I think the problem would be the chemical contamination ( domestic cars as well as industrail plants ) some of which will have a lower boiling/evaporating point than pure water and a simple distill wouldn't wotk, actually if they have a lower evaporation point it'll concentrate them like distilling alcohol does.
Follow the sheeple or head for the hills?
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I think the problem would be the chemical contamination ( domestic cars as well as industrail plants ) some of which will have a lower boiling/evaporating point than pure water and a simple distill wouldn't wotk, actually if they have a lower evaporation point it'll concentrate them like distilling alcohol does.
I agree about the whole nanny state comment. Over here in the US it's wretched though. They tax the hell out of us to provide services, then the services don't work. Just after Katrina, our local area got hit by bad flooding on new years day. FEMA (Federal emergency management agency) showed up three months later to look around, and offered no rebuilding funding for local works, such as the nearly destroyed school house.
Now there is a pretty big push round here to just opt out of the government. Our biggest crop is untaxed, and we have created numerous local and volunteer driven services to replace those the government traditionally provides. I mean, heck, up by my house, we grade our own roads, and have a sort of loose procedure for the four or five days a year that the road gets shut down due to slides or snow.
I just imagine us having a big disaster and FEMA showing up after we've gotten everything settled down, and then making it all into a REAL disaster.
Now there is a pretty big push round here to just opt out of the government. Our biggest crop is untaxed, and we have created numerous local and volunteer driven services to replace those the government traditionally provides. I mean, heck, up by my house, we grade our own roads, and have a sort of loose procedure for the four or five days a year that the road gets shut down due to slides or snow.
I just imagine us having a big disaster and FEMA showing up after we've gotten everything settled down, and then making it all into a REAL disaster.
It's interesting how people act in a crisis. For example, in todays news:
Gloucestershire's Chief Constable Tim Brain said there had been instances of people "behaving most selfishly", using "very large receptacles" to empty bowsers and trying to resell water at inflated prices.
Gloucestershire's Chief Constable Tim Brain said there had been instances of people "behaving most selfishly", using "very large receptacles" to empty bowsers and trying to resell water at inflated prices.
Yup, it brings out both the good and bad in people. Crisis or emergency tends to tear of the normal facade most people wear when things just breeze along nicely. Once the crisis starts you often see quiet normal people becoming hero's and doing fantastic things to help other people, and the bloke down the street who to all outward appearances seems respectable becomes a selfish bar-steward who tries to steal your stuff simply because he can. A real crisis is a good way to see true characters emerge. It lets you realise who you can and can't depend on in an emergency.
That's one of the reasons I wouldn't like to depend on any of my neighbours. I saw what they were like pre Y2K.
It wouldn't surprise me if we see stories of people filling empty water bottles directly from the flood water and selling it on as drinking water.
Eric
"What do you mean 'it's brown'? of COURSE it's brown! Water's naturally brown, innit? It's only when THEY put all those chemicals they don't want you to know about in that it turns clear..."
Did you manage to get a lift down to the moot, Eric?
Sadly, it's all too predicable.
By the way, Doc, there's a related thread here:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=310478#post310478
I was wondering if you could help with some professional insights on this health related matter?
Best regards,
Paul.
M
mrsfiremaker
Guest
I havent read the entire thread but heres what Ive got.
Well we do have fathers who take their sons entire boy scout group into the woods for a weekend so why couldnt we handle adults? And wasnt there a story about a boy scout leader who was injured and saved by the scouts? Im going to get into this one a bit. First off, we bushcrafters can agree on two things. First one is, practicing survival skills not only gets us ready for the unknown and unpredictable circumstances, it is also a way for us to connect to our more primitive past, allowing us to tap into our genetically built in need to survive, which all humans possess but not all listen too. The other one is that we are more equipped to survive, making us a bit better than the other Sheeple we scoff at huddled together with their ignorance in the school.
So lets look at the first one, everyone has this genetic bit in them. Lets look at anther movie, The Day After Tomarrow. Same scenario with the school, but exactly opposite. The Sheeple head off to find a better way to survive and are killed while the smart ones stay in the school. Not all of them agree on their means of survival, there is an argument about how they will get their fire. They burn the books. The Sheeple who decided to meet the bushcrafters on the hill dont want them to burn them, it goes against all they were ever taught. BUT in the end, they go with it.
