Journal 7: Chapter 8

Class dates 10/08 and 10/13

10/09: 9–10pm

Identify the person in your life (someone you know personally) that you would say has shown the most and best leadership in the course of their life. How young were they when they first started showing leadership? In addition to describing the specific leadership behaviors that this person has shown, you may want to include information about their education and upbringing, their physical appearance and style of dress (insofar as you believe it influences their leadership), and anything else about them that may explain how they came to show leadership so well. Finally, in your sketch explain what areas of life you believe their leadership would be most effective, e.g., in a boardroom, a classroom, a sports field, or statehouse.

I would say that my maternal grandmother has shown the most and best leadership throughout the course of their life. Although she is currently living in an Alzheimer's care facility, her life pre-memory deterioration was one that inspired confidence and leadership in not only me but hundreds of others. She was born in 1937 and raised on a farm near Little Rock, Arkansas. As a high schooler, she was a tri-varsity sport athlete (softball, basketball, and volleyball). Basketball was definitely her dominant sport and she held many high school, regional, and state awards and records. In addition to this, she was also her class’ Valedictorian and VP. She always used to tell me that she was the one doing all the work under the so-called figurehead, “popular boy” class President. Ultimately she went to the University of Arkansas pursuing a degree in some type of education that allowed her to become a middle school and high school English teacher and eventually a superintendent. As a child, she and my grandfather looked after me and pretty much raised me while my parents were working and older siblings were at school. She taught me to read and write very early on which jumpstarted my academic career. I credit much of my life accomplishments to her. As the middle child of 12, my grandmother began showing leadership towards her teenage years and she began blossoming as an athlete and intellect. She instilled the value of both the advancement of athletic and academic ability at a young age while also being a role model for how to interact and harness the talents of others in order to achieve a common goal. This was essential for me to understand and I think for any leader to understand. She was a classic southern woman in the sense that she was always put together and would never leave the house without makeup and jewelry; however, she differed in her ambition and courage. Not only was she a hard-working farmer’s daughter, but she was not afraid to stand toe-to-toe with men and challenge their abilities against her own. In the 1950s she left her hometown (despite her family’s disapproval) and moved to NYC with my Italian-immigrant grandfather. Her faith and ability to completely leave home and go somewhere new is one of the most important leadership-related events in her life in my opinion. Their journey together was filled with hardships and adaptation, but together they did pretty well. My grandfather barely knew English, served in the Marines and was not formally educated. However, despite his academic difficulties, he became an advanced engineer working in places from Texas Instruments to Northeastern University. Overall, by pursuing this The Notebook type of love, my grandmother demonstrated her confidence as a woman and the ability to lead others both academically and athletically (classroom and sports field).

10/10: 8–9am

Does Cyrus show ideal leadership, i.e., is he the best practitioner of leadership you could imagine? Why or why not?

In my opinion, Cyrus does show ideal leadership. Although I do not believe that anyone is perfect, he is the most well-balanced or rounded leader which we have examined thus far. I think this because of his balance of prestige and love for others. He understands that people have different needs and to even go as far as that people may have the same needs but the way of meeting those needs varies. In addition, Cyrus was able to actualize his leadership abilities at a younger age than what was standard in Persia. In literature, these leaders/heroes are marked for greatness whether literally like Harry Potter’s scar or figuratively like Cyrus. By hitting milestones early and exceptionally, Cyrus is marked for greatness in one way or another (his name literally means heir to the throne too). In other works that we have studied and read, there are heroes and leaders who have stood out in some cases, but not always in a positive way that promoted them as an ideal leader. For example, in The Normal Heart Ned’s real name of Alexander is ironically a symbol of greatness, but Ned ultimately fails at being great or being a leader.

10/11: 3–4pm

What is a problem that you would like to have phronēsis (wisdom, forethought, or “knowing how this is going to go”) in solving? This could be any kind of problem–environmental, economic, societal, political, scientific. What is your plan for cultivating phronēsis? How will you establish your reputation for phronēsis, so that others will take you seriously?

A problem that I would like to have phronēsis in solving would be the imminent threat of nuclear warfare/testing/disaster caused by nuclear weapons. I live near Three Mile Island where there was a radioactive leak in 1979 causing an evacuation. Although my family lived nowhere near PA at this time, Three Mile Island still exists a mere 10–15 miles from my house. Knowing that radioactive leaks and “accidents” such as this could literally occur at any time due to man-made technology is quite honestly annoying and, although I am uneducated about the subject as a whole, unnecessary. TMI is not alone in leaks like this. Take Chernobyl for example in Pripyat, Ukraine. People still cannot and do not really inhabit this area. The land, air, and water are completely contaminated and not really safe for humans. Another example was basically the entirety of the Cold War lasting from 1945–1991. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the height of these nuclear warfare tensions between the Soviets and the US. President Kennedy and Khrushchev nearly caused the destruction of the Earth as we know it. It would have made what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki look small-scale when in fact the effects of America’s bombing are omnipresent. I had the chance to go to a seminar and personally meet a Japanese woman who was deformed due to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and hearing her story was so utterly devastating. I believe that humans should not have the ability to ward over others in such a way that can destroy all of civilization as we know it. I believe that I could develop my phronēsis by understanding more about foreign diplomacy and international affairs which is how the dismantling of nuclear weapons globally can begin. In order to establish credibility, I will have to get a degree or two and secure a professional career that allows me to address these issues.

