plenty of time to hone my leadership and find out what works best for me.

A solution to poor leadership is very simple, try different kinds out to see what works for you. I had to work with them to solve problems as well as trusting them to not accidentally shoot me in the back. I never had any real problems with any of them because I practiced hands-off leadership. This is the most trusting form of leadership. This form of leadership is practiced much more in the civilian workplace than in the armed forces.

Hands-off leadership encourages your subordinates to take initiative and do whatever needs to be done without you telling them what to do. This increases the efficiency of the workplace leaving you to simply overview all their work without getting in their way or being bossy. Furthermore, it allows your subordinate leaders the space to practice their leadership. No matter the type of leadership you practice you must utilize your subordinate leaders. They are often extremely capable and utilize their specific skill sets in order to improve efficiency.

I encourage you to go out and practice hands-off leadership. Anyone can be toxic and yell at their employees. Hands-off leadership may not work for you but then I encourage you to try others to match your situation or meet your subordinates needs. Try to get honest feedback from your superiors and see what they find to be the most effective form of leadership.

What do you think about Hands-off leadership? What form of leadership do you practice? Please comment about a time you experienced bad leadership. Please comment respectfully. If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site. 

 

Blog Post #6

01/09/2019

Debating

Debating is something that this site has touched on before. This post is another build up post as the future posts ahead will get slightly less neutral in terms of politics. However, It will be over subjects that most Americans will be interested in and will offend no one. I promise to be respectful! I need to be more animated, more passionate, so I must take somewhat of a stance. I am a very middle of the road person on a lot of political and societal subjects.

I was raised by a far-left mother and a far-right father, they are still together, surprising I know. So as an independent voter I seek to unite both sides as I have done my whole life. I have gone to a military academy and a regular university, so I have had to debate passionately against the right and against the left. I also joined the military because I am unapologetic about being an American. I will tell you why, because I know history, and this country is not perfect, but we have raised more people and nations from poverty, liberated millions of people from tyranny and oppression, and have been a beacon of hope for millions of people the world over.  

Do you see how these posts are starting to come together? Everything connects and as we go on the posts will continue to build upon themselves but are derivative of the first two posts History, and Ancestry. Now Debating, it’s the truest core aspect that upholds and sustains our democratic republic. The ability to peacefully assemble and share our views with one another based on logic and research cannot be underestimated or taken for granted.

What we have today is not good enough. We should at a societal level make it more acceptable for people to admit when they are wrong. Our inability to change our minds when presented with new facts proving us wrong will drag this nation to the arms of socialism, communism or even worse fascism. We demonize our opposition when really we are all Americans, we all want better lives for everyone, we just disagree on what way to do it.

Leading me back to the main point debating, and more importantly compromise. This should be exercised in our education system via high school and college. Debate and public speaking classes should be mandatory. It should be mandatory for every American to learn to articulate themselves clearly as it is conducive to a better functioning society. I do not support turning the populace into a bunch of metaphorical sheep. Think critically and engage your fellow man. 

 

“For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.”

 -Margaret Heffernan

 

How does this affect you? Well like I have answered before every individual should want to live in a society where people are intelligent and articulate. This crusade to make people more informed and more engaged is a small thing that could change our society on a larger scale for the better. Opinions should be respected but challenged regularly, attacked even, with facts historical references and current updated research.

I challenge you the reader when you find that you may be wrong during a disagreement, admit it to the person. When you are discussing a subject you are unfamiliar with admit you do not have very much knowledge in that area. After that discussion goes learn and read about it, bring up the conversation later with someone after you learn enough about it to have a well-informed decision. Any action was taken other than that and both of you have lost.

 

I highly recommend this video. It is five minutes long I hope you are inspired to engage your fellow man in a peaceful debate! Challenge their beliefs! Have yours challenged!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LesGw274Kjo

 

What do you think about the quote? What do you think of my ideas to improve society concerning debating and public speaking? How did the video make you feel? Please comment respectfully and enjoy some interesting sites concerning debating. If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site.  

 

https://www.wikihow.com/Perform-Well-in-a-Debate

Debate Tips & Tricks

https://virtualspeech.com/blog/guide-to-debating

Blog Post #5

01/08/2019

PROFESSION OF TEACHING

Profession, what is it? A profession is a service provided to society that involves special training and is a service society cannot readily provide itself.  Professions also self-regulate wherein members of there own profession check over their work and provide punitive action in their fields. Soldiers fall under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), and doctors have review boards, just to give a few examples. This blog is to give a baseline of what a profession is for later blogs.  

 A job is something that society can easily provide itself like waiters, janitors, or dishwashers. Examples of professions are doctors, dentists, neurosurgeons, scientists, soldiers, and pilots. Professions often come with some serious hazards and liabilities. However, society cannot advance without the expertise of individuals that exist in these fields.

Teachers are one of the lowest paid professionals and this is unacceptable. What’s even more of a serious problem is they are not respected. nor given the proper tools to teach usually using the own money to fund school projects and events. Could you imagine if a doctor didn’t have the right tool or soldiers didn’t have enough ammo to train?  

