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Leadership Principles of the Warrior - Series Eight

Compassion for Justice - Fairness
By Randy Gonzalez
Cowardice dangerously disturbs the trajectory of productive creativity in order to
ensure the integrity of the mission for individual and organizational progression. As to
that, weaknesses stir from the bottomless pit of stupidly resistant willfulness. People
make their choices freely motivated by self-interests. Fearing responsibility and loathing
accountable complicity, immaturity coupled with foolish thinking trumps wisdom and
understanding. Stupid is the “selfish timidity for unsubstantiated postulations in
ignorance and deception”. Such is the regression of a devolving species.
Fear is the potent enemy to self-revolution in order to ascend to the mature levels of a
confident differentiated presence. Reflection of presence, by the assertion of confidence
and capability remain crucial to the compassion for one’s journey. During which, the
progression is arduous, rife with difficulty and ceaselessly treacherous. Not to forget
there is the adversity of criticism. Yet, by ensuring competence, inventive engagement
and skillful learning, the necessity of mature growth are essential. Kindness, empathy and
benevolence temper the madness in the temptations toward malevolence.
Leadership is a holistic lifestyle in the totality of an evolving personality. Behavior
exhibits and demonstrates the kind-hearted concern for operational interactivity. Vital to
the complex psychodynamics is the extent by which a compassion for justice can be
exercised within the organizational framework. But for the incompetent, those who are
cowardly negative, foolishly disruptive, stupidly inept and devoid of productiveness, they
damage the organization. Without the grossly immature, much would be accomplished
more readily in a collective sense of duty, mission and objectives.
A compassion for justice, from the standpoint of warrior leadership, is not to be
viewed as anything akin to whining, sniveling and groveling. For the warrior, the notion
of this is forged through trials of pain and pleasure molded over time through varied
experiences. On the contrary, independence and self-reliance is necessary. In addition,
such is mentally constructed upon a firm foundation of duty, discipline and devotion to a
code of conduct strengthened daily by personal integrity. The warrior leader needs only
what he or she needs for necessities. Neither wealth acquisition, nor material excess are
of any interest to the self-evolved leader. He or she evolves beyond that.
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In a sense, compassion for justice is a reflection in many directions, as one gazes into
the mirror of the self each day. Quietly, steadfastly, and without reservation, the leader
moves on and remains persistent in his or her transformation. At the end of the timeline,
there is nothing of greater importance than what has transformed within the leader. He or
she is an imitator of the powerful potency within himself or herself. In a sense,
disproportionate materiality, and other assorted gluttonous behaviors, that are acquired
for status, fame and fortune, is of no interest. Doing what is right is more important, to
live a life of generosity, passion and concern for personal enlightenment.
Unnecessary is the obsession with monuments to a name, temples to human deities, or
legacies to an alleged legendary personification. None of these things teleport into the
afterlife, where death reduces everyone to the same status. When you’re dead, that’s it,
you’re dead. Long after you’re gone, no one will remember your name for very long. So,
right here and now is the mission of the critical transition. For the majority, whatever that
might enumerate, many will be unmoved, resistant and gripped by fear. These will be the
challenges for the leader, as others, a minority, will strive to understand.
In sympathy from our empathy, the warrior demonstrates a demeanor of benevolence.
Yet, others be warned, the patience and kindness have limitations. For compassion for
justice insinuates warfare as well as peacefulness. As the sword and pen are of one unity,
retribution can be sure, swift and certain. One must exercise caution, not mistake a
leader’s concern and care for hesitance to act judiciously. When it comes time to take
action, the leader strives bravely to rise above fears and do appropriate things. The
cowardice of one’s old self has been replaced by respect for oneself and others.
Maturity practices daily the confident differentiation of a non-anxious presence.
Endeavors along this passage diligently pursue graduation from adolescence to
adulthood. Sometimes this means solitude of presence, whereby the individual disposes
of childlike behaviors. At the same instant, he or she can separate from the nonsense of
drama and high schoolish tendencies. It’s grownup time, and a person must behave in
profoundly different ways, leaving grade school and college fun far behind.
Unfortunately, in postmodern American society, for example, where stupidity is
rewarded, most people never graduate from high school. When it comes to growing up,
many refuse to be counted among the ranks of the intellectually matured.
