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  1. #1
    Orphan's Avatar

    Orphan

    1
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    Orphan sits in a lotus position, reading a book on communication and group processes, written from a social psychology perspective. It was rough going for him. The closest Orphan had ever come to taking a psychology course was the couple times during his adolescence when he was given batteries of psychological tests due to his having scrapes with the law and his habitual truancy and under-performance in school. Still, there were some things he found interesting, especially the stuff about groupthink.

    He wasn't sure he was getting anything that was going to be immediately useful out of it, but he'd give it some time and keep thinking over what he was reading. Usually things made more sense after he'd done that a bit, and then he'd be better able to judge how useful an idea or piece of information was.

    Orphan put down the book when it was time for the chat he'd arranged with Magister West. He figured that would provide some immediately useful information, as well as lots of things to think about.

    He grabbed a bottle of pomagranate juice before seeking out West, and when he finally found him - about a minute prior to the appointed time - he greeted him with a simple "Hey, West. This a good time for that talk I asked about?"

    West sat in the yard, involved in the mundane task of stretching. Sweat shone on him from his running, and a towel lay to the side, resting near one of his ubiquitous handguns.

    "Sure," he replied. "I made it back just in time," he added with a slight smile at his silly pun.


    Orphan grins at the joke as well as he sinks once again into a lotus position, but then gets serious.

    "I've been thinking a lot about leadership lately... thinking about good leaders I've met and read about, and what made them good, and reading a lot about the topic from a lot of different perspectives. What I think will be most useful, though, is to get some first-hand perspective. So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you become a leader, and what do you think are important qualities of a good leader?"

    "I got a battlefield promotion," West said, clearly not thrilled with the thought. "There just wasn't anyone else. Normally, I'm either a First Talon or T-Guard." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

    "I'm not sure I know what makes a good leader, without just regurgitating things I've read. Kai and I always just... agreed; then did the job."


    After thinking a moment, Orphan says "That's interesting you say that. Thinking about what I've read, it seems like a lot of successful leaders wouldn't be nearly as successful if they didn't have really close working relationships with some of the people under them. Not just good people, but people on the same wavelength, yet different enough to not just go along without questioning things or offering suggestions. Grant and Sherman understood each other better than brothers. Lee and Stonewall Jackson had that, too, and Lee's strategies didn't get carried out nearly as well after Jackson died.

    "So, part of what I've got to do - what all of us need to do - is get to know each other, get on that wavelength, like you and Kai had. That sound right?"


    Orphan had already been thinking a lot about him and the other Arrows needing to get used to working together, but getting to know each other as people ... that was a whole different thing, and thinking about it, Orphan realized he didn't really know that much about his companions, or them about him. He liked Tug a lot, but he wouldn't have a clue what sort of gift he might like, or what he liked to watch on TV other than sports... or did he even follow sports any more? Joshua kept everything close to the chest, and seemed like a very private person, and Falx... Orphan didn't know what was up with Falx, other than that something had happened to him while he was in the military. PTSD?

    "Well, I wouldn't call either Kai or I Generals," West said with a self-deprecating smile. "For the most part... the Ungala Draconis used us for threat assessment and nullification. Our Cabal, the Neidan, was formed from an earlier Cabal called the Archangels, and there were some who even called us a hit team."

    Over a year now since Baltimore. Since JoAnne, Uriel, Aphophis, Soul, Madelyne, Hephaestus, Ridley, The March Hare, and Kaa.

    Since Pandora.

    What are Chris and Diane doing?


    "Sure," Orphan says. "But wouldn't you say the same principle would apply to things like sports teams and... I dunno, cops that work in a special unit together, or even a really good construction crew? Knowing each other's abilities is important, but knowing each other well enough to be able to account for the human factor, for each member's personality and stuff like that... that sounds like a universal principle, something that's always going to up the odds of success."

    "Of course, to be effective," West replied. "I thought you were still talking about being a good leader, though... and I'm not sure if a good leader can afford to completely trust someone to cover their deficiencies... but, maybe they can. I haven't really thought about it."

    Finished stretching, he relaxed, leaning back on his arms.

    "Sure, a fire team does, because each person's role is based on their abilities, which for us, is more clearly defined by Paths -- most of the time. Neither Kai nor I achieved Mastery in our Path Arcana first..."


