Misconceptions Of Authority And Service

by John R. SedivycloseAuthor: John R. Sedivy Name: John R. Sedivy
Email: john@capecodbranding.com
Site: http://www.capecodbranding.com
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Introduction
I recently completed “Guilty” by Ann Coulter mostly during my road trip to DC. I generally have a few books going at once, a minimum of one book from the New York Times Best Seller List, and a minimum of one technical book which relates to branding, marketing, entrepreneurship or in the how-to category such as search engine optimization (SEO). So at any given point I am bouncing between the books until completed which generally has me arrive to a new conclusion and prompts the generation of a new article and/or new insights.

The reason I am specifically calling this out is that “Guilty” is the second conservative book I have focused an article around in a short amount of time, so in essence I wanted to restate that I am not taking a political stance by doing so. At the time of this writing “Guilty” was number four on the best seller list and as such I felt the need to read it and share my thoughts and how the work may tie to personal development.

Guilty?
This is the first Ann Coulter book I had read from cover-to-cover. In the past I had seen her work while walking through Barnes and Noble browsing the books, and read a few passages here and there, so I was not a complete stranger to her work. Although I may not have been taken completely off guard, what did surprise me was the consistent intensity of her work, spanning five audio CDs. My recommendation is that unless you really want to get fired up and enraged, you should try to tackle this book piecemeal – especially if you are listening to the audio version.

Not that I have set the stage let’s discuss what was done well:

1. Courage of convictions
2. Research
3. Intensity

Anyone who has read an Ann Coulter book will undoubtedly know where she stands. She is certainly not shy about giving her opinion and drumming it home in a consistent manner. She has carved a market niche for herself and is loyal to those followers as indicated by her number four ranking on the list at the time of this article. People who read Ann Coulter know what to expect and she delivers – regardless of consequence. Agree or disagree with her opinions I respect the fact that she puts it all out there and I know where she stands. Honestly, I wish more people would show the courage behind their convictions and take a stance.

Another thing done well is that Ann Coulter provides some interesting points and statistics which were researched for her book. Although I may not agree with many of the points made in this work, I do feel that I have walked away a bit smarter and aware of the political landscape – which in general I try to avoid insomuch as possible – I do recognize that this is a biased view. Many of these points were in the form of contradictory actions taken by those in positions of power, or striving to achieve such positions, as well as misconceptions held by the general public. I will not go into such finger pointing here, at it is not the purpose of this forum, check out the book if this is of interest to you.

Finally, the material of “Guilty” is wrapped in a thick layer of accusatory intensity – this is especially apparent for those who choose to listen to the audio version. Ann Coulter appears to have a way of evoking passion towards her point of view, which if you listen long enough, you may even find yourself becoming angry, even if you do not know why! This type of emotion may be viewed as a gift as those delivering a message should hope to harness and control their delivery. One of the basic tenants of basic communications is to “know your audience” – Ann Coulter knows her audience and delivers accordingly. Although I have not read her other works, my guess is that if I read, or listened, to the others they would each invoke the same level of passion, consistently.

I am a firm believer that one can learn something from anything. Those portraying success may be emulated or “modeled” in hope that following said behavior will result in similar success by the follower. On the other hand, those portraying negative behavior should be noted as well, so the person witnessing said behavior or material can ensure that they are not behaving in said fashion. So in essence each person may learn “how to be, or how not to be” in a given situation. I have taken this approach throughout my life thinking of each situation as potential items for my toolbox, leaving behind undesirable behaviors and methodologies and taking desirable attributes for later use and personal tailoring.

So in this situation I had learned a minimum of three things as noted before, the importance of taking a stance and having the courage to back your convictions, the second is the importance of offering value to your readers – actually this just reinforced this important point for me, and finally, the power of intense emotions and how to effectively channel said emotions. The importance of offering value stood out for me during this instance. Regardless of the intended audience, I feel that I did receive value from the book, which is not always the case. One should always strive to offer value and leave a person, place, or situation better than when they had first encountered said person, place, or situation. Imagine what would happen if everyone attempted to do such a thing; the world would truly be a better place.

Consider the importance of harnessing and controlling your emotions and the power this has over an audience. Ann Coulter’s delivery is strongly worded and accusatory by design – this is intended to grab attention and insight anger and in turn prompt her readers to action. My personal style has been middle of the road, with more of an analytical, rational flavor. I have always been analytical to some extent, this style being honed over years of serving as an engineer. One’s style determines and shapes one’s audience. Pick your style, find you voice, and strengthen it by consistent, deliberate practice. As you are your audience, your audience will find you, stick with you, and flock to you in increasing numbers.

The Authority Misconception
While listening to Guilty I had zeroed in on two points in particular, the first relating to authority and the second to service. I will address the point related to authority first; the following is a quote taken from “Guilty”:

“Even stupid people — come to think of it, especially stupid people — will always take the path of least resistance. The young, the stupid, and the weak are invariably impressed with authority figures. College students in Weimar Germany emulated their Nazi-sympathizing professors just as college students in modern America emulate their America-hating professors and the stupid and weak in society at large emulate the liberal establishment.”

Although this language is strong, and much too accusatory and absolute for my liking, it does drive home an important point. Increasingly society is impressed by the sheer image of authority, whether it is an authoritative ranking of power in the form of a management position, money, or even social standing. There are many forms of authority, however the common troubling denominator is the lessening willingness of those to question said authority as it is much easier for most to follow along as sheep.

I find that as I increase in age, my ability for reasoning and rational thought increases as well. This in turns allows me to question more, and do so intelligently. My guess is that this is a natural evolution that most experience, but few actually take the opportunity to do so. The ability to question is strengthened by a person’s education and experience the total of which is not likely received in a traditional sense.