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Leadership maturation comes through time, experience and patience. Capacity for
leading is refined and purified by the test of strengths and weaknesses. By style and
expression, one exhibits the kind of presence that is open, honest and approachable. But,
there is that which can be seen by others as a judicious sense of careful astuteness. If a
person is viewed as being on the defensive, too cautious and sensitive to criticism, then
others might perceive the “supposed leader” as unapproachable. Whereby, many might
decide to go elsewhere for their guidance and direction.
By being a living example and acting with simplicity, adding humility and
truthfulness, a person demonstrates understanding and empathy. He or she eventually
grows in wisdom. On the other hand, behaviors that are in the extreme, for instance with
materiality, shows shallowness that is easily detected. Quick temper, inability to accept
criticism, self-centeredness and hypocritical behaviors expose the cowardice behind a
failure to be a true leader. Within the scheme of selfishness, positions of presumed
authority become child-like and laden with immature intentions.
A capacity for leadership self-evolution does not show respect for political
expediency, because personal credibility is more important. Following in the close
quarters of social interaction, potential engagement may invite collusive constraints. One
must choose sides carefully. Given the adverse nature of “politics” in an organization, or
a community, the leader is bound by a commitment to doing what is right. Sometimes,
following through on the right thing to do is not popular.
Superior leadership is not of the nature to be envious of others, but is satisfied with
where you are, what you have, and who you have become. Envy, greed, and resentment
are eliminated and replaced with goodwill, generosity and compassion. A warrior’s
outlook continually assesses his or her capability to avoid self-seeking mischief. Along
the way, he or she overcomes anger, revenge, and spiteful intentions for getting even.
There simply is no justification for the expenditure of the energies.
Inevitably, the negative exercises of selfishness usually end up being
counterproductive and most likely destructive. Ceaseless persistent growth inside oneself
fosters the necessary progression for creative transformation. We want to be creative, so
we can work toward changing the original raw template to a more refined state of being.
Secure in our own thinking, we strive to motivate others in positive ways.
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As to issues of negativism, much circulates by contrived intentions within most

organizations. Out of pride, envy, anger, dejection, etc., humans allow themselves the
seduction of their dysfunctional darkness. From the halls of government, the boardrooms
of business, to faculty meetings in academia, people usually get emotional before they get
rational. Failing rationality, logical processes typically devolve. It does not matter the
presumed rank, title or number of college degrees, most people don’t evolve very much.
Over time, not much changes where humans are concerned.
However, every now and then, a leader emerges. He or she is confident in his or her
presence, competence and empathy for others. A leader gains nothing by following a path
of degradation toward others. Instead, what is the right thing to do? What does it profit
the supervisor, or the manager, to punish a subordinate in unfair, unjust or abusive ways?
What latent need does the manager not have met, that he or she seeks out punitive
measures against others? He or she lacks maturity, remains child-like, and is not a leader.
As to leadership, one frequently suffers humility for the sake of leading.
With a differentiated sense of himself or herself, the leader has nothing to achieve that
is not productive, proactive and positive. It is not by myth, magic and metaphor, one
achieves an effective following to accomplish operational objectives. Leaders are secure
in the way they must act and persist diligently in the appropriate actions of leading others.
Personable, open, accessible and approachable, their leadership style reflects the courage
of convictions. Sometimes, leaders may be seen as contradictions, enigmas or just
somehow different. That’s because they are. By virtue of an evolving belief system, the
leader is not afraid to strive for self-improvement on a continual basis.
As a total process of personal enrichment, the self remains individualistic in its
liberation. One does not seek to complete his or her inner being by fusing with others. For
broader well-being, leadership progression endeavors to assert independence of self, by
growing the strength of character. In an unselfish sense, the warrior-leader concept means
focusing on perfecting oneself in responsible ways. By functioning properly, depending
on the situation at hand, one’s role and responsibilities defuse anxiety to the extent
possible. With an unnecessary degree of anxiousness, a person becomes reactive. Once
reactivity gains psychic ground, self-defining enrichment becomes a problem. Self-
control in regulating emotion versus reason must be disciplined devoutly.
