Skip to main content

On Bullshit

I was deeply puzzled by this piece of writing about real leadership. Granted that the standards of leadership have declined across the board and in business but for this to merit a story is a road too far. You have to wonder both about editorial judgment and quality of readership. In my case I came upon this gem via LinkedIn because one of my contacts had shared it. It brought to mind the time and circumstances of my acquaintance with V, the person who had shared this post. I instinctively un-followed her. 

Yesterday it was someone else also on LinkedIn who had shared their view that our President was appointed by God. I have to wonder if people are collectively losing their beans in these pandemic times or its just a set of random events. That leadership non-story made me think of stories that did not make the news. This one is about the grooming gap - women who take the time to put themselves together earn more than those that do not. 

Not sure how scientifically accurate that research was but the conclusion is somewhat common-sense. I don't see a lot of men in leadership roles looking disheveled either. It would be interesting to track the wage gap for men too - well groomed versus not. The leadership story and the wage gap story have a couple of things in common - they are about women and they are about nothing. I have been reading Bullshit Jobs and its been interesting to hear the first person narratives of people who believe their jobs are bullshit jobs. Extending that concept, the articles cited here are in the bullshit category for one reason or another and the fact that I would take the time to write my "thoughts" about them makes this post derivative bullshit. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Part Liberated Woman

An expat desi friend and I were discussing what it means to return to India when you have cobbled together a life in a foreign country no matter how flawed and imperfect. We have both spent over a decade outside India and have kids who were born abroad and have spent very little time back home. Returning "home" is something a lot of new immigrants like L and myself think about. We want very much for that to be an option because a full assimilation into our country of domicile is likely never going to happen. L has visited India more often than I have and has a much better pulse on what's going on there. For me the strongest drag force working against my desire to return home is my experience of life as a woman in India. I neither want to live that suffocatingly sheltered existence myself nor subject J to it. The freedom, independence and safety I have had in here in suburban America was not even something I knew I could expect to have in India. I never knew what it felt t...

Under Advisement

Recently a desi dude who is more acquaintance less friend called to check in on me. Those who have read this blog before might know that such calls tend to make me anxious. Depending on how far back we go, there are sets of FAQs that I brace myself to answer. The trick is to be sufficiently evasive without being downright offensive - a fine balancing act given the provocative nature of questions involved. I look at these calls as opportunities for building patience and tolerance both of which I seriously lack. Basically, they are very desirous of finding out how I am doing in my personal and professional life to be sure that they have me correctly categorized and filed for future reference. The major buckets appear to be loser, struggling, average, arrived, superstar and uncategorizable. My goal needless to say, is to be in the last bucket - the unknown, unquantifiable and therefore uninteresting entity. Their aim is to pull me into something more tangible. So anyways, the dude in ques...

Changing Pace

This blog has been a big part of my life for the last five years. Besides giving me the opportunity to connect with a number of interesting people and share my thoughts and ideas with them, it has been a form of daily meditation for me. No matter what the day threw my way, I made a very deliberate effort to find a little quiet time to write.The process of thinking about what to write and then the act of writing itself worked as an antidote to aggravations big and small. Five and half years ago, when I started Heartcrossings both my personal and professional lives left a lot to be desired for. The only real happiness I had was in being J's mother. While that was often enough to make me forget what I did not have, I sorely needed a third place to call my own and shape in the likeness of my dreams. This blog has been where there were no limits or constraints and that was absolutely exhilarating - it is the reason I have been able to nurture it for as long and as much as I have. A lot ...