Im going to change our scenario for a minute. Lets say for a minute we go to the school. We are standing around and the toilets are backed up and people start staking our their territory and all basically goes bad. Its time for you to leave. In the desperate plight, you know that you and your other half can not alone get beyond the doors alone. You need a team to work together to get through the flood to the greener side of survival. Who would you take with you? Id take the group of people who showed up on the hill waiting for me. While everyone has this need to survive built right into their genes, most will scoff at you and not even trust their own instincts. They may try to say you are mentally crazy and put you in lock down to keep you from leaving. These are the people that you dont want. The others who were waiting on the hill would be the ones are at least willing to give it a try, they have the fight in them. They have the basic and most important skill of all survival skills, the will to do what it takes to survive.
The second part: So we are back on the hill with our two dozen people. We are better than them. So how do we start to level the playing field and work smarter, not harder? Well look at it this way, you might die ten minutes from now. If you die, will these people survive? Maybe, maybe not. What will it take? It will take them thinking for themselves. You need to change your position in the group, are not their leader, you are the respected village elder. You start off by asking questions to get them thinking. This will allow you class the people you are with into upper, middle and lower class according to their ability to think for themselves, or outside of the box. Then you pass out the roles according to that. The top third will be the problem solvers, the middle third will help them collect what they need to solve that problem while the lower third are the one who just construct it from instruction given to them.
So this is what I would do: Keep the people there. Get the dry wood, set up shelter, start the fire, drink teas all as suggested previously. Then have everyone pull out everything that they have that might help the group survive. Well see a few knives but that is it. Throw your knife down and add your belt to the pile. Dont tell them what it is for, tell them to come up with ways that they could use the belt. After that discussion, ask them again to through what they all have that could help the group. Here is where you will start to find your leaders, and be able to class your group. The lower and middle class will only take off their belts and through them into the pile. The leaders will also throw their shoe laces in. At this point, the middle class ones will start to say Oh, yea you could use your shoe laces for____. Then you (or the woman with you) throws in a necklace. The links could be used as fishing lures, ect. And continue the process.
When you first walked up to the group, these Sheeple looked at you to save them and basically do everything for them. At this point, you have three different confidence levels of people who have been taught three valuable skills: to think outside the box and help themselves, to work together as a group, and to do it with a much smaller amount of your help. You should not be doing much of the work at all, you are the thinker, the main leader that helps solve the problems, not do the work for them. So teach them how to make fire from whats around them the next day and continue until it is safe to return to your homes.
On a different note, Fantasizing is what made our world round, made us revolve around the sun and gave us the internet. My dictionary definition: Fantasizing---daydreaming difference that is the road to progress.
Well we do have fathers who take their sons entire boy scout group into the woods for a weekend so why couldnt we handle adults? And wasnt there a story about a boy scout leader who was injured and saved by the scouts? Im going to get into this one a bit. First off, we bushcrafters can agree on two things. First one is, practicing survival skills not only gets us ready for the unknown and unpredictable circumstances, it is also a way for us to connect to our more primitive past, allowing us to tap into our genetically built in need to survive, which all humans possess but not all listen too. The other one is that we are more equipped to survive, making us a bit better than the other Sheeple we scoff at huddled together with their ignorance in the school.
So lets look at the first one, everyone has this genetic bit in them. Lets look at anther movie, The Day After Tomarrow. Same scenario with the school, but exactly opposite. The Sheeple head off to find a better way to survive and are killed while the smart ones stay in the school. Not all of them agree on their means of survival, there is an argument about how they will get their fire. They burn the books. The Sheeple who decided to meet the bushcrafters on the hill dont want them to burn them, it goes against all they were ever taught. BUT in the end, they go with it.
Im going to change our scenario for a minute. Lets say for a minute we go to the school. We are standing around and the toilets are backed up and people start staking our their territory and all basically goes bad. Its time for you to leave. In the desperate plight, you know that you and your other half can not alone get beyond the doors alone. You need a team to work together to get through the flood to the greener side of survival. Who would you take with you? Id take the group of people who showed up on the hill waiting for me. While everyone has this need to survive built right into their genes, most will scoff at you and not even trust their own instincts. They may try to say you are mentally crazy and put you in lock down to keep you from leaving. These are the people that you dont want. The others who were waiting on the hill would be the ones are at least willing to give it a try, they have the fight in them. They have the basic and most important skill of all survival skills, the will to do what it takes to survive.