    "I think I'm kind of juggling two lines of thought... what it takes to be effective as a team, because me and Falx and Joshua and the rest need to figure that out, but also the leadership thing... and I guess I'm sort of trying to figure out where the two meet. Sometimes a leader stands apart from those he leads - a general, especially in modern times, or a coach of a sports team. But there are also leaders who are part of the team... squad leaders, team captains, quarterbacks, the foreman of a construction crew."

    Orphan shakes his head. "Maybe I need to tackle one part of that at a time. So, the leadership thing. Let me ask you this... do you think there's some quality or skill that really makes some people a better leader, and if so, is it something some people just have, or is it something most people can learn? Like... what do you think about the Silver Ladder? Some of them seem to think they are the natural leaders of the Awakened, almost like it's their god-given right or something. Do you think they really are more fit to be leaders than other mages, or do they join the Silver Ladder because they want to be leaders, or to be in charge?"

    "It has been my experience that those you seek power, or think themselves fit to wield it, rarely are... and that power corrupts. As with anything... there are exceptions. I believe that the Ladder has the training, focus, and background that they are, or become, the best suited to make decisions for the Pentacle -- just as we are most fit to combat the Pentacle's enemies. Beyond that... we're all just people," West said, after a few moments of thought.

    "As far as what makes a good leader? I suppose that depends on what the standards and measures for 'good' are..." he added with questioning look.


    Orphan takes a moment to think about that. After all, one is more likely to find an answer if they can define what it is they want to know. "Effective, successful... able to see and stay focused on the big picture... focused on achieving the mission, getting the right result, as opposed to just seeking personal gain, or glory."

    The last bit was something Orphan had worked on a lot during his travels prior to, and since, coming to Sacramento. When he'd first started to learn the ways of magic and of his legacy, he'd had a tendency toward being cocky and something of a show-off. His legacy mentor, Typhoon, had worked hard at breaking him of that sort of behavior, and his experiences since then had certainly not given him a lot to feel too cocky about, but one of the things that most worried Orphan about taking a leadership role was that having authority might corrupt him and encourage him to slide back into such behavior. If he was going to be a leader, he wanted to be one that lead for the right reasons, not for himself.

    "And where does furthering the overall goals of the organization fit in? Or knowledge transfer? Or Wisdom? What is... 'the right result'?" West asked. He was curious, and serious.

    "All good questions, but deep." Orphan thinks, before replying to one of them pretty quickly. "Furthering the overall goals of the organization, I think that whenever possible, the mission - or project, or immediate goal, or whatever - should hopefully further those overall goals. Sometimes that's not going to be the case - sometimes there are things that need to be done that don't necessarily relate to long-term or big-picture goals - but if the missions, projects, etc. never seem to relate back to the overall goals, then one has to ask if there's a problem with the missions, projects and whatever, maybe a lack of prioritization, or maybe the missions or projects aren't being completed in the right way... or, in some cases maybe the overall goals need to be reexamined."

    He thinks a bit more. "Knowledge transfer... man, that's a whole big area I haven't even given thought to, beyond just basic effective communication stuff. And Wisdom... well, it's important that a leader maintain high standards if they're going to expect such standards of others, but then there's always the possibility of a situation in which person has to make a sacrifice for the good of the mission or the organization, possibly even at the cost of Wisdom. But one can't take that too far, either, or one loses sight of the mission and can't lead or promote the overall goals very effectively.

    "As far as the right result ... well, some people might ask whether you're talking about the morally right result, or what's right in terms of doing one's duty and accomplishing the organization's goals, but I don't think one really gets to the 'right' result if one separates those out too far. Seems to me the ideal is to accomplish whatever it is you're trying to accomplish in a way that follows the path of Wisdom and, I guess going back to the overall goals... it hopefully furthers those as well, and takes into account the big picture while not losing sight of the fact that even small decisions can have a big impact on the persons one is leading, or any number of other people."


    After some more thought, Orphan takes that a little further. "I think a good leader tries find balance between those overall goals of the organization and their own sense of right and wrong. If a leader can't do that, they probably won't be a good leader, or at least not within the structure of that organization. If you are often going with your conscience but not the organization goals, or going with the organization goals but against your own sense of right and wrong, at very least you'd have to question whether you're a good fit with that organization."