How does this relate to you? Well, you may be in a profession, or you use an item or service provided by a profession every day. Professions usually have great societal impact and stakes are usually very high when they make a mistake. Could you imagine if a soldier or doctor failed at their job? Deaths would occur, negating the fact that some deaths would be on purpose in the case of soldiers. As stated, before this site is a huge supporter of education. This is a subject that either side of the political aisle always agrees that our education needs to be better funded.

Yet teachers are continually paid low wages and work ridiculous hours volunteering for extra circular activities. If teachers had better pay and discretionary budgets for school supplies and school projects, we would see better-performing students and teachers. We should institute more incentives for teachers to improve performances and subsidize higher tier degrees or to get more degrees. We need our education system to produce healthy intelligent men and women ready to engage the world around them.

“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honor for me.”

-A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

I want to know what you think. Are my proposed solutions viable? Do you think you have a better Idea? Finally, what do you think of the quote, do you agree with it, why or why not. Please comment and remember as always be respectful. If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site.    

Blog Post #1

01/04/2019

HISTORY

What is history? History for some invokes the thought of sleep as they meandered through much of their education hardly interested in the events of the past. History is actually one of the most important subjects you could possibly take. Americans today are notorious for their lack of knowledge concerning their own history, this has cause a major systemic issue in much of today’s society and the world. Why? Well Americans happen to be the most powerful citizenry on the planet because of a freedom we take for granted, voting.

Americans can vote, we vote officials into office that control a massive powerful Army and Navy the likes of which have never been seen before on the planet. This Army is all over the world and a single vote here in the U.S can affect millions of people in nations all over the planet. Due to this reality, U.S citizens should be the most educated well informed people on the planet, maybe the most logical, or fit? Yes, U.S citizens should be, and yet we are not. 

To make informed decisions on policy and foreign policy you must know what we, and other nations have done in the past. This will allow us to understand the why of actions taken by foreign powers, and not waste time attempting to enact solutions that have not worked in the past.  Furthermore, knowing history can prevent harmful ideologies that historically fail, from taking root inside our borders. A democratic republic can only work as long as the average voter can think critically and has, at the very minimum, a cursory knowledge of most subjects. Most important of the many subject is history. The Quote below explains why. 

 

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”

― Edmund Burke

 

History serves a similar purpose to personal memories. Humans grow up and are a culmination of their past experiences, this molds and shapes how they act. Everyday humans use their past experiences to shape their interactions with the world and other people. Recorded history serves the same purpose for societies and nations. If you woke up one day and forgot everything you had ever learned, would you make the same mistakes you made in the past? Yes. You would touch stoves, walk across roads without looking both ways, and be unable to function. Society works very much the same way, if the citizenry forgets (or is not taught) the history of their society they would try to solve problems the same way others had in the past. This redundancy may seem harmless but has already caused the deaths of millions in the last century alone. 

Some examples of problems in the U.S caused by not knowing history are: 

-The 2nd Amendment debate

–The rise of Elements of Socialism/Communism/Fascism 

-Immigration

–Humanism vs Religion

–Political corruption

-Polarization of political beliefs  

The answer, or at least compromise, to many of these issues can be found in the annals of history. Knowing history gives you the “why” of whats happening, it provides the context. In this blog I will stay neutral, but you do not have to. Share your thoughts in the comments and let me know what you think! Please be respectful. If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site. 

Below are some links I recommend, to get you started. Note: I am not trying to indoctrinate anyone. I am just trying to stress the importance of education! which is something everyone can agree is important!

 

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_2017?grade=4

https://www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/path-to-nazi-genocide/chapter-1/aftermath-of-world-war-i-and-the-rise-of-nazism-1918-1933

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Blog #4

01/08/2019

SOCIOLOGY

Sociology the study of structure, development, and functioning of human society. This class may be almost more important history. This class is extremely important and should be required for every undergraduate degree. I would take it a step further, this should be mandatory in the High school curriculum.  Now this class should be treated as non-bias approach to society. High school is a different environment and teachers should not be allowed to be political in the class room. teachers should address political issues, but they must present the opposing argument as well. This should not be a class that varies too much based on the teacher .org or .gov sites should be used as evidence only.

Remember as previously stated on this site I try to be a neutral as possible, this site supports respectful, intelligent debates. I try to present ideas that support the growth of intellectual enlightenment. Western society was built on debate and logic. War and societal decisions should be based on necessity. I would like to go back to this way of thinking. I believe the way back to it, is great education stressing the importance of stem sciences and the encouragement of rational, critical thinking. I think that it is the base foundation of a democratic republic. A republic that has provided far more freedoms today and historically, than communism and socialism ever have. One of the core solutions to get our society on the same baseline peacefully is the introduction of sociology to the lower echelons of education like high school. Emotion and expression are extremely important but should only be expressed in the arts not in policy or most classrooms.