The second part: So we are back on the hill with our two dozen people. We are better than them. So how do we start to level the playing field and work smarter, not harder? Well look at it this way, you might die ten minutes from now. If you die, will these people survive? Maybe, maybe not. What will it take? It will take them thinking for themselves. You need to change your position in the group, are not their leader, you are the respected village elder. You start off by asking questions to get them thinking. This will allow you class the people you are with into upper, middle and lower class according to their ability to think for themselves, or outside of the box. Then you pass out the roles according to that. The top third will be the problem solvers, the middle third will help them collect what they need to solve that problem while the lower third are the one who just construct it from instruction given to them.
So this is what I would do: Keep the people there. Get the dry wood, set up shelter, start the fire, drink teas all as suggested previously. Then have everyone pull out everything that they have that might help the group survive. Well see a few knives but that is it. Throw your knife down and add your belt to the pile. Dont tell them what it is for, tell them to come up with ways that they could use the belt. After that discussion, ask them again to through what they all have that could help the group. Here is where you will start to find your leaders, and be able to class your group. The lower and middle class will only take off their belts and through them into the pile. The leaders will also throw their shoe laces in. At this point, the middle class ones will start to say Oh, yea you could use your shoe laces for____. Then you (or the woman with you) throws in a necklace. The links could be used as fishing lures, ect. And continue the process.
When you first walked up to the group, these Sheeple looked at you to save them and basically do everything for them. At this point, you have three different confidence levels of people who have been taught three valuable skills: to think outside the box and help themselves, to work together as a group, and to do it with a much smaller amount of your help. You should not be doing much of the work at all, you are the thinker, the main leader that helps solve the problems, not do the work for them. So teach them how to make fire from whats around them the next day and continue until it is safe to return to your homes.
On a different note, Fantasizing is what made our world round, made us revolve around the sun and gave us the internet. My dictionary definition: Fantasizing---daydreaming difference that is the road to progress.
Shame really, but not surprising that a lot of people become quite selfish in crises like this one.
M
mrsfiremaker
Guest
If you are meaning that my response was selfish, I think that you may be wrong. I thought sending the people back to the school in the dark just as the water was flooding around them was. If you take what I said without reading into it a bit then it may appear so but it is actually very thought out. I just didnt type everything little thought into it. I figured those here would figure it out.
First, as you can see, I did not make myself top leader and start bossing people around. I dropped myself from leader to respected community member who is wise in how I helped the rest of the community. We all can look into history and see what happens when you have a community run by one leader and only their ideas. I found a way to get the group to work together as a community and come up with solutions.
I made myself a lesser important role in that community. If you mean that I am selfish because I did not build shelter for 24 people while they stood complaining that I wasnt moving fast enough for them, then fine, call me that. If you read into it and realized that my goal would be for them to learn to make their own shelter so that I could spent my time making my own, then maybe still so. If you really read into it, you would realize that I would have a goal where the community would decide how the shelter(s) are built and they would be the ones deciding on who would do each aspect of it, including which role the community decides is best for me, than maybe not.
My #1 goal would be to equip this small community with the skills they would need so that they could survive in the unlikely event that I was injured or died. It would be done just as boy scouts learn. Boy scout leaders dont take a group of kids to the woods and say, You all stay and play your Ipod until the battery dies while I go get us dinner. It would be done in a way that recognized each persons unique abilities, making those abilities strong assets to the community. If every person knew their role was important and their opinion was valued, youd get two things: people who are willing to put forth effort and work together as a group and people who knew that your voice was not the only one for the group. Again, important because, while one can be willingly accepted as a leader, they will not be wholly excepted as the only leader. Remember, the second you are put into the position of top dog, is the second you are made a target.