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Creative, farsighted, energetic, and positive, as well as an encouragement to others,

are good attributes for the trailblazer. A motivated leader translates motivation by
judicious presence in the face of good times and bad times. These inner realms of
proactive expression grow through the process of continuous learning for self-
improvement. Leading others is not reduced to a simplistic formula, template or
checklist, whereby one easily follows a handful of slogans. Those who are led recognize
who their leaders are, and they are quite aware of who can lead.
If you have been called to leadership, then you have been considered, to some extent,
capable of filling that role. But, even though an organization grants supervisory authority,
subordinates validate one’s aptitude to lead others. By earned respectfulness, others
follow you because they see something special. Such peculiarity of personality does not
come from seminars, workshops or “expert” consultants. Leaders care for those around
them and they overcome egoistic needs for attention, fame and fortune.
They are not shallow; instead, they have a depth that goes beyond the mere
superficiality of immediate success, self-gratification, being the “nice boss”, or profit at
any price. Symbolism does not outweigh substance. Leaders work hard to keep a balance
within the organizational structure in ethically professional ways. Each of them strives to
ensure that doing what is right is more important than “being right”.
All too often, some supervisors, or managers, will go to great lengths to ensure their
fear of failure means they must “always be right”. That of course is not possible all the
time. Even if proved wrong, by evidence to the contrary, those ill equipped to lead will
defy the reality of the situation. Leadership by wise and prudent action must be sincere in
the honest expression of personal integrity. Leaders clearly and decisively articulate the
direction he or she wants to go. Understanding and knowing that course of action,
suggests that one is mature enough to get others to join in that journey.
While some will wander, a few will wonder, but most will follow the leader who
knows what he or she is doing. Keeping an open mind along the way is important, as is
the ability to remain astute about the behaviors of others. No one is perfect and human
behavior is generally very self-absorbed. While others are learning to control their
reactivity, and dispose of negative perceptions, the leader has risen above those mundane
preoccupations. Nonetheless, he or she continues to be patient.
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Energetic, dynamic and curious, the motivated leader works hard to remain excited
about learning, maturing and changing. Leadership involves a sense of healthy fitness,
both mentally and physically. That’s because being a leader means expenditures of
efficient, effective, and exceptional amounts of effort. You have to be in good shape to
stay on top of thing. Along with this quest for higher ascendency on your trek, comes an
astute nature of balancing the good against the evil. Don’t get sidetracked by the word
and avoid conjuring up demonic images. Evil in a generalized sense pertains to the
actions of others that meant to be self-serving and unproductive.
Evil is intentional with an egoistic purpose of doing that which is not in the best
interests of an individual, group or an organization. It includes premeditated behaviors
that are unethical, corrupt and unscrupulous. You have to be on your toes, stay vigilant
and observant about the activities around you. In addition, you want to be quick about
sizing up diverse situations in a dynamic environment, because adversity might erupt at
any time. Evil always has significant potentiality where there are people.
Where good is positive, productive and proactive, evil is the twin opposite. It is the
manifestation of many aspects of human behavior, which are not conducive to
constructive processes. Evil represents the willful intentions of very negative, self-
centered and malicious people along a continuum from carelessness to criminality. Rude,
spiteful, discourteous bullying behaviors are elements of the “evil effect”, and become
dangerously destructive criminal actions on a different level.
Everyone is capable of doing some degree of “evil” actions. Since most people don’t
change all that much from grade school, they remain selfishly in an un-evolving state of
being. This means they can be expected to act in superficial, self-serving and uncreative
ways. They can also be very condescending and denigrating toward others. From mild
forms of untrustworthy interactions, to horrendous tortures and murderous inflictions,
humans are good at deception and destruction.
As such, the leader has to exercise wise abilities for effectively dealing with adversity
of all kinds. Maturity through self-regulation, with the persistent work of transformation
to higher states of thinking, is important to the leader’s ability to be successful. He or she
endeavors to ensure balance and stability within the organizational framework. From this
comes the necessity of making sure a sense of justice prevails.
