Albert was boggled like a dog trying to decipher a magic trick he couldn’t move forward.He was trapped encased in his realization that Norma was a traitor.There was atrue failure to impose justice against the people that killed his colleagues now he knew why. There was a recognizable pious relish in Norma’s shtick as a defender of Israel it was even more crushing to Albert that Norma was able to both present her behavior as an agent so well shethat she was promoted three times, within Masada 2’s inner circle. From that platform, she directed Masada 2 activities and misdirected any real attempts to bring the Judges down. He realized that his team was sent by her North Korea for the soul reason to die and cover her mistakes.
Norma was very composed she saw Albert’s disbelief she could be so cold, “ Albert it was simple working for the Judges became ever more lucrative than working for Masada 2. Albert, Do you read the bible?”
“Not really Frank does though he is an expert. I am getting tired of your analogies.”
She frowned as if she were hurt, but continued, “Albert you are an interesting man and more than meets the eye; I am sorry if I underestimate you just yet, but I do. I read the Old Testament and even the New Testament, it is kind of my hobby; in James 1:19 it is written, “You must all be quick to listen, slow to act that is how an investigation is done.Do you see that clues will jump out at you like Jacks-in-the-Boxes; you have to view them as they fly by or you will lose them. It’s really hard but that is what I do very well. It’s placed in your mindwhere a lucid exposition of facts rains down like mortar fire on you and the fleeting exchanges of data paint a picture that solves problems.”
Her voice rose. “And the fact that people don’t realize that about life is kind of ridiculous to me. it has been one of my biggest professional challenges, it should be yours too,” she said. “When I allowed myself to be the boldest version of myself, I realized I was more willing to take risks, to be more powerful —and my true capacity was unleashed. You should try it.”
“ Norma, I don’t know if you are a poet or some kind of Hebrew scholar so what is this all about?”
She smiled,” I have always been a person who is kind of flowery in my descriptions, but you come right to the point; what else would I expect from an accountant.”
She then looked at Hung almost sadly, “ I guess you are going to kill me aren’t you?”
Hung sneered, “As you know I am impatient with the slow processes of justice; I am supposed to bring you in for questioning. She hesitated for a second then pulled the trigger of her Taurus nine millimeter handgun so that a circular hole in Norma’s skull appeared.
Albert was shocked. “ What the hell”. he shouted.
Hung nodded, “ I owed this to her. it is part of my profile as a vigilante;I just reduced the number of traitors on the streets.”
“Hung it is a warped justification for her murder, but I my heart I am glad you did it. Write it up anyway you like and I’ll support it.”
She gave him a quizzical look and said, “I’ll call the cleaners.”
Dana gave Aaron a stricken thousand-yard stare, and he murmured softly, “You aren’t going to kill me are you?” It was kind of like driving to work with his windshield frozen.”
Aaron felt like this mission had dragged him across concrete and he needed to gather his thoughts. The slippery eel that is life doesn’t really lend itself to designations of fairness and unfairness, and he was in no mood to share his feelings with Albert he would leave that to the mouthpieces at Masada 2 happy they got their money back. There’s really no other way to characterize the impersonal habit of people saying one thing and not mentioning the loss of the innocent young woman they brought from Boston.
Aaron knew that he would provide a designated endpoint for the discourse surrounding the team’s loss of Ja-kyung . He left the train’s car and headed to the sleeping area.
Frank and Albert commiserated over how Aaron can so quickly get offended.
“Frank, why can he say such villainous things and remain worthy of our admiration?”
Before Frank could answer Hung shot them both a look. Hung’s unparalleled gore’s stark intensity tangled and pierced Albert’s concerns. without a word, they knew the power behind her silence and now she would talk and reveal the reality of her mind of a warrior.
Hung chastised Albert,” Why are you so emotionally invested in worrying about what Aaron thinks of you? You don’t have the pastiche of Frank, but you will do just fine on the rest of the assignment.”
Stoically she recounted the abject failures, and successes of the mission; Ja-kyung is dead we can do nothing about it. At least she died for the right reasons, not too many people can say that. We have the Iranian kid, you retrieved the Masada 2’s cash and we avoided being killed by both the Iranian and Judges hit squads.”
Unfortunately, Albert’s mind wasn’t hearing her words all he could think about was Ja-kyun’s dying, her black hair soaked with blood, it falling over her petite body like a Bram Stoker’s Dracula surreal gothic play, her image ever infused into his psyche.
