Lately I've been re-thinking as to what module of leadership is most effective in today's context.

Met with Jem and Adr to discuss the future plans for the team and movements in systems that we wish.

On one hand, Jem is still insistent that controlling the team with an iron fist is the only way to get things done. One must admit that although it gets things done and movement faster, there are always other ways of accomplishing this. Of course, you will probably not understand and have the empathy of your subordinates if you have been ontop looking down on such a system, and not actually be the one under it. I believe that such a system will work well only to a certain level, and to get more from any team, you need much more than just ego-boosting control over it. People will only give you 99% if you force them to do so. But if they want to do it for their own reasons, and if you can inspire them, they will give you 150%.

When I was a younger leader, I used to also think that this was the only and best way to get things done. But come and go different phases and observations of different people's methods and strategies to motivate and run teams, and a myriad of different modules are formed.

Discipline and pressure, nowadays must be complimented with other aspects, especially when the team dynamics consists of independant free-willed individuals.

Long gone are the days of educating the stupid with force, because the stupid cannot comprehend any better.

The dangerous part of leading with an iron fist is that the motivation behind such a method is often ego. "I want them to fear me, I want them to respect me." But the truth is such childish ambitions often contradict the team morale and confidence in the leader.

Worse still, nowadays, many athletes compare strengths and weaknesses to each other, and their leaders are not exempt from such analysis. Seem any weaker and inferior and they wonder why they should follow someone weaker than themselves.

The pillar of support module revolves around the leader being the strongest if not one of the strongest in the team. He has charisma and can convince the team, not because he abuses his authority, but because he has thought through well his strategy and the team will eventually see that wisdom and fore-thought.

For me, it has long been a requirement for a leader to be stronger than those whom he instructs. If you as a black belt lose to a brown or blue belt in a match, you've lost a huge amount of respect. Even more so that the brown or blue belt often wants to prove his worth and targets the black belt even harder than usual.

But dragonboat isn't that witty as compared to tkd. There are many more elements of "brutishness" that reflect your status. Running, weights, chinups, statics. At least canoeing has some aspect of technique and speed.

But of course, there is also more than being the "strongest" in the team.

I'm glad to work with Adr. Our conceptual module regarding this is very similar.


In gym today, there was a team mate whom went to get an injury treated. I thought that he could have persisted till after the race, until he expressed the urgency of the treatment.

And then it hit me.

How stupid I was to have lost my stand on injuries and training.

Perhaps influenced badly from MH and Jem. Perhaps the lack of strength to persuade a stubborn friend from aggravating it.

I don't care what team you are from. People who say "No matter what injury it is, as long as you persevere, you can continue to train." But to what extent? And what cost? Before I entered this team I would have immediately thought that such a view is downright stupid.

And indeed it is. Only an uneducated and irresponsible team mate or leader would encourage such a stand. Fighting spirit and perseverance is one thing, but at the risk of aggravating an injury until the point that it disables the sportsman for long-term, or causes complications.

It was only a few years ago, that I thought that a simple training injury could be overcome with this "mind over body" attitude. That everyone would have to go through such ordeals. But not every injury is the same. You may be lucky to persevere through one injury without complications, but I was one of the unlucky whom developed a severe runners knee that hampered my running for close to two years. Until the point that a simple walk down the overhead bridge caused my knee to suddenly give way.

When to persevere, when to rest, when to encourage, when to exert pressure. These are all aspects that require a balance between opposites, because any preference to either one could retard the journey to any desired goal.





Wanted to go for a slow run today, but knee isn't recovered sufficiently yet. And since it hurts when I jog but not when I climb stairs...

Did 3 X 25 stories of stair climbing.

What a rush. Reminds me of adventure quest training... except that there are no ankle weights and you can't exactly sprint up 75 stories.




Don't be a stupid athelete.

Have the wisdom and patience to find alternative means of exercise or training until a full recovery. The answer may be hard to find, but it is there.

Yesterday was insane.

Was supposed to be on duty, but ended up spending less than an hour in the office during the day.

Last minute touch ups, ammendments, link ups with contractors. 5 Branches around the institute urgently needed my help.

Its nice to have the army on your side for a change. Got a ride from a mt spec in a gp vehicle back home. Was trying to study the standing orders for vehicle commander hard... they really plan for the worse case scenarios.

And I didn't get enough sleep again last night. Lucky my growing spurt is over, or else I'll be stuck as a shorty because not enough sleep = less cycles of 4th level of sleep where human growth hormone is produced = less growth hormone = stuck as a shorty for life.

Yes, I have discovered the reason why singaporean kids are so short. Mahaha.

Anyway got some bad news about the passport renewal.

Sigh.

I hate having to depend on other people for help. Reliance is a weakness. And for all I claim for myself to be responsible, this was a major cock up on my part.

Still need to settle some stuff.

I forgot that if you want a system to be changed. YOU GOTTA BE THE ONE TO DO IT!

I hate it when they try to pull rank to override other people. I don't give a damn about that bullshit. In the field you can use it to issue commands, but when it comes to my work, I am the captain of the vessel. If I choose to pick up and take ownership of a project, it is my own personal goal and guarantee that the job will be done well - and every project will get the same treatment.

I'm glad that we saw some level ground just now. Not really too fond of getting sucked into the presentation tomorrow, but I supposed it will save everyone a whole lot of trouble. Besides, its nice to be the one talking and have the warrants backing you up for a change.

Wasn't quite expecting what happened in the end, I suppose ocs does teach some camaraderie. Then again it was probably successful upbringing. Made me remember that camp is actually quite a nice place, especially after all the hard work I put in to make it that nice. Been away from camp and been around people who hate camp so much that I begun to dread it for... the wrong reasons.

Gym today was damn good. Haven't felt that shacked from gym since forever. Of course there's that extra motivation now. I've just confirmed that I've been slacking off for way too long. Bonsai's been pushing harder too. I just hope that his branches don't break, cuz for some reason some people won't listen to general logic and wish to test and injure themselves further. Kinda reminds me of when I injured my wrist and still... doh. But that's besides the point!

I think that I've been taking things too seriously.

Look too deep into the water and you will only see darkness, too shallow and you will see yourself, it is in the middle, just beneath the surface, that you can see what has been staring at you since forever.

Remembered why I don't like to talk about it. Cause I really want to forget about it and have one less thing to worry about.

People in my camp are really... dumb, for lack of a better word.

For buddha's sake, stop thinking like the damned army and look for better solutions!

Think I need to shake some stuff around in camp.