The functions of living
by Miki SaxonIn today’s world, whether living loud or barely functioning, every person in every country leads, manages, and sells every day of their lives.
And I do mean everyone, from the very top—heads of state, financial barons and CEOs—to the homeless druggies living on skid row.
Look at each from a functional point of view.
Lead means “to go before or with to show the way” and you probably do that at least 50% of the time in your daily life.
Manage means “to be in charge.” You can be in charge of various things at various times, but you are always in charge of yourself.
Sell means “to persuade or induce someone to do something” which is what you do when choosing a movie, putting your kids to bed or convincing your boss about X.
Now let’s look at these three functions from the viewpoint of the homeless druggie, whom we’ll call Sam (short for Samuel/Samantha, the male pronouns are for convenience), since they are most often looked at from the other end.
Sam has a vision of endless free drugs and a haven that supplies all other needs in which to enjoy them. He leads himself in a survival exercise every day of his life, supporting his habit, finding food and shelter, and avoiding the pitfalls and terrors of the street; on some days he hangs with others who decide to invest in his vision and follow his lead. Sam acts as his own logistics/facilities manager; as CFO he is constantly raising funds for his enterprise and he handles all purchasing decisions. He is constantly selling, whether that means convincing passersby to donate to his cause, social services to let him be or the police that he didn’t do whatever.
From watching myself and others and through my reading these three functions, in their broadest sense, seem to embrace everything we humans do.
Should other functions should be added?
What do you think?
October 11th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
…I think that’s crazy. Sam is not a leader. He doesn’t have a vision. He has little to no hope. He sees few if any possibilities. He’s only focused on his needs-not others. He lacks core values–that is he will lie, steal, and cheat to get his next fix. He sets a poor example and has little to no influence on others. How can you call that leadership?
October 11th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Possibly it is crazy, Paul, but I believe that every human being has a vision, whether it’s one of world domination or, as Eliza says, “All I want is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air. With one enormous chair…;” no one truly fails unless s/he is dead, until then we each have the ability to turn our life around or just change channels. How do you know that Sam has no hope and sees no possibilities?
Who ever started the myth that “core values” were “good?” Hitler had strong core values that he believed were good and even started a world war when others disagreed.
As to the lie/cheat/steal to get what he wants, that seems to apply to many political, religious and corporate leaders these days.
I agree that Sam doesn’t fit the model, but part of my goal is to broaden people’s thinking and encourage them to question many of the assumptions that are floating around out there. People lead all the time, but if what they do doesn’t fit a narrow, artificial definition then it’s not considered leading. People judge and are being judged against a yardstick composed of words that are both situational and fluid—murder is wrong, but the definition of murder keeps changing.
People who lead aren’t always leaders and don’t always practice leadership, but all people can think and then debate, discuss, argue and disagree. I just don’t think that anything should be consumed mindlessly or run on assumptions.
October 11th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Miki,
1. I don’t believe every person has a vision. Many people are very content with the status quo. Change freightens them.
2. The addicts I have known have had little hope for themselves. Others had hope for them but they had all but given up on themselves.
3. I believe there are a set of core, positive values most leaders possess. Most followers look for a leader who has integrity, courage, and determination.
4. I don’t believe people lead all the time. Many people are only followers. Real leaders see, describe, and pursue a better future for themselses and others. They influence people to change and grow and achieve bigger goals.
5. I agree it’s important to question assumptions and look at things from new points of view. But it’s equally important not to arbituarily change definitons to fit your point of view.
6. I hope others will way in on this topic.
Thanks.
October 11th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Hmmm…an interesting way to look at Sam. I guess, in a way, he is a leader, when he’s bringing others along. I guess we get stuck thinking that leaders must be what we consider positive in our society. We sometimes forget that leaders can bring us to places we don’t want to be.
I take it as this lesson: choose your leaders wisely. Do you want to be stuck following someone who takes you down a path that is ultimately detrimental to your own goals?
October 11th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Here’s 2 functions Sam currently doesn’t have that as online publishers we need to thrive:
Marketing – the power of telling the stories of WHY I should buy the drugs Sam sells is very important;
IT – if Sam plans to sell these drugs online, he needs a snappy website. Perhaps a blog, or maybe a podcast, with his voice disguised of course.
Sam’s leadership motives are questionable, as he is looking to get us hooked on his vision of the world, but depending on his motivation, it might be in our best interests to follow him. Perhaps he’s trying to fill the starving children in Columbia and will be tithing from his profits?
Interesting how we can make even a drug dealer look like an effective leader if we remove the stigma attached with the illegal activity.