I do this type of stuff everyday. Not the survival aspect but where I work. I remember when we first started up, our boss divided everyone up into six groups. He gave them each a box of Lincoln logs and told them he wanted to see who would build the tallest tower. The only rule was that no one could talk. A few from the different groups figured out the tallest tower could be built with all the groups adding their Lincoln logs together. The message to the group as a whole was that you work better when everyone works together. You know what the boss was really doing? Exactly as I described. He was looking to see who the leaders and best problem solvers were. They would be best with their communication skills as well as getting everyone in the group to join in the same mission to get the best end solution. Now, if there is a problem, everyone no matter their rank, inputs their ideas. If my idea is chosen, I choose the hardest, least pleasant part of the job for myself and let everyone else choose what they want to do, as long as the rest of the group agrees that it is the best solution to the problem and everyone is expected to help reach the goal or get out. My ideas are not always chosen but my opinion is always asked. When they are chosen, part of my role may be instructing others what to do but they will also see the leader doing their share. There has never been a complaint from those who I work with. The only complaints come from those who like to stand around and tell people what to do while they do absolutely nothing. The get less workers who want to listen to them and are poor leaders.
I felt that my goals in this scenario were very unselfish. Yes, I might have the most bushcraft skill but I might not always have the best ideas and getting the group to realize that as well as help them realize their own importance and skills would be my most important goal. In a larger situation, more people, longer time, you would find that this is the best foundation you could possibly lay down to help the group as a whole because no matter how much we do-gooders want to help every person, there is just no way we can do it by ourselves. You could have great survival skills while on your own but would you while in a group in this type of scenario?
And my problem with most of the people that would head to the school, they feel they deserve to have everything handed to them, they are victims and someone needs to help them, provide for them and they spend their time seeking out whos fault it is for putting them into that situation (for not building that new dam that was proposed two years ago that you voted agianst because you didnt want to pay a hirer tax to get it). That is not the thought process I would want to be around. I would want to be around people who have the understanding that a bad situation is only made worse when you think like that. I feel they are selfish ones, ungrateful people who wont even try to help themselves. As selfish as it may sound, caring for myself would be hard enough and I would not want to carry the weight of 10 or 100 or 1000 people who just dont think that they should have to put forth effort, that they somehow where born with the right to reap the benefits of the skills I worked hard to acquire while they do nothing. I would be fully willing to help those who ask to be taught or show up on the hill waiting for me.
On the other hand, while we look at the more vulnerable, we might find what I have just type heartless. But look at tribes that still exist today. Everyone has a role, something that they can do to help themselves as well as the group. A pregnant woman can make rope. An elder can watch the children while the children play games that teach them the skills they will need in adulthood. It is a the cycle of existence that most have fallen from and do not even analysis in their modern life for comparison. It is our modern world that has fallen from community, working together and responsiblity and it is that that I would fear in a situation as given here.
I hope that you better understand what I typed in my first post now. I was not intending to be selfish.
Becky
First, as you can see, I did not make myself top leader and start bossing people around. I dropped myself from leader to respected community member who is wise in how I helped the rest of the community. We all can look into history and see what happens when you have a community run by one leader and only their ideas. I found a way to get the group to work together as a community and come up with solutions.
I made myself a lesser important role in that community. If you mean that I am selfish because I did not build shelter for 24 people while they stood complaining that I wasnt moving fast enough for them, then fine, call me that. If you read into it and realized that my goal would be for them to learn to make their own shelter so that I could spent my time making my own, then maybe still so. If you really read into it, you would realize that I would have a goal where the community would decide how the shelter(s) are built and they would be the ones deciding on who would do each aspect of it, including which role the community decides is best for me, than maybe not.
My #1 goal would be to equip this small community with the skills they would need so that they could survive in the unlikely event that I was injured or died. It would be done just as boy scouts learn. Boy scout leaders dont take a group of kids to the woods and say, You all stay and play your Ipod until the battery dies while I go get us dinner. It would be done in a way that recognized each persons unique abilities, making those abilities strong assets to the community. If every person knew their role was important and their opinion was valued, youd get two things: people who are willing to put forth effort and work together as a group and people who knew that your voice was not the only one for the group. Again, important because, while one can be willingly accepted as a leader, they will not be wholly excepted as the only leader. Remember, the second you are put into the position of top dog, is the second you are made a target.