How does this relate to you? Well society and other people affect us every day. Metaphorically speaking, I would rather be the only stupid person in a room full of intelligent people than the only intelligent person in a room full of stupid people. Meaning I want the average citizen to be extremely intelligent, but the public-school system is mostly bad. The average American should know at least two languages other than English. They should have a deep understanding of our government and economic structure. We can teach this through sociology, I want our society to be as enlightened as possible. Sociology would enlighten our young to the concepts of liberty and freedom which are valued by so much of the modern world. The risk is totalitarianism which historically comes from large governing bodies and an uneducated populace. So, coming back to the original question, how do this relate to you? You don’t want to be surround by an idiocracy, meaning a society ran by idiots. The way we continue improving and advancing our society is by pushing the threshold of education. I am a strong supporter of increased pay for teachers, increasing school hours and decreasing class sizes.

With an increase in school hours we can increase the amount of time in class and the number of classes. We need to place more value in the profession of teaching. I went to four public high schools. Going through the public-school system I saw disrespect towards teachers from students, parents, and the facility. We have many issues in our society. The key to many of those solutions involves starting at the base, education and family. Sociology can touch on these subjects introducing these problems to a younger audience to be mindful of before being engaged in the work place and a college setting.

What are so solutions you think could achieve a more intelligent free cohesive society? Do you think my proposed solutions would be effective? Do you have any solutions? What do you want society to be? Remember please be respectful. On another note, I have my blog posts looked at by other people before posting to ensure it is not too divisive or maybe disrespects a demographic. I have been told multiple times my content can be a little dry though it is informative. So, I will now make an effort to be more actively funny and interesting! If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site. 

In this link I am posting below it is a satirical video from a movie concerning Idiocracy. It has adult content with some brief nudity of female breasts but in a Hellenistic art panting, there is cussing and sexual humor. Please enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwZ0ZUy7P3E

 

The links below are some sources I recommend looking at about sociology 

https://sociology.unc.edu/undergraduate-program/sociology-major/what-is-sociology/

http://www.asanet.org/about-asa/asa-story/what-sociology

https://www.ted.com/topics/sociology

Blog Post #3

01/07/2019

SOCIAL POWER 

What is power and how do people that have it, maintain it? Power is the ability to facilitate or direct the course of human events. Power comes from a multitude of places, most often it comes from previously built hierarchies that exist to maintain order and governance. Examples of this are the religious institutions, governments, paramilitaries, and ideologically motivated groups. There are exceptions to this of course, sometimes anarchy or an absence of power structures create voids for radical movements, or foreign structures to fill the power vacuum. How does this relate to you? believe it or not you exist in varying levels of power sub-structures.

You have a manager, that manger has a boss who answers to another boss, and so, and so forth. You may be at the head of a family or the oldest child. Elementary I know, but we must start somewhere. Power structures start from interpersonal relationships and work themselves all the way up to the top, whether it be one person or a group of individuals sharing power at the head of this power structure. Think of it like one big social network.

There are a multitude of ways to gain power but only three ways to maintain it. Organizations are power structures, and in order to gain power sometimes you must be born into it like for instance, Monarchies. Other times it is taken by force, like rebellions. Due to the media we have today, many can easily see the other routes to take/get into positions of power. What is more interesting is how those who are now in power, maintain their positions. Now we are not going to talk about the motivations for getting or maintaining power what we are talking about is how those positions come with consequences and how people maintain power.

The three ways to maintain power is through Fear, Faith, or Fanaticism (of varying degrees). We don’t need to discuss fear. Every person reading this has experienced fear as a form of control whether it was a boss threatening a pink slip or a parent threatening to ground you. We are going to focus on faith, and fanaticism. Let me be clear there is nothing wrong with having faith or being religious. We are using the word faith and fanaticism in a nonreligious context. We are speaking of faith and fanaticism in the context of a person or political ideology which can be bad or good depending on your subjective perspective. Faith in a person is dangerous, sometimes people in power seem larger than life and with them we entrust our hopes, our faith. We can mention Hitler as an extreme case where this went very badly. Now as a stark contrast to that, we have the U.S Constitution. The constitution is an illustration of truths that we hold to be self-evident like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People have faith in that idea. People in power on both ends of the spectrum manipulate that faith for good or evil depending case to case. Nonetheless the manipulation of faith is always there. Finally, fanaticism, it always starts as faith but is sometimes manufactured on accident or on purpose by the state or the individual in power for various reason.

Now finally we can get to the meat of this topic, how does this relate to you? Good question, you as a citizen need to look up and watch those figures others have put their faith in. You need to watch the people in power. Power naturally corrupts, because often you must do very bad things to maintain it, the cost is usually human life. If all citizens were warier of the officials they elect, politicians the world over would get away with less. We the people of the world give power to the select few but we can just as easily take it away. You must learn about these things so when you vote you can read between the lines of what each candidate is saying. For every action there is a consequence, the more globalized we become the more intricate the power structures do as well. Learn to watch these things, and remember, foreign peoples usually value the sovereignty of their country a lot more than Americans usually do.

What do you think? Do you disagree or agree? Am I wrong about anything? Please comment respectfully! Remember the objective of this blog is to relate seemingly uninteresting topics to today’s world problems and you the individual, this site supports respectful debates and promotes critical thinking. If you have any friends or family that may be interested in this content, please refer them to this site. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(social_and_political)

https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Power_(social_and_political).html