October 11th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Paul, 1. A vision is something someone works towards and tries to draw others with them. And you’re right that many (most?) people don’t like change, but isn’t preserving the status quo itself a vision and one that many people are willing to fight for. We see this over and over between generations.
2. But there are addicts who have turned their life around, Maybe not those who are strung out on heroin or crystal meth as often, but there are hundreds of other drug addictions that p[people are beating every day.
3. Values such as “integrity, courage, and determination” are still situational and fluid. I’m sure that Hitler believed he possessed all three and his followers agreed. You, I and most of the world don’t agree, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t.
4. Again, I refuse to blindly assign positive values to leadership. History and the current world abound with people in leadership roles who don’t meet theses criteria.
5. Which definitions? I see no proof that being a deemed a leader guarantees that the person has embraced a positive set of values even if s/he claims to have done so. We have dozens of corporate leaders, several in jail, who seem to prove my point.
6. I definitely would like to see more people weigh in with their thoughts and opinions. I think that leadership, like a brilliant cut diamond, has many facets and the more that are aired the better.
Miranda, Good point. It’s not just buying into a leader’s vision, that vision needs to be at least synergistic with our own, since goals are vision, too.
October 11th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Phil (sorry, you got caught in spam purgatory), I didn’t even realize that Sam was dealing! But you’re right about the stigma, although sometimes it’s good to add it, think Jeff Skilling and Dennis Kozlowski.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Sorry, but I don’t see your personal experience as an addict Miki. Without that experience you simply cannot answer to this leadership vs. anything else situation for a drug addict.
I do and can. Here – from a comment above – “How do you know that Sam has no hope and sees no possibilities?” He/She’s doing whatever it takes to not feel the pain of living – numbing him/herself with drugs. This is not leading, this is escaping.
Anything else is delusional – unreal, therefore cannot be leading. This person is an example! Of what not to do…
October 11th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I’m certainly not recommending for anyone to follow Sam. But, playing Devil’s advocate, if an addict sees no possibilities what gets many of them into rehab? What if I’d described Sam as a respected member of a profession who had a habit or was hooked on prescription drugs or into “recreational” coke would he be considered hopeless? Or if I’d made him homeless and bi-polar instead of on drugs, would he still be hopeless?
No, I don’t have personal experience as an addict, but having watched two good friends descend into that Hell and one return I refuse to consider anybody hopeless. Hopeless is dead.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
“what gets many of them into rehab?”
An Act of Providence. Left to their own devices, they have placed themselves beyond human aid and will continue to use unless another “Power” steps in to help.
Yes, you are playing Devil’s advocate and the devil will, unfortunately, kill folks like these because that is what the devil does. May I suggest you not advocate the devil’s actions, please.
And… it isn’t us considering them hopeless, it’s them considering themselves hopeless.
October 11th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Mark, I’m a long way from being the expert that you are, but I’ve always been told that AA teaches that no matter how those who care feel, it is the person themselves must want to quit drinking.
I’m not advocating the Devil’s actions, but, on my original point, I still believe that people lead, manage and sell every day of their lives. Leading isn’t always about big things or good things and they may lead only themselves. I think it’s important to realize that the definition of leading may be broader than commonly accepted or taught and that, as Miranda pointed out, one needs to think about where one’s being led and not just respond to leader who is powerful and charismatic.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:34 am
Miki, please, when you’ve lived a life that was a constant downward spiral, you’re not any kind of expert… and if you said that to be snide I might take offense but I won’t.
The one huge hole in what you’re trying to “force” us into seeing is this – “but you are always in charge of yourself.”
Addicts, alkies whatever, use or drink because they have no choice. They are no longer in charge of themselves. I believe that and no level of effort on anyone’s part by someone who hasn’t lived the life and recovered through the principles (along with the struggle associated with recovery) will change that.
I’m here to refute what you’ve said because you’ve asked for opposing comments. I disagree with you. Additionally, should someone like me or even one of your friends, stop by and believe what you, a mere human, is advocating, they need to be able to see another side. Else they could suffer… its that simple.
BTW, just because you’ve been told something about AA (or anything for that matter) unless you’ve lived its reality, you don’t know that secondhand info is true, do you? That’s why lawyers object to hearsay…
October 12th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Mark, I’m never snide. Secondly, I’m not trying to force you to think anything. You obviously have intimate knowledge of the subject of addiction, that I don’t and what I have lived I’m not in a position to discuss publicly.
But all this was off the topic on which I wanted to focus and corrected in today’s (10/12) post.
I apologize if anything I said insulted you, but I stick to my conviction that the only thing that absolutely precludes change or substantiates failure is death.