I do this type of stuff everyday. Not the survival aspect but where I work. I remember when we first started up, our boss divided everyone up into six groups. He gave them each a box of Lincoln logs and told them he wanted to see who would build the tallest tower. The only rule was that no one could talk. A few from the different groups figured out the tallest tower could be built with all the groups adding their Lincoln logs together. The message to the group as a whole was that you work better when everyone works together. You know what the boss was really doing? Exactly as I described. He was looking to see who the leaders and best problem solvers were. They would be best with their communication skills as well as getting everyone in the group to join in the same mission to get the best end solution. Now, if there is a problem, everyone no matter their rank, inputs their ideas. If my idea is chosen, I choose the hardest, least pleasant part of the job for myself and let everyone else choose what they want to do, as long as the rest of the group agrees that it is the best solution to the problem and everyone is expected to help reach the goal or get out. My ideas are not always chosen but my opinion is always asked. When they are chosen, part of my role may be instructing others what to do but they will also see the leader doing their share. There has never been a complaint from those who I work with. The only complaints come from those who like to stand around and tell people what to do while they do absolutely nothing. The get less workers who want to listen to them and are poor leaders.
I felt that my goals in this scenario were very unselfish. Yes, I might have the most bushcraft skill but I might not always have the best ideas and getting the group to realize that as well as help them realize their own importance and skills would be my most important goal. In a larger situation, more people, longer time, you would find that this is the best foundation you could possibly lay down to help the group as a whole because no matter how much we do-gooders want to help every person, there is just no way we can do it by ourselves. You could have great survival skills while on your own but would you while in a group in this type of scenario?
And my problem with most of the people that would head to the school, they feel they deserve to have everything handed to them, they are victims and someone needs to help them, provide for them and they spend their time seeking out whos fault it is for putting them into that situation (for not building that new dam that was proposed two years ago that you voted agianst because you didnt want to pay a hirer tax to get it). That is not the thought process I would want to be around. I would want to be around people who have the understanding that a bad situation is only made worse when you think like that. I feel they are selfish ones, ungrateful people who wont even try to help themselves. As selfish as it may sound, caring for myself would be hard enough and I would not want to carry the weight of 10 or 100 or 1000 people who just dont think that they should have to put forth effort, that they somehow where born with the right to reap the benefits of the skills I worked hard to acquire while they do nothing. I would be fully willing to help those who ask to be taught or show up on the hill waiting for me.
On the other hand, while we look at the more vulnerable, we might find what I have just type heartless. But look at tribes that still exist today. Everyone has a role, something that they can do to help themselves as well as the group. A pregnant woman can make rope. An elder can watch the children while the children play games that teach them the skills they will need in adulthood. It is a the cycle of existence that most have fallen from and do not even analysis in their modern life for comparison. It is our modern world that has fallen from community, working together and responsiblity and it is that that I would fear in a situation as given here.
I hope that you better understand what I typed in my first post now. I was not intending to be selfish.
Becky
I'm sure I'm missing something here, but that was another very good (and lengthy - reminds me of me in the old days 
) post.
Rock on, Becky (man, you're a 'live one')!
Best regards,
Paul.
) post.Rock on, Becky (man, you're a 'live one')!
Best regards,
Paul.
Hi mrsfiremaker,
Not sure it will work so smoothly in reality. My experience of group dynamics suggests that groups will first try and stick with the existing social order in a crisis. That is the "Managing Director" who was "top" of the conventional social order or the "headmaster" or the "Police Officer" will be "elected" leader of a group. Most people I know view my "bushcrafty" side with amused indulgence at best. I suspect a group thrown together would be far more likely to side with an credible authority figure in a crisis than risk everything on their local "Ray Mears wannabe".
Throw your kit on the pile and at best it will become group property, then you are stuck with the group or on your own without your kit. "Please can I have the katadyn filter back, I know it's the only one, but it's mine" - I suspect they have enough survival instincts to recognise a useful tool even if they don't appreciate the knowledge to use it.
I suspect only when the conventional order has failed to deliver will people reconsider who they should follow.
Better to keep quite, look after yourself and avoid the arguments and factions.