Albert was confused and he sought Frank out to complain about his role on the mission. Each time Albert transgressed into self-doubt, Frank provides enough internal counterargument to muddy Albert’s negative interpretation of the upside down world of professional field agents.
Albert’s voice warbled” Frank do you have a moment, I am dumbfounded, it’s amazing how often the leading lights of Masada 2 become obsessed with sensationally trivial things about how we are proceeding. They are micromanaging me and I have had it.”
Frank put down his iPad and replied carefully, “Let me just stick a pin your naive beefing, If you’re not sure how your values align with those of the current Masada 2 leaders, then let me help you. Don’t think the Iranian Mullah’s have a lot of big things to talk about beyond establishing a religious oasis all through the Middle East, and destroying Israel, they don’t, but the Judges do. The Iranian’s believe that democracy is a “passing fad”; the Judges understand American’s preoccupations of the far right/radical right/whatever the free-speech snowflakes are demanding to be called this week. They use the clash of civilizations to their advantage; their thinking is kind of Fourth Reich Utopian. Make no mistake, if they got their way it would be an act of dispossession far greater than a flotilla of a million refugees for the USA.”
“I apologize if I am too harsh; be honest, Albert you like being something more than who you were. You aren’t going to shower and saunter back to Boston to your old life; you are tattooed down to your DNA with a harshness this work corrupts all of us with. Your wife and children will not replace the golden opportunity Masada 2 gave you to be totally morally unleashed. Believe me, it is a feeling that can’t be duplicated or given up like an opioid.”
Albert felt like his morality had been strangled.He was torn; his mind was falling into the void somewhere between the truth in Frank’s words and desperately hoping Frank was wrong.
I try to make my characters are moving and poetic. “ I like to think I help the people I eliminated take a special elevator to hell people like Wang.”
i
Hung smoothly leaned into Dana and she gave a captivating cackle, ” I heard you were the Iranian wannabe high priest of house parties, coke-addicts firework watchers, and pleasure hounds. You don’t look so powerful now.”
In Iran you would be in a world of taboos Your pleasures and depravities would be seen as recklessness of a jaded son of a traitor. You’d be a glorious inspirational prize for the Mullahs of an Iranian westernized dog. The elusive Judges’ parishioners of horror we killed here, but the North Korean pirates, not to mention your father’s old colleague want to have a jam session with your brain. You are a metaphor for a screwed human condition a victim of his fate. This is more than that it is a spirited sermon Your father is dead and you are screwed we should just leave you here, you are useless to us.
In the blink of an eye, Dana was painfully aware of his own mortality, he would do anything yet persevere his life. “Wait I can help, I know where my father keeps his files.”
Ha-joon the North Korean National coach showed Frank he knew how to coach, but Frank noticed the tension between Ha-joon and his star player Chul-soon. Chul-soon was dominant racking up 30 points in his team’s 120-107 win over the team from Viet Nam.
His coach after the game shaking his head said to Frank, “Did you see the disrespect Chul-soon showed me and his teammates? But say what you want about Chul-soon and the things he says, you can’t deny his ability on the court. He could be great for us if he wasn’t so selfish.”
Frank was never stuck with perfunctory dialogue, “With his untapped ability, he could take your team to another level. Let me give him a tongue lashing, he smiled and walked over with the interpreter.
Frank watched the North Korean basketball star sitting slumped in his chair, knees wide apart, cheerfully reading from his cell phone in his hand.
Frank with an attitude of scoffing amusement said, “So you are, the venerable’, ‘the brilliant’, ‘the incomparable’, ‘the great living legend Chul-soon. I am not impressed; you couldn’t play for a junior high team in the United State”.
Chul-soon broke off looking at his phone with a frown he muttered to the interpreter, ” Who is he?”
As the interpreter spoke Frank said, “Tell him, I am “The famous and infamous’, ‘inimitable’, ‘iconic’, ‘pioneering’, ‘mega coach, ‘the fabulous’, ‘coolest old American basketball genius who did not come to tell him how good he is.”
The interpreter looked up, grinned and said: “I’ve been collecting English phrases but you lost me on some of them.”
“Okay, just tell him I have watched his game and he has no moves to the left; he has a poor mid-range jump shot and he can’t box out his own grandmother.”