My awakening to this aspect has occurred under a year ago when I stepped away from a structured environment to that of an entrepreneur. It did not happen overnight, however the more engrossed I had become in the entrepreneurial mindset, lifestyle, and surrounding myself with truly entrepreneurial individuals my eyes began to open and continue to do so with the passage of each day. Often it is impossible for someone to recognize something as right or wrong when they are part of the situation. The same may be said for a person, one of the greatest gifts and skills is the ability to see yourself as others do.

So back to my original point on authority. What is authority and what entitles one to authority? Wikipedia provides the following explanation of authority:

“In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term “power”. However, their meanings differ: while “power” refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, “authority” refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise that power.”

Monarchs derive authority by divine right, whereas in a democracy authority is granted by the results of the election process and the appointees of the elected. As noted earlier there are other forms of authority such as an employer’s authority over an employee, this type of authority results from monetary interests – employers provide monetary incentive on a regular basis therefore purchasing authority over an employee. As an entrepreneur this has been the most interesting flavor of authority, and I have recently begun to rethink the concept of authority specifically in terms of the employee/employer relationship.

Entrepreneurs are generally free individuals by their very nature. Once you take the entrepreneurial leap, you will experience true freedom and will crave more of it. This includes assessing who possesses authority over you, how to reduce said authority, and becoming very careful about granting others authority over you. As an entrepreneur, you will not have an employer, so that will leave the government and debtors who possess authority. You will scrutinize every potential deal to equalize the playing field, this is challenging when starting out – although essential.

The beauty of a democracy is that the government will generally leave you alone if you pay your taxes and abide by the established laws as agreed to by society. Although the rules are not always fair, as a business owner you can hire individuals such as accountants and attorneys to ensure you are in compliance and minimize the effects of the unfair rules. So that leaves debtors. One of the early misconceptions held by most entrepreneurs is that when starting out you should borrow at low interest rates to fuel growth. I personally believe this is a mistake, whether the interest rates are high or low, debt is debt, and debt is an obligation which translates to a person or company having authority over you. Attempt to grow your business as quickly as possibly while taking on as little (ideally no) debt as possible. Basically you are trading short term pain for long term freedom.

Another widely held belief is that a new business should seek out venture funding. I also disagree with this belief – why would you want to escape an authoritative employee/employer relationship only to replace it with being beholden to an investor? Money is not free and as a new business owner you will be trading your freedom for funding and in turn control of your business.

As previously mentioned, Ann Coulter states that the “young, stupid, and weak” are impressed by authority. Let’s look at this a bit closer in terms of my own experience. Up until the past couple of years I was impressed by authority to some extent. My rationale was that if a person was in a higher position, in terms of rank, money, or social standing, they must have achieved such status by virtue of hard work, dedication, good deeds, or some other less apparent attribute.

I am the type who is impressed by smart work and intelligence. I live by the mantra “work smarter not harder”, not that I don’t believe in hard work, I most assuredly do, however I do not believe in unnecessary hard work. For most of my career, I was fortunate to have worked for some very intelligent, accomplished people. There was some incompetence peppered in there, however this was at a minimum and increased later in my career to an unbearable point. The last few years prior to my joining the entrepreneurial ranks, I had reached a point where I felt smarter than those in charge of my day-to-day actions. Initially financial incentives minimized this, however that wore off with time. I attempted to move positions a couple times, which was a short term relief and long term misery.

Since transitioning to entrepreneurship I have been very happy, probably the happiest I have been in my life. Although it is the most challenging, and scariest, thing I have done, I feel it is also the most rewarding – after all, no risk, no reward. This statement made by Ann Coulter made me reflect back on this as I am no longer impressed by authority but this was not always the case – her statement made me think back and pinpoint when this happened. In my case authority impressed me during my youth, which of course diminished as I matured through a combination academic education and real world experience.

One important point that I must make. Do not confuse authority with respect, they are two distinctly different animals. There are more than a few people that I will show deference to – these are individuals I highly respect. This respect accrued through historical dealings and has nothing to do with race, gender, education, or monetary success. Also this deference may be shown in some situations and not in others – this aspect is completely situation dependent. I attempt to live by the golden rule, as a result I treat all with a base level of respect.

The Service Misconception
Another aspect of “Guilty” that caused some reflection was the reference to the concept of service. This concept was invoked due to some individuals “sacrificing” a high paying private career for a lowly civil servant wage. Although in this case the charity work paid over 300K annually. I have a feeling that if the location of such “charity” were known there would be more willing “givers” literally lining up at the door.

This was cause for me to reflect on my own personal experience and how I have found the term service distorted over the years ranging from high paying public positions to resume enhancers that assist some in climbing the corporate ladder in a given organization. I would wonder if there would be as many willing “givers” if one would take away the stable salary and benefits of a public position or enhanced promotional opportunities for those providing said service. Anonymity would likely lessen the pool as well.

As an entrepreneur this is what I am urging you to do. Consider service for service sake. Consider doing something good independent of any financial gain or possible future business. Seek out some area that is near and dear to your heart and give to this cause in the form of money or time. Ideally you could do so anonymously to reinforce your convictions.  In my opinion some of the noblest people were those who have given without any expectation of anything in return. I have witnessed at least one successful business owner take State office and turn down their public salary as a gesture of giving back. I have also seen some of the largest charitable donations bestowed anonymously – the size of which could have easily qualified for a show of pomp and circumstance – an oversized check and a couple individuals on stage posing for the event smiling widely for the cameras and perhaps itching for a sound byte.

In closing I would ask that you consider these two concepts – that of authority and service. What can you do to begin increasing your freedom from those who hold authority over you? What type of genuine service can you provide to an individual, group, or to your community?

Authority and service are two important concepts that are worthy of self-reflection!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

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