The Legend

Sometimes if you hold to your values it isn't always popular. The one thing I learned is that 1/3 will do as they are told, 1/3 will do the right thing and the other 1/3 are up in the air. For better or worse, I know where I stand and so do the stakeholders.

Along my way, I held to my values and fought tooth and nail for a different approach. I find it odd that the so called elite are trying so desperately to reinvent themselves. I remind them of their roles in the debacle and keep them at a distance.

Among my peers, my stance became almost legendary. I stood up and held my ground when it wasn't cool. Now the winds have shifted towards the values I held. It wasn't that I was ahead of my time, but I stood up against people that made themselves bigger than the process. Numbers are great, but they must mean something. Generating numbers that are meaningless for self promotion is lower than prostitution in my book.
Yet the guilty still hold themselves up to be heroes long after I and others have had to fix their folly.

The techniques of working fast and efficiently date back to my days in the fashion industry. A logistics man must be decisive or find another trade. The answers need not be optimal, but effective and move on. The techniques in the clerical phase were indeed influenced by passing through sweatshops. The last phase combined psychology and Borscht Belt humor all into a blender.

Anyone can be a victim, but turning misfortune into something unique is novel.

My job was in many ways more fun when I was the cool rebel fighting the system. Now that I am very much a part of the system it is not as cool but being a mentor and a role model are new challenges. I remind the students that the story is greater than I am or ever could be. However, when working with losers, incompetents and jerks competence stands out. I also remind the students that there are many great examples here. They don't need to advertise like the old incompetent crew. They just do their job quietly day after day. Oddly the bullying of the old guard and the insane behavior only made my legend grow when the storm passed. Had I been left alone, my achievements would have been overlooked.

One of the things I remind my charges is to never brag. When you brag or feign expertise you literally set yourself up to fail. As I never tell anyone about my expertise and sing the praises of others any error I might make seems small. However, when the old guard makes multiple mistakes they have a long way to fall.

Also it is never acceptable to bully a peer. You should always have your hand out to lift your peers up. If their heart is not into it let the appropriate people deal with the issue. I was asked to train many and I could not reach a certain student. I pointed out my approach did not work perhaps their is another way. However, when a person is seldom there and shows no desire to learn this is beyond my ability. 90% of being great is being there and having the desire to improve. When neither is there it might be that the task is above my abilities despite multiple attempts.