Frank painted unsubtle images with great not so great subtlety,
” Tell him, after half a year of ignoring his coach, Chul-soon will now listen and learn how to play true basketball from Ha-joon or I will come back with my team of blind players and he will be embarrassed by the beating they will give him .”
Frank strolled off the court and out of the arena he had a plane to catch Viet Nam.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Everybody defines leadership differently but I really like the way John C Maxwell defines leadership, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Irrespective of how you define a leader, he or she can prove to be a difference maker between success and failure. A good leader has a futuristic vision and knows how to turn his ideas into real-world success stories. In this article, we take an in-depth look at some of the important leadership qualities that separate good leaders from a bad one.
1. Honesty and Integrity
The 34th President of United States, Dwight.D.Eisenhower once said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader. How can you expect your followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself? Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs and without ethics, this will not be possible.
2. Confidence
To be an effective leader, you should be confident enough to ensure that other follow your commands. If you are unsure about your own decisions and qualities, then your subordinates will never follow you. As a leader, you have to be oozing with confidence, show some swagger and assertiveness to gain the respect of your subordinates. This does not mean that you should be overconfident, but you should at least reflect the degree of confidence required to ensure that your followers trust you as a leader.
3. Inspire Others
Probably the most difficult job for a leader is to persuade others to follow. It can only be possible if you inspire your followers by setting a good example. When the going gets tough, they look up to you and see how you react to the situation. If you handle it well, they will follow you. As a leader, should think positive and this positive approach should be visible through your actions. Stay calm under pressure and keep the motivation level up. As John Quincy Adams puts it, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” If you are successful in inspiring your subordinates, you can easily overcome any current and future challenge easily.
4. Commitment and Passion
Your teams look up to you and if you want them to give them their all, you will have to be passionate about it too. When your teammates see you getting your hands dirty, they will also give their best shot. It will also help you to gain the respect of your subordinates and infuse new energy in your team members, which helps them to perform better. If they feel that you are not fully committed or lacks passion, then it would be an uphill task for the leader to motivate your followers to achieve the goal.
5. Good Communicator
Until you clearly communicate your vision to your team and tell them the strategy to achieve the goal, it will be very difficult for you to get the results you want. Simply put, if you are unable to communicate your message effectively to your team, you can never be a good leader. A good communicator can be a good leader. Words have the power to motivate people and make them do the unthinkable. If you use them effectively, you can also achieve better results.
6. Decision-Making Capabilities
Apart from having a futuristic vision, a leader should have the ability to take the right decision at the right time. Decisions taken by leaders have a profound impact on masses. A leader should think long and hard before taking a decision but once the decision is taken, stand by it. Although, most leaders take decisions on their own, but it is highly recommended that you consult key stakeholders before taking a decision. After all, they are the ones who will benefit or suffer from your decisions.
7. Accountability
When it comes to accountability, you need to follow the approach highlighted by Arnold H Glasow when he said, “A good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his share of the credit.” Make sure that every one of your subordinates is accountable for what they are doing. If they do well, give them a pat on the back but if they struggle, make them realize their mistakes and work together to improve. Holding them accountable for their actions will create a sense of responsibility among your subordinates and they will go about the business more seriously.
8. Delegation and Empowerment
You cannot do everything, right. It is important for a leader to focus on key responsibilities while leaving the rest to others. By that, I mean empowering your followers and delegating tasks to them. If you continue to micromanage your subordinates, it will develop a lack of trust and more importantly, you will not be able to focus on important matters, as you should be. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and see how they perform. Provide them with all the resources and support they need to achieve the objective and give them a chance to bear the responsibility.
9. Creativity and Innovation
What separates a leader from a follower? Steve Jobs, the greatest visionary of our time answers this question this way, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” In order to get ahead in today’s fast-paced world, a leader must be creative and innovative at the same time. Creative thinking and constant innovation is what makes you and your team stand out from the crowd. Think out of the box to come up with unique ideas and turn those ideas and goals into reality.
10. Empathy
Last but certainly not the least, is empathy. Leaders should develop empathy with their followers. Unfortunately, most leaders follow a dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to this, they fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding the problems of your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an effective leader. Even that is not enough until you work hard and provide your followers with a suitable solution to their problems.
Conclusion
To become a good leader, you must have all these qualities but if you lack some of these qualities, then you might struggle to make the mark in the world of leadership. You will have to set a good example for others to follow. That is where your commitment, passion, empathy, honesty, and integrity come into play. Good communication skills and decision-making capabilities also play a vital role in the success and failure of a leader. Lastly, innovation and creative thinking, as well as the futuristic vision, are a couple of key traits which make a leader stand out.