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Fairness, impartiality and reasonableness are aspects of intelligent behaviors

coordinated to swiftly confront dishonesty, injustice and illegality. Scrupulous conduct is
expected to be enforced at all times. A leader weighs the balance, holds the scales of right
and wrong with impartiality, and understands there are no excuses for misconduct. In
reality, there are no “lapses of judgment”, oh shucks he or she “made a mistake”,
someone “snapped”, or they “lost it”, etc. The list of “alibis” is endless. People have
intentions, make choices and act out their aims and purposes.
Whining, sniveling and malcontented complainers are everywhere, and the leader
must deal with them in divergent realms. In doing so, the leader knows that creativity has
another aspect, especially as related to handling the insubordinate malefactor. Detractors
will come from all lifestyles. In response, emotional reactivity is not constructive and
does not effectively solve operational problems. Self-indulgent supervisory hesitance to
avoid confronting significant personnel issues does not help conditions either.
For the leader, anxieties such as these, marked by fearfulness of self-doubt, add to the
regressive inclinations of faulty thinking. Today, society is much too involved in its self-
destruction, or intentional devolution, by willful indulgence in the stupidity of slothful
and gluttonous actions. By expressions of erroneous fallacies that lead to hasty
generalizations to rationalize indecision and bad choices, many substantiate the arrogance
of their subjective validation. In contrast, leaders rise above the mediocrity.
For the ethical precepts of leadership, being in charge claims a strong affinity for
rectitude. If you’re in command, then act like you know the part. You have to be
evenhanded with a high sense of responsibility and expect the same from others.
Sometimes this idea of “rectitude” is referred to as “justice”. Its assumption is based upon
personal and communal attributes, privately and publically.
Safeguarding correctness of progressive interpersonal interactions, the virtue of
uprightness in a leader’s conduct embraces the essence of rectitude. The quality of being
responsible and not making excuses when held accountable, amplify the concept of
“justice” from a personal perspective. Such a notion equally applies to others as well
without any hint of animosity when corrective measures are required. With the strength
of reason as opposed to emotion, a leader selects a course of action consistent with the
unwavering courage of his or her decision-making ability.
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You make your choices, speak your beliefs, and prevail upon the courage of your
convictions, as there are no excuses. Of pretexts, justifications, and pontificating
rationalizations, you rise and fall by the actions you take. Leaders are a work of an
exceptionally unique evolving process. By willful self-directedness, they ascend to a far
different level than others of lesser inclinations and valor. All the grumbling you do in the
aftermath of grievous human error, based on poor decisions, is unnecessary and wastes
valuable time and energy. A leader is not fooled by such trivialities.
Not only is “cry-baby” behavior irrelevant, foolish and demeaning, except for
learning, correcting and overcoming future selfishness, such folly is quite boring. More
or less, it is annoying to observe among the more mature associations of people.
Likewise, to assume a posture of “political correctness” for the expediency of presumed
rationality is to make divisive choices. After which one might be accused of cowardice,
among many other possibilities. If so, overcome it and then live it.
Nothing more, nothing less, a leader is responsible and readily accepts accountability.
For a desired a course of actions, you reside within the subsequent consequences. In the
ancient warrior tradition, one continues his or her transition by the actuality of personal
experience. That is, you need to know from the wisdom gained as a real-world
practitioner. Neither the academician nor the theorist understands the true nature of a
particular domain, unless he or she has actually been on the “front lines”.
Among the persuasions of rightful action comes the attention given to a strong sense
of rectitude. Sometimes termed justice, such is also related to equity. Fairness,
impartiality, and equality, are representations in the manner and bearing of one who
knows. For those who have experienced the trials, testing and tribunals of criticism, they
come to appreciate the essential nature of command. Under adverse conditions, one
learns or does not. If so, then transformation continues.
For the integrity of uprightness, a leader evolves willfully in a clearer understanding
as to the gifted skillful use of one’s power to decide courses of conduct. Power does not
corrupt; instead, human selfishness is purposeful corruption. Goofy slogans, “bumper
sticker” psychology and simple-minded platitudes about alleged leadership are not
helpful. These pop culture forms of arrogance do not aid in the truer understanding of the
indispensable qualities of judicious leadership abilities.
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http://www.whimsicalpublications.com/Randy_Gonzalez/Angels_Keep_Watch.html

http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Keep-Watch-Randy-
Gonzalez/dp/1936167743/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388764512&sr=1-7