Scoops
Sadly this works doubly for people who have risen to their position of power and authority via nothing more than the “peter principle”. I have been on several such survival evaluation course, where you are placed in an “situation” I only once made the mistake of stepping up to the plate, and volunteering to share my hard learnt knowledge, not only was I roundly put in my place by the 'boss' and given the sticky smelly end of the stick when it comes to jobs, I was, on return to ‘civilisation’, undermined and de-motivated at every opportunity both by my bosses and surprisingly, my work colleagues, The visiting “team motivational spirit guide” claimed that my lack of movement within the group dynamic was down to my “follower type personality”
I’m all for sharing and helping, providing it does not lead me and mine to suffer. I have responsibility to my family first and it is to my family that I would offer my help and succour before some random stranger. It may come across as selfish, and maybe it is. I would not be able to live with myself knowing I jeopardised the health and wellbeing of my loved ones, to help some stranger who due to his lack wisdom and foresight failed to make even the most basic of preparation to fulfil his/her duty to his/her own family
M
mrsfiremaker
Guest
And I completely agree. I think most of the people will follow those leaders right into the school while the ones who showed up on the hill and are waiting for you, are looking to you as their leader. This is the example where some bailed before the group dynamics all fell apart. I agree, if it were the whole school thing, yes lie low and keep your mouth shut. The group dynamics here would be different were after a short time with you as their leader, there will be a leader who says, What do you know, you have never been our leader before, and that is what will start the downfall of the group. I think it would be more so if you have two dozen people who dont trust the authorities at the school to begin with. So you start of by finding out who these leaders are an put the leadership roles into their hands. Theyll want the roles while the others will naturally want it that way as well. You will still be a leader but you wont be the leader. This will your willingness to help them while also limit the amount you slave for them.
Lets look at my work. I work in retail full time. Thats it, just a full timer thats been there for 5 years. In the last year and a half, I have had ups and down with the group dynamic part of it. First, my supervisor came back from Iraq and took over our department again. At the time I was part time because I was wanting to spend the time with my new baby. The FTer at the time was screwing things up and blaming them on me. I had the theory that I would not tell my supervisor the problems she was causing, that it was better that he make up his own opinion about the people he had never worked with before. Well after awhile, he asked why I wasnt on top of things like I used to be, I had lost that role of leadership I had before. I finally told him and before long, she was out of the department. I was at this point working one day every two weeks because of this. Now I went to 40 hours a week. After a few months, I got a new supervisor who was a bully and manipulator. Before long, I had was having meetings with her and managers and would have thought I was on my way out the door because my supervisor claimed that all the failures of our department were due to my lack of following group dynamics. Group dynamics right now placed her as the leader so the managers had to support her regardless if they knew better. Some careful wording from one of the manager and I chose to transfer to another department. My goal was well stated: if I had the same problem here, then I would agree that is was me. If I did not, and their group dynamics continued to suffer than we would all know. 3 months later I was recognized as the store MVP (top employee of the quarter voted by the leadership). Group dynamics puts me in a position respected position were I could walk up to any supervisor or manager, with the exception of the above mentioned one, and state a problem, state how it needs to be fixed, state who needs to fix and suggest how I might aid in fixing such problem. This is not questioned. I am respected. Group dynamics distrust said supervisor and I will be asked how to do things over there so that when they talk to the supervisor, they will know what to say to her. I am asked why I am not a manager yet, it is because I do not have time or want the responsibility. I get off of work at 2:30 in the afternoon everyday and I go home to run another business and be mom. But the opportunities if I chose to take them, I just have been turning them down.
It is all in how you do it. Many customers will think I am a manager when they walk in. A leader can be seen from a mile away. It is how you hold yourself, your body language, the way you make eye contact with people when talking to them, your ability to take responsibility for any problem, and how you deal with conflict. If you talk to anyone that knew me growing up, they would tell you that, while I was openly independent and opinionated, I was not a leader. Far from it. I do not feel much like I am now, but I am respected as one. What I do is just what I have said. I state the problem, I state the what the end result will need to be and I ask what the other leaders and others involved want done about it. I delegate what I need to and take the worst part for myself and get it done very quickly. Now I have shown respect for all levels of leader and non leadership and shown that I have what I take to do the job as well.
The kind of leader I dont want in the group is one with suggestions that will not move to do anything. A balloon flew to the ceiling one day. 6 employees have different ideas on how to get it down, another balloon with tape, using a long stick to wrap the string around and pull it down. Two ways are tried while I keep mine to myself. Finally one leader suggest someone get a ladder so they could get closer. She does not move to get it. Her motivation is I dont see anyone moving to get the ladder. We look at her, one non-leader walks without thought to go get it while the rest of us are thinking excuse me? After the other ideas where exhausted I bring out a razorblade on a long stick. Here, lets try this. Then everyone else in the group worked cooperatively to suggest ways to get the balloon to stop moving so the stick holder, another non-leader, could stab it while I walk away to finish my job. Its a stupid little story that is the strategy I use all day everyday and it I am one of the most respected leaders in our store. I hear at least once I day I know this isnt your job but Id like to hear your opinion. This strategy allows me to maintain my leadership, offer just enough to get things going in the right direction and head back to focus on what is more important to my role in my department, or in this scenario my family. Leadership is for those who are ready to take it and know how to be the middle guy. And everyone I work with know my priorities and will not jerodize them in fear of losing me. It is all in your ability to find strengths in everyone in the group and to bring them all together.
