TheMaverickSergeant

           Image: ScreenGeek For many centuries people have had an appetite for spine-tingling narrative art. Some of which brings about pain and aims to stimulate negatively charged emotions. As such, it becomes perplexing as to why it is acceptable for people to deliberately seek experiences through art which can, among other apparently negative responses, shock, sadden and frighten. Rational thinking dictates that people would steer clear of such experiences in their day to day lives. Yet, they actively seek out said experiences through artworks. Therein holds the paradox of painful art. David Hume’s solution to the paradox of painful art offers that pain is converted into pleasure. This essay disagrees. To defend this, a number of flaws will be exploited and discussed in order to prove that Hume does not resolve the paradox. Ultimately this essay will convey that the problem is multifaceted and complex, and requires far more than his broad explanation to the problem.     In philoso

Leadersights: Creating Great Leaders Who Create Great Workplaces by David Veech      Firstly, I admire the genuine honesty that this book admirably starts with the author’s own rejection of any idea that ‘this book is different’ and then reaffirming in the epilogue that ‘this isn’t earth-shattering’… bold and brilliant. If we’re going to lead well, we need to do so with humility and an unwavering willingness to drop any ego traits that stifle learning. Without David Veech’s own transparency regarding this his key concepts, which act as a golden thread throughout the book, might quickly lose credibility. The book’s three ‘Leadersight’ categories act as a guiding handrail for leaders: Learning, Loving, and Letting go — all of which go hand in hand with leadership ‘greatness’. The author further sets the conditions to have his impact by being bolder still; by telling the reader that everything they’re doing now is ‘wrong’. Awesome. A wake up call so many leaders need; a punchy starting po

The role of English is intricately bound by a multitude of power relation issues, making it a politically controversial phenomenon. This article will show that the role of English is a political issue, how it has developed into a virtually universal skill to which education is shackled, and how English education and globalisation work hand in hand to further cement the status of English in the world we live in whilst conversely remaining disputed and contended. Subsequently, this article will discuss contested views on language policies and power struggles, as well as the conflict and tensions that ultimately derive from a lack of trust where English has been established. Also, a past Malaysian language policy will be explored to allude to the controversial outcome of using English. Furthermore, accreditation of English in a professional, educational and immigration context will be weighed up. The rise of spoken and written English in Finland leads to a debate in itself. Here, where l

Having recently been asked an interesting question (on Twitter) by and after a chat via DM to a couple of other Twitter followers; here’s my condensed take on the subject. While the below pasted tweet was intended as leadership-orientated, with the would-be reader as the subject encouraged to think; it was suggested to consider the ‘follower’ angle... and rightly so. The leader could be the best in the world, but without their followers they’re nothing. "Your subordinates do 1 of 4 things when you’re not around: [1] Boast about you to peers in other Depts/Units [2] Correct others when you’re being discussed in a negative way [3] Go quiet when you’re being discussed in a negative way [4] Destroy you behind your back You own this. Fite me" Previously, as Retention SNCO, I was too aware that a common gripe with service leavers was a chronic lack of appreciation. In my honest opinion this permeates across a lot of the organisation. We have to celebrate successes, not always down

This review was first published by the  thearmyleader.co.uk     Published in February 2019, this book is the second volume of Donald Vandergriff and Stephen Webber’s  Mission Command  series, following on from their first edition published in 2017.  Mission Command II: The Who, What, Where, When and Why: An Anthology  (known by its abbreviated title  MC2)  consists of a diverse and complementary collection of essays on the concept of Mission Command. At its core, Mission Command is a philosophy that tells subordinates what to achieve but not how to do it – subordinates control how best to achieve the commanders’ intent. It is an approach used by the UK Armed Forces that decentralises command by empowering subordinates, at every level, to act freely within specified constraints to achieve success. The anthology draws eighteen authors together, many of them serving or retired officers from the USA, Norway and the UK (including one Non-Commissioned Officer), along with historians and logi

This review was first co-published by the  Centre for Army Leadership  and  Wavell Room  in June 2020. To open with a bold statement, of all the thousands of leadership books out there, every single one of them should be supplemented with  Leadership is Language  by L. David Marquet. In spite of some expectations to the contrary, what is leadership if it is not language? A powerful thing about leadership is that if you think about the words you choose to use, as is the focus of this book, you can change the world around you. Leadership is Language drives home the idea that leadership is about people, and the author argues that leaders cannot lead effectively without an appropriately balanced interplay using words. A quick assumption about this book might be that it perpetuates overly soft, sympathetic, sensitive leadership approaches. It does not. Rather, it is about the leader detaching themselves from notions of invulnerability, certainty, coercion, and conformity. In term

Conquer This. “ A soldier will fight long and hard for a piece of coloured ribbon.” - Napoleon My sodden combat assault boots pound the tarmac one by one like the sound of a war drum as I double through a seemingly airless, hazy country lane in the five-miles between me and the finish line back at the Commando Training Centre. I grimace with each step as the build up of lactic acid in my muscles burns as I move forward. My soul yearns for me to break into a walk and allow my heart and lungs to catch up and I despair at the impossibly thin air as I draw it in, hopelessly trying to satisfy my body’s crushing demand for oxygen. We’d set off in groups of three at the start point and over the initial two miles of tunnels, mud obstacles and water obstacles through woodland terrain I managed to lose the other two in the distance to my rear. I’m alone in this fight and although it is an individual test I looked at it as a race with these men. My   overly competitive natu

It was a searing hot and dry day. I still hadn’t acclimatised to the overwhelming heat yet and even after four days I couldn’t believe how intensely bright the sunlight made the desert sand seem. Sunglasses and shadows were my new best friends. I felt as though the air just wasn’t dense enough and at forty-three degrees celsius the heat was easily the highest I had ever experienced. If only I was wearing shorts and a shirt instead of combats, body armour and kevlar helmet. Camp Bastion’s air strip was a furiously loud and busy place. In the waiting area it was only too easy to tell whether the soldiers around me were coming in or going out by their facial expressions, by their kit and how they carried themselves. Some pairs of eyes stared a thousand yards away into nothingness. Their minds were further still. My face harboured the obvious signs of an outward Chinhook flight; fresh faced, clean-shaven, pasty white skin, focused and receptive of all around. However eager and con