Leadership 101: BEING SERGEANT YORK (All About the Benjamins, Part II)

[ROFCB Commander 664]

Today is Day Eleven of the twenty-day "Leadership 101" series I'll be posting. This series expresses my thoughts on some topics important to the successful leadership of a local unit, and asks other unit leaders to post their thoughts, ideas, and experiences on the same subject in hopes that together we can help those who are starting from scratch with unit-building.

 

Today's topic is "Being Sergeant York--or 'All About the Benjamins, Part II'".

 

Yesterday I took you on an odd journey to help define "money" in your mind for what it actually is, versus what most people think it is. Today I'd like to finish that thought, and then show you how it applies to the Militia specifically.

 

The gist of yesterday's post was that money as we commonly understand it simply doesn't exist. All that money actually is is the ingenuity and effort you bring to the world in order to solve problems. We "create" money by "creating" solutions, whether via brain power (new inventions, new ways of doing things, etc.) or elbow grease (actually doing the work). A coal miner creates money by applying his effort (digging coal, loading hoppers, pushing them to the surface) to the problem of "how do I extract coal so that it can be used to power furnaces". The mine owner uses ingenuity (how do I convince others to dig, load, and push) to solve the same problem. These are simple examples, but the point remains the same no matter what the problem in question is, and no matter how the solution is achieved.

 

There's one last psychological point I want to explore (briefly) before tying all of this to the Militia movement. If you thought the first part was wacky, wait until you read the next paragraph.

 

You can also "create" money, literally, by simply thinking about it. You've done it many times throughout your life, if you think back. Remember that time you needed five bucks, and you reached into the pocket of a coat that was hanging in the closet and VOILA! Or the time you only needed two more dollars to pay for the pizza you just ordered, and you found just what you needed in change between the cushion and the back of the recliner? Yeah--that's what I'm talking about. We attract what we think about. It isn't just "positive thinking", though that part is critical to achieving the ends that we want (rather than the ends that we specifically don't want). I won't go into metaphysics (or actual physics) here, though there are many respected people who believe that those two things play a part in what I'm talking about. I'll stick with psychology, or at least my interpretation of what could be happening psychologically to explain this phenomenon.

 

Please keep in mind that entire books have been written on this subject that I am about to try to sum up and apply in literally two paragraphs. You'll have to do a lot of filling-in-the-blanks.

 

I believe that we psychologically recognize times of abundance, and unknowingly squirrel away for times of lack. You lost a twenty dollar bill somewhere? That sucks, and you're angry, but apparently in that moment you could afford to do without the twenty--because I think you misplaced it on purpose (you just don't know you did). Later, when you're scrambling to pay the water bill, you will subconsciously remember where you put that twenty and it will "magically appear out of nowhere". Money left in jeans or jackets, money found in the couch cushions, or tucked in between the pages of books. We all have those stashes--even if we don't realize it. We'll remember them and "find" them when we need them most.

 

I also believe that we can influence the decisions and activities of others in much the same way. Again, this could be metaphysical (when we pray, for instance), but it could also be via psychological cues that we unconsciously give out, and others unconsciously receive. This is why the customer leaves you an extra-generous tip just when you need it most, or an unexpected card arrives from your grandmother with a check in it, just as your rent is due. This same principle applies when you're interviewing for a job, for instance...

 

...or fundraising for your organization. Say, a Militia unit...

 

I'm not going to spend time giving you instructions on how to create money out of thin air; rather, I'm going to plant the idea in your brain that it can be done, and hope that you begin working the psychology in your favor, both to your own benefit (which of us can't use a little extra dough?) and for the benefit of your unit--even if you don't realize you're doing it at all.

 

Alvin York was a World War I hero; a genuine Medal of Honor winner and one of the most highly decorated soldiers of the entire war.

 

He was also a conscientious objector. His deep religious views forbade him from taking another human life. Yet he personally killed dozens and led his men to kill even more.

 

How can all of this be?

 

The short answer is that he was shown why it was necessary for some to die, so that others might live. This is the basis of all soldiering, when you boil it down. Truman killed thousands, so that millions might be ultimately spared. It's the same thing.

 

But York had to psychologically "throw a switch", and as anyone who's ever been faced with similar circumstances will tell you, it isn't something that happens consciously; when the time comes, you just "do it". The same thing applies to any psychological task that doesn't square with your vision of reality, or your preconceived notion of what is, as opposed to your subconscious understanding of what could be. When the chips are down, your brain can automatically switch to what might be possible, even though consciously you don't believe it really is. We've all heard stories of mothers who've lifted cars by themselves in order to save trapped children. I believe wholeheartedly that just such things have occurred, and I believe it was possible because in that moment those mothers' brains were no longer telling them that it was not possible.

 

Apply that concept to money, and you begin to understand how your brain controls how and when financing comes to you. You create money with your ingenuity and effort. You attract money with your belief that it will come, even though you don't consciously see how it could be possible.

 

Let's apply this to your Militia unit. Most are self-funded; members pay for their own gear, their own expenses, etc. This is not in and of itself a bad thing. In fact, this is to some degree the very situation I've been explaining--those individual members have found ways of "creating" money to pay for stuff they wouldn't otherwise need outside of the Militia context (and most of us never think about ever needing to take to the battlefield in our own backyard!) But take this need and desire a step further, and imagine yourself going out into the community to seek funding from your friends, neighbors, businesses, etc. You don't believe you can do it...but you can! More importantly, you must. Your unit cannot survive for long without the financial means to do so, and now more than ever it's vital that your unit not only survive, but thrive.

 

Alvin York couldn't kill another human being...until he could. And he did it because he needed to, in order to save many lives later.

 

The same principle applies to you, in almost every aspect of being a Militia leader. Recruiting, promotion, taking the heat from the press and our other enemies. FINANCING. You have to step beyond what you are comfortable doing, and beyond what you think you are capable of doing, and just get it done. And the key to doing that, oftentimes, is just planting the seed in your brain right now that you are capable of extraordinary things when you least believe it's possible. Trust that when the time comes, the "switch" will be thrown unconsciously. You still have to apply the ingenuity and effort--there's never any getting away from that--but you are capable of both, and of controlling the circumstances of both when the chips are down...even if you don't know it.

 

You have to secure financing for your unit. You have to be willing to have that conversation with important people who have money, and even with people who don't but who will find the money to help the cause. It's uncomfortable, and seemingly doesn't come naturally to many of us. But you're a leader, and you're leading an organization that may stand as the only thing between an enemy bent on destruction, and the people you're seeking money from. You have to step up to that plate and take your swings.

 

Sergeant York was a dirt-poor farmer when he was recruited into the war. He was certain he couldn't take a human life. Yet he did what he needed to do to save himself, his men, and countless other lives even though there was no reason to expect that he would be capable of it. As a result he became a national hero, and after the war was rewarded by his fellow citizens with a new house and prime acreage for farming. That switch was thrown automatically within him, and he (along with all those people who lived as a result of his actions) was richly rewarded for it. His story was known by the entire country; Gary Cooper played him in the movie about his life.

 

Be the Sergeant York of your unit. You don't have to (consciously) believe you can; you just have to believe that you can. Got it?

 

Tommorow--"Trouble with a capital T".

Edited July 24 by ROFCB Commander

[Guest O sleeper]

Interesting