Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.
It apparently means “who is like the Lord” or “who resembles the Lord” but I’m not sure if it was picked by my parents first the meaning or they just liked it. I don’t have a middle name although I do have a song by the Beetles with my name. I also loved Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion movie even though they spelt my name 😑 😊.
When I was little my pet names were mich-mich, michelin tire in UK it’s usually Chelle/Shelly and more recently many people have taken to Michelle Obama when they hear my name but my family just call me Michy pronounced mee-shii.
The strangest spelling of my name I’ve seen is Mishel and for some reason my grandfather spells it Mitchell. I have a niece named after me but they call her Mimi which is what my mums side of the family calls me. It’s always fun to hear someone is called Michelle and give them the one l or two l’s look 👀.
Apparently my lucky number is 4 but in reality I think 13 is my number and apparently it can mean “as fair as the Lord” which I think I like and agree with more than “like the Lord”.
My dream job has evolved from something specific to a little set of ideals and hopes which are as follows:
It must involve travel and ideally first class travel. Shallow I know but I love travelling and any job that incorporates that would be wonderful
It involves reading and sharing what I’ve found. I don’t necessarily wish to write about what I’ve read but I do wish to discuss it
I would love for it to be closer to home. Everyday I long for working and living in Zimbabwe or somewhere that is not 23 hours away by flight.
It should help people in mind. I think an element is to teach but I don’t think I wish to be a teacher in the traditional sense but I do think I have some knowledge to share
It should have wonderful colleagues not perfect but people you can have a nice chat over lunch with. I have learnt who you work with is almost always as important as what you do
Finally it should allow me to control my own time and location as long as I accomplish the required tasks in a satisfactory manner
I read this book a while ago and have been waiting for the right time to review its contents and 5 a.m. for bloguary seems like the perfect time.
I spend a lot of time wondering about what makes a good leader at work, within a family and especially a political leader. I came across this book in a used book store and I was immediately drawn to the title because I thought it was talking about servants as leader but it was actually talking about the need for leader to be servants in order to be successful leaders. That was a little surprising to me but I read on and the following quotes summarize the elements of a good political leader.
The servant-leader is servant first — as Leo was portrayed. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then the conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. He is sharply different from the person who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is established.”
Page 7
My mind immediately runs to African politics where the goal of the politician is to make as much money as possible and helping people becomes secondary. I think this mindset became more prevalent for African leaders post independence because they now had access to resources and figured why not fill our pockets. Maybe one day we’ll help our people maybe we will just keep helping ourselves and keep criticizing western systems. I don’t believe this was the case pre-independence. Most leader were concerned with the well being of their people but I guess something changes in you when you control the purse strings.
The next quote that stood out to me felt more inward facing. Before the leader can rob the servant they need to be accepted as a leader. This is accomplished
By clearly stating and restating the goal the leader gives certainty and purpose to others who may have difficulty in achieving it for themselves”
Page 9
Political leaders in particular are required to inspire the masses into voting, paying more taxes, agreeing to start or end wars and this all requires a leader that gives them purpose as a nation. They need the ability to sell a dream which is why propaganda can be so effective. It easily sways the often vulnerable citizens by evoking strong emotions.
The next quality that makes a good leader is knowing and being able to read the room. I think about Donald Trump and how so many people were surprised at him winning in 2016 US presidential election, but I wasn’t surprised because I could see that the mood in the US had shifted. I read one of his books and while it wasn’t Pulitzer Prize literature he was accurately reading the room and the public sentiment. Not only was he correct about the US sentiment but we saw many leader like him get elected across the globe following his win. Many people looked at Trump as being beneath them an error I hope won’t be made in 2024 because
“The requirements of leadership impose some intellectual demands that are not measured by academic intelligence ratings. The leader needs two intellectual abilities that are usually not formally assessed in an academic way: he needs to have a sense for the unknowable and be able to foresee the unforeseeable………Others will depend on him to go out ahead and show the way because his judgement will be better than most”
Page 14-15
I want to emphasize the point that it is better than most not necessarily the best. This brings us to what I think is the most important quality of a leader the ability to persuade their followers. I think some people erroneously believe that force is enough to be a good leader but
“The trouble with coercive power is that it only strengthens resistance. And, if successful, its controlling effects only last as long as the force is strong. It is not organic. Only persuasion and the consequent voluntary acceptance are organic.”
Page 32
No one feels like they have to persuade anyone anymore. Engaging in discourse often lands people being categorized as spreading hate and our leaders have become fearful to persuade those that are not already on their side. I think the best leaders should be able to persuade not only those that have already accepted their leadership but the ones still in doubt.
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
If I could un-invent something it would be the false social construct of race. A couple of years ago I was attending a seminar organized by Patricia O’Campo I was surprised to learn that
For some context the seminars were organized to educate clinicians and other interested parties about ending something called “race correction” in clinical care. The definition given of race correction is
We can discuss the inadequate care black people often recieve in the healthcare system at a different time but the adjustments made in treatments have no scientific basis. I don’t consider my self ignorant and I’ve always know that everyone is equal but even I was surprised to learn that there is no significant biological difference between people that would require medical adjustments because of race.
I’m still batting with this idea because even knowing that there is no truth to the lie of race it is hard to think we are all the same. If I as a black person can have some reservations about our sameness imagine how easy it is for a racist mind to convince themselves of the inferiority of others. We may wonder why does this really matter but
I also started wondering about conditions that primarily affect black people such as sickle cell anemia but that could be attributed to environmental conditions and not race. Then I thought about the advice I got to start taking more vitamin D and wondered is that also race correcting? I’m not sure but what I do know is biologically we are all the same and if I could un-invent something it would be race and when that was gone I would swiftly move to class but that’s for a different post.
I think I can remove clutter in my wardrobe. I love clothes and have always felt having as many as possible is the way forward. I now feel as though my clothes just take up too much space. I may just need a bigger and better closet but I have actively begun getting rid of something when I get a new item of clothing that is similar to it.
The problem is whenever I get rid of something an event comes up that it would have been perfect for or it comes back into style and I have to pay triple what I used to for it (cough cough long denim skirts). I also try to give some clothes away but that also creates clutter because I have to collect them till I have enough to give them away and every so often I bashfully dip into the pile waiting to be taken to the thrift store or to some cousin back home.
Yes I need to declutter my wardrobe but for the love of clothes what would I wear?
TIGERE.CA 