Lets look at my work. I work in retail full time. Thats it, just a full timer thats been there for 5 years. In the last year and a half, I have had ups and down with the group dynamic part of it. First, my supervisor came back from Iraq and took over our department again. At the time I was part time because I was wanting to spend the time with my new baby. The FTer at the time was screwing things up and blaming them on me. I had the theory that I would not tell my supervisor the problems she was causing, that it was better that he make up his own opinion about the people he had never worked with before. Well after awhile, he asked why I wasnt on top of things like I used to be, I had lost that role of leadership I had before. I finally told him and before long, she was out of the department. I was at this point working one day every two weeks because of this. Now I went to 40 hours a week. After a few months, I got a new supervisor who was a bully and manipulator. Before long, I had was having meetings with her and managers and would have thought I was on my way out the door because my supervisor claimed that all the failures of our department were due to my lack of following group dynamics. Group dynamics right now placed her as the leader so the managers had to support her regardless if they knew better. Some careful wording from one of the manager and I chose to transfer to another department. My goal was well stated: if I had the same problem here, then I would agree that is was me. If I did not, and their group dynamics continued to suffer than we would all know. 3 months later I was recognized as the store MVP (top employee of the quarter voted by the leadership). Group dynamics puts me in a position respected position were I could walk up to any supervisor or manager, with the exception of the above mentioned one, and state a problem, state how it needs to be fixed, state who needs to fix and suggest how I might aid in fixing such problem. This is not questioned. I am respected. Group dynamics distrust said supervisor and I will be asked how to do things over there so that when they talk to the supervisor, they will know what to say to her. I am asked why I am not a manager yet, it is because I do not have time or want the responsibility. I get off of work at 2:30 in the afternoon everyday and I go home to run another business and be mom. But the opportunities if I chose to take them, I just have been turning them down.
It is all in how you do it. Many customers will think I am a manager when they walk in. A leader can be seen from a mile away. It is how you hold yourself, your body language, the way you make eye contact with people when talking to them, your ability to take responsibility for any problem, and how you deal with conflict. If you talk to anyone that knew me growing up, they would tell you that, while I was openly independent and opinionated, I was not a leader. Far from it. I do not feel much like I am now, but I am respected as one. What I do is just what I have said. I state the problem, I state the what the end result will need to be and I ask what the other leaders and others involved want done about it. I delegate what I need to and take the worst part for myself and get it done very quickly. Now I have shown respect for all levels of leader and non leadership and shown that I have what I take to do the job as well.
The kind of leader I dont want in the group is one with suggestions that will not move to do anything. A balloon flew to the ceiling one day. 6 employees have different ideas on how to get it down, another balloon with tape, using a long stick to wrap the string around and pull it down. Two ways are tried while I keep mine to myself. Finally one leader suggest someone get a ladder so they could get closer. She does not move to get it. Her motivation is I dont see anyone moving to get the ladder. We look at her, one non-leader walks without thought to go get it while the rest of us are thinking excuse me? After the other ideas where exhausted I bring out a razorblade on a long stick. Here, lets try this. Then everyone else in the group worked cooperatively to suggest ways to get the balloon to stop moving so the stick holder, another non-leader, could stab it while I walk away to finish my job. Its a stupid little story that is the strategy I use all day everyday and it I am one of the most respected leaders in our store. I hear at least once I day I know this isnt your job but Id like to hear your opinion. This strategy allows me to maintain my leadership, offer just enough to get things going in the right direction and head back to focus on what is more important to my role in my department, or in this scenario my family. Leadership is for those who are ready to take it and know how to be the middle guy. And everyone I work with know my priorities and will not jerodize them in fear of losing me. It is all in your ability to find strengths in everyone in the group and to bring them all together.
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