  2. #2
    West (The Mage)'s Avatar

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    West
    Adamantine Arrow

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    "So you're suggesting Shakespeare was correct, and that a person can't be an effective leader if they compromise their own goals or moral standards? What about Robert E. Lee?" West pursued this line of thought.
    Nimbus

  3. #3
    Orphan's Avatar

    Orphan

    1
    PRE

    Orphan shakes his head. "No, I'm saying that under those circumstances, a leader has to try to find a balance... they can't compromise their own standards too far, but they have to be willing to compromise somewhat, to meet the demands of the larger situation. The tough part would be finding that balance, of course.

    "Lee is a pretty good example, I think. He thought the war was a bad thing from the start, and some people expected he would stay with the Union, but like a lot of people back then, especially from the South, he considered his first duty to be to his state, in his case Virginia. So, forced to choose between two duties, he went with the one he felt was the higher duty, even though he personally felt the war was a bad thing. After the war, though, he didn't try to argue for personal leniency. Unlike some other Confederate generals, he didn't even try to reenter the US military. He accepted the consequences of the choice he'd made.

    "Same thing with spies. Lee personally detested spies, considering them only about half a step above horse thieves, if that, but he used spies nonetheless, recognizing them as a necessary evil in time of war. But while he compromised in some areas, he never lost his sense of personal honor, or treated his opponents with disrespect, and there were some tactics he would not stoop to, and prevented others from utilizing. He argued against the ideas of some other Confederate commanders, like Forest, who wanted to launch full-scale terrorist campaigns."

  4. #4
    West (The Mage)'s Avatar

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    West
    Adamantine Arrow

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    West listened, trying not to let his eyes glaze over at the other man's love of the sound of his own voice. He was pretty sure Lee was a good example -- and that's why he had used him.

    My god, he's already said more than Uriel did in the two years we were 'ballers.

    "But Lee lost," West pointed out, now that the other man had taken the bait. "Do you think that dichotomy was a factor? Word and Soul Must Agree."
    Nimbus

  5. #5
    Orphan's Avatar

    Orphan

    1
    PRE

    Orphan thinks through all the typical explanations for why the Union's victory during the Civil War, and for Lee's deteriorating performance over the course of the war. There were lots of them. The Union had an overwhelming advantage in men and resources and technology. Lee lost some key personnel as the war went on, and found his supply lines increasingly strained, both by the efforts of the Union general and by the Confederacy's general lack of crucial supplies.

    "It's certainly possible that was a factor," Orphan concludes, shrugging. "It could have been a lot of things. But there have been leaders that led successful efforts they didn't agree with. I think that ideally, the soul and the cause should line up, and when that is the case, the odds of a leader being successful probably improve significantly."

    After a moment, he asks West "Have you ever been in a situation where duty demanded you do something you didn't personally agree with?"

  6. #6
    West (The Mage)'s Avatar

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    West
    Adamantine Arrow

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    West listened to the answer, and then the question, wondering if Orphan had recognized the Corollary. He considered the question; minutes dragged on as he went through his memories, searching for truth.

    Armadia? Vex? Baltimore? Pandora? Apophis? Ankh's trial by fire?

    He pushed further, into the time he spent into the military, and then into his Awakening. The things he had done, and why.

    "No," he finally answered with a smile, satisfied. "That is not the Adamant Way. Enlightenment is Honor."

    "Have you?"
    Nimbus

  7. #7
    Orphan's Avatar

    Orphan

    1
    PRE

    Orphan takes a bit of time to think. "Well, before I Awakened, duty and questions of right and wrong didn't really play a role in my decisions. I was ruled by emotions, mostly anger and hurt, and by selfishness. Mostly I just did what I wanted.

    "Since Awakening.."
    He thinks for awhile longer. "No. Really, ever since I Awakened, I've known what I should be doing. It's just... sometimes it takes me awhile to figure that out. I used to make a lot of bad decisions, so I still second-guess myself sometimes. I want to make sure I'm following the Adamant Way, and that I'm doing it not just because I'm an Arrow, but also because I really believe that's the right way. I over-think things sometimes, but the longer I think about what the Way means, on deeper levels, the more wisdom I find there, and the more comfortable I get at just letting that guide me. I've still got a ways to go, though.

