Yesterday’s article ignited quite the firestorm of responses. Here’s one you really need to see for all the right reasons…
“Now, wait a minute, John. There’s another lesson to draw from that story of the sentry.
We’ve all dealt with annoying gatekeepers who use regs and the misunderstanding of regs to keep people out when they should be allowed in. And that metaphorically can apply to many different situations.
But the story below isn’t quite that. The sentry had his orders. The general in the car was trying to bluff his way through, which is what you’d expect someone unwelcome to do. The sentry was doing what he was called upon, hired to, and ordered to do. He was doing his job, and he found a clever way to make his point. The general was the one out of order here.
We’ve all met people like that, too: people too self-important to know when they need to listen instead of acting like a bull in a shop of Waterford crystal. I think of the nameless, faceless bureaucrat in some executive branch office who was ordered by someone at the White House to do something not quite legit (this was during the Watergate crisis). The member of the White House staff told the bureaucrat that he, the White House staffer, was working for the president! The nameless, faceless bureaucrat said in response, ‘Yes, I thought I was, too.’ The White House guy got stymied, and the nation was better off as a result.
That could be a lesson for today, as well.”
The Rev. Lawrence A. Jones, D. Min.
Moderator, Presbytery of Northern New England (PCUSA)
I felt compelled to share the Reverend’s wisdom because it illustrates an important point.
It’s also a point I’d like to make as it relates to my relationship with you, my reader.
I fashion myself a bit of a sentry in my profession, in that I believe it is my duty to speak my mind and tell it like it is. To expose the frauds, debunk myths, and call B.S. on the self-proclaimed “experts” when I see it.
Why?
Because there are unwelcome “generals” and self-important frauds out there who can be successful at bluffing their way into your world.
It’s practically a crusade I’m on, as I work in an industry rife with charlatans spewing tons of bad advice. And they give the entire industry a bad name.
So yep, this is me standing guard…. for you….
And nothing’s gonna happen to you on my watch if you stick with me because I’ve “got your six”.
You can count on me to expose false gurus full of nothing more than hype, who stretch the truth until it’s unrecognizable, or preach all sorts of intellectually lazy fluff.
Why is my threshold for BS and BS-ers next to nil?
- Because I was raised by a father who had zero tolerance for it.
- At the beginning of my career, I was mentored by a man who had less than zero tolerance for it.
Coincidentally, my book Seeds of Success, is dedicated to my father and based on my time with that very mentor I just mentioned.
When Reverend Jones read Seeds of Success, he was so moved by it he invited me to come speak to his institution. And doing so was one of the greatest honors of my career, as that institution was the high school I attended.
Grab a copy of the book, it will move you. Perhaps so much, you’ll invite me to share the message to your organization too.
