Having so many irons in the fire has given me the opportunity not only to reflect on their similarities and differences, but also reflect on the work I have done in the past. Since I have been in leadership since before leaving university, there is lots to think about.

So I have developed (or under-developed?) a number of high-minded theories about leadership, management, corporate culture, customer service and the like.

Lest anyone reading this think that I believe myself irreproachable, these theories have been developed as much by those things I look back on as failures as those I look back on as successes. Many of the ideals I will sharing here are not always the experiences my past employees have had with me, and that’s precisely the reason I will continue to write them.

Getting distance has helped make sense of these experiences, and hopefully this will help someone else as well.

Today I accidentally launched NetNewsWire (feedreader) for the first time in a while.

INTJ – The Rational Mastermind

Some excerpts from INTJ profiles:

To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of “definiteness”, of self-confidence. Sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, this confidence is very specific rather than general in nature; its grows out of the specialized knowledge systems that INTJs start building at an early age.

INTJs are known as the “Systems Builders,” perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Anyone considered to be “slacking,” including superiors, will lose their respect — and will generally be made aware of this. On the other hand, they do tend to be scrupulous and even-handed about recognizing the individual contributions that have gone into a project, and have a gift for seizing opportunities which others might not even notice.

Contingency planning and entailment organizing reaches its highest level of development in the Rational Mastermind. It is not an informative activity for them, but a directive one in which the planner tells others what to do and the order in which to do it. As the organizing capabilities the Mastermind increases so does his or her inclination to take charge of whatever is going on.

While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations.

And some “rules” for dealing with INTJs:

• Be willing to back up your statements with facts or sound reasoning.
• Don’t expect an INTJ to respect you or your opinion without reason: respect must be earned.
• Expect debate. INTJs like to tear ideas apart to discern their worthiness. They will argue a point they don’t support just for the sake of argument.
• Do not confuse the strength of your conviction with that of your argument. INTJs do not need to believe in a position to argue it well.
• Do not be surprised when you encounter sarcasm.
• The ultimate insult to an idea is to ignore it. This means it isn’t even interesting enough to deconstruct.
• INTJs believe in workable solutions. They are extremely open-minded to possibilities, but they will quickly discard any idea that is unfeasible.
• INTJs do not care about how you view them. They already know that they are arrogant bastards with a morbid sense of humor. Restating the obvious is a waste of time.

And, last but not least, a few alleged and actual INTJs:

• Augustus Caesar
• Mr. Burns
• Ayn Rand
• Niels Bohr
• George Lucas
• Colin Powell
• C.S. Lewis
• Professor Moriarty
• Gandalf the Grey

Lessons Learned:

• I don’t fit in very well.
• JW’s are crazy
• WTF is the religion of “Historically Black?”
• WTF are “Mainline Churches” and how are they different?
• Pew questions are not worded neutrally.
• If they were, who would read them anyway?

I am about a mile Wast of Hell’s Gate, one of the Eastern entrances to Death Valley National Park. It’s early January, and I’m running because I’ve spotted an outcrop of bedrock that I think will make a decent place to photograph the sunset. Before the sun sets I have to make the outcrop, scale it, and setup my gear. It occurs to me, as I wipe my bloody palm on my pants, and stabilize my camera bag with my other hand, that I don’t share this experience with many other people.

Lots of people have been to Death Valley. Most choose to go in the summer, hoping for a merit badge, or death I suppose. They don’t go in the winter, when it’s cooler and less crowded or in spring, when the wildflowers are in bloom.

On top of the outcrop, I have my gear setup and am experimenting with an ND Grad while failing to produce an interesting photograph of the sunset. Clouds are one of the most important features in sunset photography and the winter sky has been either clear as a bell or hazy my entire stay. Once the light is gone, I pack my gear, curse, pack some more, and try to keep warm.

Walking back to the car, in the dark, lighting my way with the headlight from Karl, something else occurs to me. I’ve never referred to myself as a photographer. When pressed, once or twice I had said I was an Amateur Photographer, but even then, I felt uncomfortable. What I realized was that people, categorically, don’t make solo winter camping trips to photograph National Parks. They don’t buy, carry, and use 25lbs. or more of camera equipment. They don’t sprint across rough ground in the dark for the possibility of taking a decent photograph. Photographers do these things.

So I guess I’m a photographer.