Everybody defines leadership differently but I really like the way John C Maxwell defines leadership, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Irrespective of how you define a leader, he or she can prove to be a difference maker between success and failure. A good leader has a futuristic vision and knows how to turn his ideas into real-world success stories. In this article, we take an in-depth look at some of the important leadership qualities that separate good leaders from a bad one.
1. Honesty and Integrity
The 34th President of United States, Dwight.D.Eisenhower once said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader. How can you expect your followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself? Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs and without ethics, this will not be possible.
2. Confidence
To be an effective leader, you should be confident enough to ensure that other follow your commands. If you are unsure about your own decisions and qualities, then your subordinates will never follow you. As a leader, you have to be oozing with confidence, show some swagger and assertiveness to gain the respect of your subordinates. This does not mean that you should be overconfident, but you should at least reflect the degree of confidence required to ensure that your followers trust you as a leader.
3. Inspire Others
Probably the most difficult job for a leader is to persuade others to follow. It can only be possible if you inspire your followers by setting a good example. When the going gets tough, they look up to you and see how you react to the situation. If you handle it well, they will follow you. As a leader, should think positive and this positive approach should be visible through your actions. Stay calm under pressure and keep the motivation level up. As John Quincy Adams puts it, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” If you are successful in inspiring your subordinates, you can easily overcome any current and future challenge easily.
4. Commitment and Passion
Your teams look up to you and if you want them to give them their all, you will have to be passionate about it too. When your teammates see you getting your hands dirty, they will also give their best shot. It will also help you to gain the respect of your subordinates and infuse new energy in your team members, which helps them to perform better. If they feel that you are not fully committed or lacks passion, then it would be an uphill task for the leader to motivate your followers to achieve the goal.
5. Good Communicator
Until you clearly communicate your vision to your team and tell them the strategy to achieve the goal, it will be very difficult for you to get the results you want. Simply put, if you are unable to communicate your message effectively to your team, you can never be a good leader. A good communicator can be a good leader. Words have the power to motivate people and make them do the unthinkable. If you use them effectively, you can also achieve better results.
6. Decision-Making Capabilities
Apart from having a futuristic vision, a leader should have the ability to take the right decision at the right time. Decisions taken by leaders have a profound impact on masses. A leader should think long and hard before taking a decision but once the decision is taken, stand by it. Although, most leaders take decisions on their own, but it is highly recommended that you consult key stakeholders before taking a decision. After all, they are the ones who will benefit or suffer from your decisions.
7. Accountability
When it comes to accountability, you need to follow the approach highlighted by Arnold H Glasow when he said, “A good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his share of the credit.” Make sure that every one of your subordinates is accountable for what they are doing. If they do well, give them a pat on the back but if they struggle, make them realize their mistakes and work together to improve. Holding them accountable for their actions will create a sense of responsibility among your subordinates and they will go about the business more seriously.
8. Delegation and Empowerment
You cannot do everything, right. It is important for a leader to focus on key responsibilities while leaving the rest to others. By that, I mean empowering your followers and delegating tasks to them. If you continue to micromanage your subordinates, it will develop a lack of trust and more importantly, you will not be able to focus on important matters, as you should be. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and see how they perform. Provide them with all the resources and support they need to achieve the objective and give them a chance to bear the responsibility.
9. Creativity and Innovation
What separates a leader from a follower? Steve Jobs, the greatest visionary of our time answers this question this way, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” In order to get ahead in today’s fast-paced world, a leader must be creative and innovative at the same time. Creative thinking and constant innovation is what makes you and your team stand out from the crowd. Think out of the box to come up with unique ideas and turn those ideas and goals into reality.
10. Empathy
Last but certainly not the least, is empathy. Leaders should develop empathy with their followers. Unfortunately, most leaders follow a dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to this, they fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding the problems of your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an effective leader. Even that is not enough until you work hard and provide your followers with the suitable solution to their problems.
Conclusion
To become a good leader, you must have all these qualities but if you lack some of these qualities, then you might struggle to make the mark in the world of leadership. You will have to set a good example for others to follow. That is where your commitment, passion, empathy, honesty and integrity come into play. Good communication skills and decision-making capabilities also play a vital role in success and failure of a leader. Lastly, innovation and creative thinking, as well as the futuristic vision, are a couple of key traits which make a leader stand out.
