Youth Verbose

The waiting for wisdom post stirred another thought:

I recently wrote a long e-mail to a friend in an effort to clarify and remediate an oversimplified brief communication I had sent out earlier. I again realized that it’s really important to be explicit about what I intend to do. As I said elsewhere, I’d rather err on the side of being verbose. This goes hand in hand with what I learned about releasing my website in the life as a one shot operation post: industry does not behoove matters of personal care.

Sometime in March or April I resolved to make more contemplative writings in detail.  Why?  Later on in life when things get too hurried, I might not be able to lay out the principles behind how I look at a situation—a learned opinion might be all I have to lean on.  If I’ve already done the reasoning while I’m still young, it gives ample time for others to see where I’m coming from.  If any revisions are needed, I can do so, but assuming the principles are sound, it won’t be as challenging to grapple with compared to getting started for the first time. 

That does not excuse or exempt an older individual from earning their opinions, but it makes it easier for one’s word to bear proper weight when you have a record of reasoning.

I could expound further but I’m certain I’ve conveyed the core of the idea.

Side note: I’m amazed how much faster typing is compared to writing by hand, I think it would have taken me at least 45 minutes to write this.  This took less than ten.  I’d still prefer using a notebook for diagramming ideas though—there are definitely a few visuals I can associate with this note that don’t lend themselves well to text…

This has been another stream-of-consciousness writing.  I'll probably return, revise it, and make note another day.

From credibility to cohesion

As I was writing a cover letter for an internship, I began to write down what I've experienced as an employee, head of a string ensemble, Co-President of a debate team, Boy Scout, and anything else I've been through where leadership applies. Since most of this was copied and pasted out of my letter, this may be my pithiest post yet. However, I may be tempted to deliberate further.

I have learned that credibility—much like talent—is only a beginning. No matter how good it may be, hoopla can expire. Especially when showing off prior accomplishments won't do your job for you. The delegation of responsibility is an implementation of trust, and when the designated individual successfully communicates reliability, organizational cohesion ensues. Whether working with colleagues as the Co-President of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Debate team, or employers as an ensemble liaison, this process cultivates a conductive working environment and promotes healthy interrelationships. When conflict arises, it interferes with this ongoing exercise of trust, someone—better yet, everyone involved with the issue at hand—needs to find ways to amend their problems, and the best thing to address that there may be a problem in the first place is once again, open communication. Honestly telling someone what's going on. In some cases, it may even require utilizing some self-disclosure.