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 The Wind Behind the Flag

By: Rich Puckett

Copywrite: 1/1/2001

To be a leader one does not have to stand out in the open, be the flag. Great leaders often are the ones in the background. Thus the wind is what moves the flag though it is not seen. What good would a flag be with out wind to move it? What good is a organization, a work force, even management with out someone moving them in some direction?

What is a leader? Oh there are many ideals and hundreds of books that describe leadership. Some believe that leaders are born, some say you can go to seminar and learn to be a leader. Thousands spend large sums of money on videos and tapes by great men like Maxwell to learn to be leaders.

A leader simply put is one that others listen to, believe in, and follow.

To some degree you are what you make yourself. Yet I do believe that you must have certain skills, ideals and abilities to be successful in leadership. Some you are born with, it will be very hard for a person that is not a thinker, a very shy person, or even a very ugly person to be successful. And worse, what if you don't have mental abilities? Some would tell you anyone could be a leader. Not true, its good for selling books and tapes but just isn't true.

First Step: Is to know what kind of leader you want to be. It may be good to say right now; that many leaders do not chose to be a leader. It happens because of conditions and abilities they demonstrate. Often a person is a leader and really is not even aware of the power they process.

Do you want to be the flag? Do you want to be the wind? Do you simply want to follow?

Flags: These are ambitious people with a lot of ego. They are people that must stand out in the crowd and be recognized by all those around them. They are never happy with being in the background, they feel everyone must know it was their decision, they must receive credit. They are people that are strong in the ideals that they possess and push those ideals unendingly. Often they are people with very out going personalities, yet you rarely see the real inside of flags.

They have become masters at letting you see only what they have chosen for you to see. Thus they usually process a lot of self-control. Flags like to win, get their way, and are glory seekers. In fact many flags are selfish people, putting them selves and their goals before others. This is not true of all Flags just the ones you seem to run in most often. Yet have a great deal of skill in not showing this trait. Good examples of flags are politicians, most pastors, company VIP's. They almost always are very smart people, quick to make decisions, ready with answers, and more times then not they are right, and if wrong you wouldn't be able to tell by the way they act. They are the people that are always pushing for the promotions, the ones who have the "brown nosing down to an art form." The people who know how to win others using skills that both come naturally and learned to impress others.

Flags are not bad people; we need them very much to operate our businesses, churches, and community's. They are people with a vision and see a goal, a dream and push toward it unendlessly. With out their often-forceful views, gently pushing, sometimes forceful urging it would be impossible for our organizations and businesses to flourish.

Someone once said know what you know and what you think you know and know the difference. The draw back to being a flag type leader is often they think they know every thing. Thus they are crushed when defeat does come around. If you choose to be a flag realize that being this kind of leader is very lonely.

You say how can that be? To be a good flag you must hide so much of what you feel, often its very hard to develop trust in others because the whole make up is one of believing strongly in your own ideals. You will see them move in large groups, always going, always smiling and yet few close people in their lives. One reason for this is, have you ever seen a flagpole with a dozen flag on it. Not often if ever, flags are meant to be seen, and each have such a level of importance to place many on the same pole would be to remove the importance of the others. So you see leaders are important and have a sense of the role they play.

Not all flags are good, not every cause a leader brings about is best for the company, the country or you or I. Yet all leaders have the skill of salesmanship. They sell ideals, plans, people, and most of all ideals. Doctors practice medicine, leaders practice ideals.

Let us think of a few people that had great leadership skills yet in many views would have not been the leader we would want to admit to agreeing with or following. Hitler: One can argue his deeds but one can't argue his ability to lead and change the course of the world. I think the thing that strikes me most is even after he wrote a book that told exactly what he would do as a leader people still flocked to him. Later to regret it and many denied they had followed with him at all.

Clinton: I think its easy to say that many folks do not agree with a lot of his personal life, even may doubt many of his views as president. Yet a leader of great ability he is, he can talk and almost have a crowd drooling at his words. Yet after the speech is done most have no ideal to what he said or his real points.

There are others like O Hare that changed forever the course of school prayer, Pilate who killed Christ. These people as leaders were very skillful and though most would not agree with the end out come, yet each had a huge following and changed the course of history.

One does not have to have poplar views, have integrity be honest or even be a good moral person to lead others. So then what is it that makes a leader what he or she is. It's that ability to sell to other your points of views to get them to buy into your thinking. The ability to capture a crowd with smoothness and self-confidence. It is very hard to sell something you don't truly believe in, yet because flags don't show who they really are, so well trained in standing in front, the first to move, they often can lead a crowd which gives no thought at all to what or who they follow.

