Vivat Libertas

Yeah, I haven't written anything for a while because of my exams. I   know  I've failed Physics, Biology and RS, but I got my results back for History, French, Latin and Maths today - all quite good, so I'm pleased. Anyway, they announced the new Praes (prefects for the uninitiated) at school today. Some of the choices were OK, others were a bit...iffy. But that wasn't necessarily what I wanted to talk about here. You see, they talked about the new Praes being responsible in their roles. They talked about the Praes being able to empathise with the younger students and sort out their problems. They talked about all the things I'd  talked about , in fact, and then added more to the list. In short: the leader of dreams and fantasies. There's nothing wrong with that. Hell, I had a hand in that fantasy too. There's nothing wrong with holding people  to that high standard either - in fact, it should be encouraged. Maybe then we'd get somewhere. The pro...

First of all, this is a very, very reactionary article. It seeks to overturn the lessons given in The Prince . That said, I do think it's relevant and important, and I think I have some points nailed down. To some people, they may seem blindingly obvious, but I've come up with them and decided to articulate them precisely because some people seem not to have gotten the memo. Secondly, this article is about leadership in any context - leader of a country, leader of a coalition, school prefect, someone trying to organise a ragtag bunch of misfits...you name it, I'm trying to write for that context. Exception goes for dictators so evil it's stupid. What are leaders for, whatever name they go by? The answer's simple and it's partially in the name: the job of a leader is to lead, and to lead well. It's a nice little phrase, but it means very little on its own and I'd like to provide clarification. A leader is there to lead.  It seems fairly obvious, but...