    "Since Awakening, I've had to make some tough decisions, but don't think I've ever been in a situation where I thought one thing was right but that I had to do something else. Those tough decisions were just times when the right answer wasn't clear, when there were risks or downsides to whatever I chose. But that sort of situation isn't really a moral quandry. That's just life."

  8. #8
    West (The Mage)'s Avatar

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    West
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    "Then is finding that balance necessary? Must we be willing to compromise our standards? For anyone... not just a 'good' leader?" West asked. "The Supernal Is Self."

    He paused a moment, then asked another question. "Orphan... have you studied the Phalanxes and their Corollaries?"
    Nimbus

  9. #9
    Orphan's Avatar

    Orphan

    1
    PRE

    'Yeah, I have," Orphan says, nodding. "I've studied them, and given them a lot of thought. I'll be honest, sometimes the Adamant Way still isn't the first way I think about things, especially about stuff I don't have a lot of experience with. I'm not where it's an automatic thing for me, but as I consider things, the Way is where I end up, and in getting there, I get a deeper understanding of what it's really all about, a deeper appreciation of the Phalanxes and Corollaries.

    "By thinking about different ways a person might look at things, in the long run I come to the conclusion that the Adamant Way is the best way to look at things, at least for me, plus I end up having a deeper idea why I believe that, having considered different ways of thinking and discarded the ones that don't fit within the Way. That way, I end up knowing I really believe what I think I believe, rather than just giving lip service to the Adamant Way. That's really important to me."


    After a moment, Orphan continues. "It's not really questioning the Adamant Way, so much as I'm questioning myself and sorting out my thinking along the way... making sure I'm thinking right about things, and being who I want to be, instead of who I used to be. Self-Purification is Essential, and I'm still working on applying that to my way of looking at things.

    "I doubt myself sometimes, because I spent a lot more years being messed up than I have being on the right path, and I want to make sure I stay on that path. So, I question everything, to make sure I understand the path, but more to make me examine myself.

    "So, this leadership stuff. It's only recently I've given thought to what it means to be a leader, or that maybe I might become one. So, I'm still trying to figure out what it's all about, and how the Adamant Way applies to leadership. And the talk we're having, it's helping me a lot.

    "Like I said earlier, ideally, there isn't a divide between one's own beliefs and doing one's duty, and I understand that for me to be true to the Adamant Way, there can't be that divide between duty and belief. The Word and Soul Must Agree. But, at the same time, I know that some people believe there's more room for compromise, and that sometimes people have had to compromise their ideals for the sake of duty, and sometimes they even succeed despite that divide. Then you bring up the bit with Robert E. Lee, and whether that dichotomy is part of why he ultimately failed... and that made things click for me.

    "Looking at it from the point of view of a Sleeper historian or something, one can't really know why Lee failed, because there were so many factors that played a part in the Civil War... but my understanding of Fate, and how the Adamant Way says The Supernal is Self, they tell me that yes, the dichotomy was why Lee, and the South, lost. It wasn't just the North having superior resources and more men. The ideals and honor of the Confederate leaders didn't match up with what they were defending, and in Lee's case, he started the war with torn loyalties and by breaking a vow. So, understanding all that tells me that for me to be an effective leader, and to follow the Way, I have to avoid putting myself in that situation. I need to make sure I'm living my beliefs and my vows, and if I think there's a contrast between what is demanded of me and what is right, I need to not compromise, not pick to obey one or the other, but rather examine the demands and my beliefs, and remember that Service is Mastery."


    Orphan grins. "Me being long-winded and over-thinking everything has to be a huge pain in the ass for you, West," Orphan says. "But I want you to know, this is really helpful. It's helped me wrap my head around some things better. I still have to figure out a lot of stuff, but you helping me sort this part out, that shows how you're a good leader, and a good example for me to consider as I keep sorting things out."

  10. #10
    West (The Mage)'s Avatar

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    West
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    "This is one of the core principles that seperate us from Guardians," West replied, satisfied with Orphan's dissertation answer. "We fight for that line in the sand that marks the path of Wisdom as much as we do the Exarchs, and we mostly do that by example. Which doesn't mean Guardians are bad people -- it is a basic tenet among many belief states that self-sacrifice is the most noble of pursuits, be that sacrifice of body or soul."

    "I'm glad I was able to help," he added with a smile.
    Nimbus

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