As in one place its written, we like sheep led to the slaughter. All flags know this one simple fact that most of us refuse to admit is true.

People or basically lazy: People look for the easy way to get things done, find someone else to do it, and have learned not to think for our selves. This opens the door for flags, you find a lazy manager and you can write your own meal ticket with a little effort. It's easy to manipulate lazy people. Not everyone is lazy some or just scared. Fear is a destroyer; it is destructive to every individual, to a church, a company. Yet many folks are scared, of what being wrong, humiliated, being laughed at. Flags know and understand others fear and take full advantage of it. For example a Vice President of a company knows that the superintendent on the job won't dare to stand up and tell him a better way, if he wants to keep his job. This is the kind of power many flags use, in fact most of them.

Politicians use this method and we are to simple to realize it or to scared to go against it or just to lazy, what if I had to do it? For example, city wants to pass a sewer system, maybe they indeed do need this system, but voters do not want to pay more taxes. The leader builds fear in the people, if the new system isn't put in place your home value goes down.

This brings up the next point, flags understand the uses of money to gain power, and they understand the fear of losing money. A good flag can always sell his plan for his price. You really want to be a flag, you have to know how to take money out of others pockets and put it to the place of your choosing. To climb the ladder at your company, you have to know how to sell your ideals and show that they will increase the bottom line. Money influences people. I know a man that got million dollar contracts for his company by driving a Lincoln and smooth talk. Money attracts money, flags attract flags.

Yet with out flags we as a people would be in great trouble. Flags are beautiful things to see. Stands back and watch them, never has anyone been better then Mr. Clinton at looking good and selling people. He uses some skills you may use as well beyond what is already been mentioned. He uses grooming skills, not many of the great flags were ugly unkempt people. It's hard to speak to a crowd and have them pay attention when your body smells or your breath. If your appearance is shabby and you are unkempt then it leads to people knowing you are lazy, and why follow someone lazier then they are.

Flags learn that some things you can't associate yourself with. If you are going to lead a group and you are associated with someone or something that goes completely against what the group wants or believes you will be a torn flag in no time. Flags must endure storms but they don't like to create them unless they know they will be the sure winners with higher profits.

Flags learn the others weakness. Every one has a weakness, its best you know what yours are and keep it under control. Many flags have been taken off the pole for losing control of the weakness they have. Masters at finding and using weakness is what flags do best. You need to raise money, what is it that appeals to others, what is it that would cause them to give. Flags find that answer, you have starving people feed them and they will follow so long as you have food.

So long as you give what the other needs or wants you will be followed. Let the President of sales at GM stop having sales he soon won't be on the GM pole any longer. You can not lead people unless you have something they want. You can't start a union where employees are happy and content, because the union has nothing to offer.

Truly great flags have found something people wanted so much that they would follow them even to death. The greatest leader of all time and any truly great leader will have a lasting change. Is the man known as Jesus, doesn't matter if you believe him or what is said bout him. Here was a man started with no one but himself and in three years changed the world forever. And he did the one thing that only really great flags will do. He gave his life for the mission he believed in. It's easy to lead and take the front until the time comes to pay the cost.

All great flags will pay the cost! I can assure you the flags that wave the longest and highest are from those men that were willing to covet the position, believed in the cause, seek after the prize to the place that all else became second to them.

Prices being a Flag may cost: Flags give up family time, thus often the children become angry and bitter. Get into lots of trouble, often-using drugs but most of all feeling unloved and alone. Wives end up cheating, or feeling left out, a strain on the marriage as the flag is never home. Finally they may gamble on the next move up and cost them all they earned on the way up the pole. Private time is hard to find, the more people you lead the more demand for your attention. Respect is gained by some and lost by others, the worse thing is its never constant. Today while everyone is happy with the coat you gave them tomorrow they are against you for the shoes they didn't get. Do 10,000 things right and it is remembered till you do one thing wrong.

Flags live day to day one match away from burned into ashes. Mr. Nixion won too elections and was thought of as great till one day water gate jumped into the picture. Today when Richard Nixion is brought up the first and foremost thought is not about how great he was or any of the right things he did but the one match that cost him his job. People are most unforgiving of flags, in part because flags give little forgiveness themselves.

