View Full Version : You wanna be Alpha?
Universal Rep
02-11-09, 12:03 pm
Just act it. Some light reading: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1878358,00.html
Liked the part where if ya speak up more, others think you're smarter, even if you're not. Priceless. Apply those findings to the mess we're in right now. What conclusions can we draw fellas?
KiNgKoNgPrOnGeD
02-11-09, 12:08 pm
Very interesting read. Sounds a lot like my bosses at work. The staff looks up to me more than them because of my boss' one-sidedness and ignorance. Pretty funny that I saw this. Thanks U-Rep
Universal Rep
02-11-09, 12:08 pm
That article is full of implications... I just pulled out one. Another calls into question the very notion of a meritocracy. Another gives us insights into how a forum works and who is seen as being a leader.
GJN5002
02-11-09, 12:14 pm
I like the example you pulled out as it is very applicable on any forum. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking because someone has 2000 posts, they know what they are talking about, while they guy with 50 has no idea.
Universal Rep
02-11-09, 12:16 pm
I like the example you pulled out as it is very applicable on any forum. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking because someone has 2000 posts, they know what they are talking about, while they guy with 50 has no idea.
Yup. We could talk about that article for days. Wait wut? I have a lot of posts... One some forums with a "rep" system, same thing. Wait wut? I have a lot of reps...
Wasteland
02-11-09, 12:20 pm
When Anderson and Kilduff checked the team members' work, however, a lot of pretenders were exposed. Repeatedly, the ones who emerged as leaders and were rated the highest in competence were not the ones who actually offered the greatest number of correct answers. Nor were they the ones whose SAT scores suggested they'd even be able to. What they did do was offer the most answers — period.
Lol.
"Dominant individuals behaved in ways that made them appear competent," the researchers write, "above and beyond their actual competence." Troublingly, group members seemed only too willing to follow these underqualified bosses.
Doh. The blind leading the blind.
That is why it is so important to hear what the person is saying BEHIND the words,
I know people who will talk for 10 minutes and not SAY anything, while some people can say two words and have a book worth of meaning.
Brutus_515
02-11-09, 12:39 pm
being a boss/supervisor/manager is a leadership trait...it does suck when someone with little or no leadership gets to a position just by running thier sucks. Leaders are not born they are made, trained and have real world aspects to bring to the table.
REMINDS ME ALOT OF POLITICAL SITUATIONS!!!!! alot of flappin jaws with little or no action or reaction. It can go from flippin burgers to runing a government to fighting a war....alot of piss poor leaders. the few that are legit run shit right the others let shit roll down hill
Brick By Brick
02-11-09, 1:32 pm
I've seen this happen countless times. At my present job, we aren't really sure how people are chosen for promotion to sergeant and/or the peachy jobs in the department. The only thing we - as the line troops - can put our finger on is, the person chosen generally has convinced a higher up that they possess the magic qualities for the job they're gunning for. If you can get a sergeant or LT to believe that you have "it," whatever "it" is, they will put you on the promotion magic carpet. That said, self-promotion, and acting 'as if' you are what you aspire to be is a good tactic. Being competent would be nice too. If you are viewed as a fraud by your employees, soon enough that house of cards will fall, IMHO. You have to learn to play the game if you want to move up the promotion ladder.
I don't think it's enough to have all the answers, you have to be able to self-promote as well. In a perfect world, you could just be 'good' and everyone would see it. But in a competitive marketplace, you have to have steak AND sizzle to be 'alpha.' Just my two cents.
joe-yamma
02-11-09, 2:46 pm
if you're really alpha, do you need someone to tell you this stuff? lol
two quotes come to mind...
"When all is said and done, more will be said than done."
"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."
Previously being a chef and now a Marine, I have seen quite the gambit in leadership ability and "Alpha" traits. In kitchens the Head/exec. chef if the man, there is no problem he can't solve, however, they always, well most of the time, were interested in what you had to say or a new idea etc.. In the Marine Corps, leadership is a "Corps Value", I for one have seen little leadership that was inspiring. There have been few people in my chain of command who actually led from the front/ who asked of us the impossible and watched us succeed time and time again, and it was them, who never asked us to do something that they themselves wouldn't do. I have seen time and time again in my short time in the M.C. 3 years + to be exact that there are few who actually lead by example. I.M.O. if you can't lead by example then get the hell out of the way.
I have seen this to often....no matter my position or job, be it in sports, Navy, or as a Club Manager or Fitness Director as of late...I believe in leading by actions not by words. Instead of telling my staff how it should be done i make sure I show them by leading by example. I never ask of them more than what I'm willing to do myself and I have always gained the respect of my men. Even in the military in my unit....I was always first man in and last man out. Caught a lot of flack for it but my men respected me.