Identify three times in your life when your feeling of phthonos interfered with your ability to lead, e.g., on a sports team, a student group, a group of coworkers, or even within your family. If you can’t think of three times, you’re not thinking hard enough! Were you able to overcome these feelings in the moment or at least afterward?

1. My older sister has always been a role model for me when it comes to athletics. She was a dominant cheerleader who actually left home her sophomore and junior years of high school to be on a World Champion cheerleading team close to Los Angeles, CA. Her devotion to her ability as a cheerleader and athlete inspired me to commit to all aspects of my soccer career. However, I did have feelings of phthonos because I never achieved anything close to the global accomplishment that she did by winning Worlds. I was eventually able to overcome these feelings because I realized that I needed a more balanced life. My sister was raised slightly differently than me and did not share the value that I placed on excelling both academically and athletically and so once I realized this I was able to overcome those feelings.
2. It is easy to give up in sports when you see someone doing better than you and especially as a kid you think “well why can’t I just do that to”? This feeling is especially prominent in team sports because you are constantly around teammates that are competing for playing time and possibly your position. I overcame these feelings by placing more of an importance on my individual skill and training as well as conditioning so that I could stand out among others. Sometimes I felt that my teammates had phthonos towards me because I was consistent and season after season, the leading scorer. However, by being overconfident or cocky, I could have reinforced their phthonos. I had to remind myself that as a leader, I needed to bring others together by reminding them that we are all there to grow as athletes.
3. Similar to athletics, in group settings like classrooms, there is a constant sense of competition especially when it comes to highly-motivated scholars. I had to learn to get over feelings of jealousy of others' ability to easily get 100s or As without studying while I worked so hard to get those grades. Eventually when I learned that my talents and worth as a human being extended far outside the classroom, I was able to overcome these emotions and feelings and grow as an individual.

How can the groups you’re involved in do a better job of minimizing feelings of phthonos to ensure that everyone is able to activate the best within themselves? You might think of this in terms of policies or just overall culture.

I think that is essential to have times of reflection, trust-building, and communication that forms camaraderie between group members. For example, families and family members should have some type of platform where they can regularly communicate if they do not live together (FaceTime, groupchats, etc.). In a more formal organization or professional setting, feelings of phthonos and the culture that evolves from that feeling starts from the top and works its way down. In this way, leaders must consistently and effectively show humility that inspires others to be like them rather than to want what they have. Overall, there needs to be an emphasis on community and collectivization rather than individualization. In terms of Cyrus as a leader and role model, I think that he succeeds in balancing his humility with prestige; however, in present times if a leader would like to inspire humility from others, there would need to be a more intense belief against self-promotion. It reminds of the show Undesignated Survivor which I have mentioned before where the former Secretary of Housing and Development consequentially becomes the POTUS. He repeatedly states throughout his presidency that he never asked or wanted to be President. By the end of the show, he reflects that this aspect of himself made him a stronger and better President than many of the past.

10/13: 8–9pm

During class today and specifically in the beginning when there was time for passage discussion, several points regarding The Education of Cyrus and leadership stood out to me.

Firstly, the passage I chose to discuss if I were asked would be at the end when Cyrus is given tens of thousands of men to command against Assyria. In this way, it emphasized how the role of leadership entails guiding a vast and variety of people from different social, political, and economic classes. Cyrus understands the hierarchical status of his position and therefore recognizes how this leadership is broken down. He knows that he must serve as an example as well as preside over his soldiers. The same is true when he was younger and went with his friends to go hunting. He was alongside and equal to his friends, but he was excelling in the hunt and showing signs of leadership.

Secondly, the topic of applying/adhering to the law as written versus what is fitting in a specific situation is present in Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearings and questioning by the Senate judiciary committee. Many times she has been asked how she would go about deciding certain issues and she has cited that as an originalist, she would go back to the law and look at the text during the time it was written. On another note, Cyrus was punished for going against the law and saying that each boy should wear the tunic that appropriately fits them. It comes down to a decision between morals/values and law. This led the class into a discussion of whether or not it is acceptable to go against people’s will if it benefits them. Additionally, it brings in the aspect of monitoring the agency of another person. Both facts considered, having authority over someone increases the chances that the authority figure will dehumanize them.