Can you learn enough to be a flag? Yes and no, the real issue is how great a flag do you want to be. When a boy in boy scouts we had a flag that covered the wall, in my office I had a flag that no bigger then size of quarter on my desk. Flags come in different sizes and so do leaders. Some lead thousands other led one, is the one that led thousands a better flag? Hitler lead a nation to embarrassment and cost thousands of lives, was he a better flag then Christ who led only 12 men and yet changed the world?

If one person follows you, you are a leader! You can learn skills that will help you grow and become a better flag, you can go up higher on the pole, be seen by more, and the only thing that true limits you is you.

Things I want in the person I follow may not be the things one has to have to lead. I think everyone has things they hope to find in the person they choose to follow but not all the things we would chose would be the same. Some would follow a real beauty male or female depending on genders of the follower though almost any thing just to be seen with them. Others would walk across the street to see the best looking person in the world. Blind people can't see with the eyes but only with the heart and touch. Do you know every leader flag or wind has to have something that draws the others to follow. All people are blind in one way or the other; we can't see the forest for the tress. I used to hear a man talk bout taking the big view and he likened it to a chessboard and looking over it as opposed to sitting at the table and seeing it from the player's side. Yet he was guiltier then most of not seeing the board clearly for he always failed to see the player's view. The best leaders, the ones most skilled and remembered as great leaders are those that removed as much of the blindness from there views as they could. A flag is not much good on the ground, from the loft view of the pole they should be able to see the whole picture but that is not so. Sometimes is good for flags to come to the ground and see the dirt and smell the places where the rest of us trod. Great flags will learn to do that.

Right now take a pen and paper and write a list of what you want in the person you chose to follow to the store. They know the way.

They stay close enough to me I can see them so I don't get lost. They go straight there with out getting side tracked. And the list can go on, remember your only going to follow them to the store. Now make a list of the things you want in a person you are going to follow by taking their advice on the Doctor to use. They have used the doctor before They no how much he charges they had happy results from the doctor. And again the list goes on, now you make a list that you would follow that would lead you spiritually. How much integrity does he have? How well he knows his doctrines Does he live what he teaches? Again the list goes on, you should do this for many other things as well. When you are done you should see the lists of things you want are different from each group. The person you follow to the store may be great for that but not so hot to follow spiritually.

So wouldn't it make sense if you want to be a flag you need decide how big a flag. Then look at what you would want to follow for someone seeking that same goal. Would be good then to do a little research and find out what others would expect of a person in that place on the flag pole. Wouldn't make much sense to study to be a doctor if all you want to really do is dig ditches. Don't over do it, in other words. Know where you are going then decide what it will take to get there.

Build the changes and things you need to learn based on where you want to go. Be realistic bout where you want to go. I have a dollar in my pocket, I want to buy something to eat that will fill me up, do I go get a bag of popcorn or go to the most expensive steak house in town? You must look at who you are and the skill you have and how much you need to have to go where you want to go. Next began to gain those skills you don't have. Refine and perfect the ones you do have. You can never be too prepared but you can come up way to short. No one wants to fail and you don't need to fail if you make your goals real ones and are willing to put in the efforts to achieve them. The only real limit you have is yourself. Yet be real in what you chose to do are u will be hurt and disappointed, if you are blind don't try and be a brain surgeon, you may get into the classes even get the degree, but your patient list will be very small.

Wind

Not all the greatest leaders were flags; in fact many of the greatest leaders were the wind. Have you ever stood and watched a flag blow in the breeze to see its beauty and splendor? Can you picture the flag with no wind?

One great president once said he was able to do all he accomplished because his wife was always behind him. Some one has to help the flags are they never move. Not many people are born with all the answers and with all the skills to change the world. One great man gave the credit to his mother; someone gave it to a teacher that had influenced him or her at an early age. The wind has many effects on us today, it carries off the heat leaving a cool feeling on our skin on a hot day, and it influences where we go and what we do.

Wind is what influences the flag! Behind every leader there is the wind, some one or something that influences them. I have seen great things carried out that were influenced by some one else that had died many years ago. Flags stand for a cause; the wind is what draws the flags to the causes. Example, if you were going to be a leader to poor and homeless what is the thing that influences you to make the right choices to draw them to you. Wind motivates and keeps the direction going where it needs to be.