Dana was six feet four, walked into the room shivering slightly hunched on the balls of his feet, which clad in the clothes he was wearing when he was kidnapped; winter in North Korea didn’t suit him well. His capture was a lean young woman with an angular face, a pronounced underbite, and a rapid-fire way of talking.
She smiled at him and sucked him in. “There is a reason you are here and your father is not you were selected for your insatiable need for attention, and your father’s paranoid need for secrecy. I know you like opera so do I; my favorite is “Faust.”
All Dana could wish for was that he could get out of there without being part of Mozart’s Requiem. He knew the emotional price for his father was steep. His father once told him “Have the skin of a hippopotamus, the cunning of a fox, and the loyalty of a rat and you will survive in this world.”
Dana understood that rats when they are starving eat their young, and Dana was aware his father wouldn’t hesitate to give him up if he felt the risk of saving him didn’t outweigh leaving him to die.
By Susan Hassen
The 34th President of United States, Dwight.D.Eisenhower once said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader. How can you expect your followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself? Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs and without ethics, this will not be possible.
To be an effective leader, you should be confident enough to ensure that other follow your commands. If you are unsure about your own decisions and qualities, then your subordinates will never follow you. As a leader, you have to be oozing with confidence, show some swagger and assertiveness to gain the respect of your subordinates. This does not mean that you should be overconfident, but you should at least reflect the degree of confidence required to ensure that your followers trust you as a leader.
Probably the most difficult job for a leader is to persuade others to follow. It can only be possible if you inspire your followers by setting a good example. When the going gets tough, they look up to you and see how you react to the situation. If you handle it well, they will follow you. As a leader, should think positive and this positive approach should be visible through your actions. Stay calm under pressure and keep the motivation level up. As John Quincy Adams puts it, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” If you are successful in inspiring your subordinates, you can easily overcome any current and future challenge easily.
Your teams look up to you and if you want them to give them their all, you will have to be passionate about it too. When your teammates see you getting your hands dirty, they will also give their best shot. It will also help you to gain the respect of your subordinates and infuse new energy in your team members, which helps them to perform better. If they feel that you are not fully committed or lacks passion, then it would be an uphill task for the leader to motivate your followers to achieve the goal.
Until you clearly communicate your vision to your team and tell them the strategy to achieve the goal, it will be very difficult for you to get the results you want. Simply put, if you are unable to communicate your message effectively to your team, you can never be a good leader. A good communicator can be a good leader. Words have the power to motivate people and make them do the unthinkable. If you use them effectively, you can also achieve better results.
Apart from having a futuristic vision, a leader should have the ability to take the right decision at the right time. Decisions taken by leaders have a profound impact on masses. A leader should think long and hard before taking a decision but once the decision is taken, stand by it. Although, most leaders take decisions on their own, but it is highly recommended that you consult key stakeholders before taking a decision. After all, they are the ones who will benefit or suffer from your decisions.
When it comes to accountability, you need to follow the approach highlighted by Arnold H Glasow when he said, “A good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his share of the credit.” Make sure that every one of your subordinates is accountable for what they are doing. If they do well, give them a pat on the back but if they struggle, make them realize their mistakes and work together to improve. Holding them accountable for their actions will create a sense of responsibility among your subordinates and they will go about the business more seriously.
You cannot do everything, right. It is important for a leader to focus on key responsibilities while leaving the rest to others. By that, I mean empowering your followers and delegating tasks to them. If you continue to micromanage your subordinates, it will develop a lack of trust and more importantly, you will not be able to focus on important matters, as you should be. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and see how they perform. Provide them with all the resources and support they need to achieve the objective and give them a chance to bear the responsibility.
What separates a leader from a follower? Steve Jobs, the greatest visionary of our time answers this question this way, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” In order to get ahead in today’s fast-paced world, a leader must be creative and innovative at the same time. Creative thinking and constant innovation is what makes you and your team stand out from the crowd. Think out of the box to come up with unique ideas and turn those ideas and goals into reality.
Last but certainly not the least, is empathy. Leaders should develop empathy with their followers. Unfortunately, most leaders follow a dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to this, they fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding the problems of your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an effective leader. Even that is not enough until you work hard and provide your followers with a suitable solution to their problems.
Tales Of Kinsea 