I once had a manager who wanted me to discharge an employee. Nothing I could say would persuade him the employee was worth saving. I wanted to keep this man; his abilities were very good in his field. First to change the course of the flag I had to change the way he saw the employee, this took many long hours teaching the employee to do things in a more positive way. Second I had to prove to the flag that the abilities possessed was worth the effort. This was the harder part of the equation. I spent a good deal of time dropping positive remarks about this employee and bragged as often as I could about his skill. This served a two-fold reward, one the employee became more positive because he was treated positive and it brought bout the sowing of the seed to the manager. Next I used ever opportunity to make the employee a hero in crises situations, thus earning him so many comments and letters from agencies we dealt with it would have been embarrassing and difficult with out very good grounds to have fired this man. My point is I became the wind the motivator the straight to accomplish my end goal.

Draw backs to being the wind is often fear that while you persuade and maneuver those around you that you get very little of the real credit due you. Sometimes there is the fear that you might do to good of job even allowing that person to climb to the next slot instead of you. Let me say if you have done a good job that is a good thing not bad. For to have someone that realizes he is indebted and loyal to you and you if wise would never point that out and won't have to if you did your role correctly will only pay off in bigger benefits down the road.

Influence is what the wind does best. Once while on city council the ward I represented wanted to have its streets repaired first. Being the budget is limited and time short I had to come up with a working plan. First I sought support from other board members, second I provided data to support the need in our side of the city, third, and I made sure I had very loud public voices at the meeting demanding action. In truth what I did was paint a far worse picture then was actually the case with the press present. To have refused my request would have made front-page news and no public official who wants to be reelected wants negative remarks on the front page. I accomplished what my ward needed and at same time built up loyalty with other board members and officials for the last step was the most important. I made it a win win for both sides. I made sure the press covered the wonderful way we were meeting the needs of the city and worked out a compromise to see to it the other wards received equal money and time spent if not as quick. This is the job of the wind to move and not be seen.

The limelight can spoil the workings of the wind. Jealousy is a problem ever leader faces, you do not want the one you support and move to get things done scared of you are your success.

The wind rarely gets public credit for the role he plays, so your motivations for making the changes have to be a deeper satisfaction. It is extremely satisfying to watch your plans work and see the good they can bring about. To watch people doing things and moving forward and not know you are leading them in that direction at all.

My son recently went to work for IBM, I am very proud of his job success, though it did not come with out cost. He had to do it himself but there were always influences behind him. Often we sacrificed something we wanted to buy an old PC or parts to work on one, often set up long hours to quiz and sometimes play games that would keep him challenged. And when time came to go out on his own help his self esteem by having faith in him and his abilities. All parents influence their children and lead them for a good part of their lives. You are the wind behind your children; I hope its positive.

Leaders have commission's and advisers and boards, managers have supervisors and other staff all to help them if they learn that these can do just that.

A truly great Flag will love the wind and use it wisely! Wind sees his role differently and lives for the days when he sees the things he to wanted happen.

The same list you made earlier should be applied now to see what role you play now and can play in the future as the hidden leader.

I believe to be good wind, you must be intelligent, you must have a cunnings that is not evident to every eye. You must have the skills that would make the Flag respect you and willing to listen. It is far harder then being the flag and with often no glory but can accomplish far more in the end.

Both the flags and wind do some things in common. They both use others to accomplish an end goal. They both influence decisions. They both lead others. They both require hard work and dedication to the causes they believe in. Their strength is in the ability of the numbers of followers and influences they develop. It takes a great deal of self-control and motivation to be either type of leader. They both come in all sizes and shapes and effects. Both have a price to pay and are willing to pay that price.

Can you be a leader, a flag or the wind?

You are ready are to some degree, how far are you willing to go. How much effort are you willing to put forward. Leaders can not be as lazy as the people they lead. They must know where they are going and how they are going to do it if they are to be remembered favorably. Two leaders took teams to a sub zero region of the world to do research one came back with team. The other dies on the trip and most of his followers. Which would you rather be remembered for. Right now some of Mr. Nixions aids the wind of his time are still holding high offices, yet he is flag that is gone.

It takes work to be a leader, it takes continues efforts to learn and grow and you can climb higher then you are today if you are willing to learn from your mistakes, learn from others, but most of all learn that we all need others. A leader with out a following isn't a leader any more.

One last thought, all leaders are also followers of someone or something. There is no crime in being a follower. For it is the followers that truly give the reason to have leaders. A house is built with many blocks, and differing materials, so is our world of people. Each of us has useful and needful skills, both to lead and to follow. Be the best you can be.

Any comments on this may be emailed to: revrichard@bigfoot.com