Guest Post: An open letter to dude philosophers regarding your crap manners

At last! Our first guest poster! (Um, for such a bunch of whiners, y'all are pretty slow on the guest post submissions. Nothing, before this one. And publishing my email address like that now means that I'm getting a bunch of spam. Not cool, people. Not cool.) Anyway, this one's a doozy. I present to you Random Feminist, with "An open letter to dude philosophers regarding your crap manners." -- PGOAT

Dear dude philosophers,

Can I suggest something? When first meeting a feminist colleague, try not to start with comments like, "I've never really understood what feminist philosophy is supposed to be, anyway." It doesn't make you come across as collegial or interested in our work. It doesn't even come across as your garden-variety intellectual aggression. (We're fine with that. Seriously, we are.) It comes across as asking us to justify the existence of our subdiscipline. And you know what? That's just rude. As it happens, I think the philosophical interest of your JTB/S knows that P/Gettier masturbation ran its course a good 20 years ago, if it was ever interesting in the first place. (Didn't Dretske already solve that problem? Why are you still talking about it?) But despite my opinions about how lame your subdiscipline is, see how I manage to keep this to myself in the first three minutes of meeting you? Isn't that nice of me? Give it a try sometime.

XOXO,

Random Feminist

Your turn.

The grumblings in the comments have been getting louder for quite a while now. Our collective lack of posting here sucks. You need us. We're failing you.

We know. And we're sorry. And so, I propose that it's time for the improbable story that is this little blog to begin a new chapter. A chapter in which all y'all start pulling your own damn weight around here.

Here's the deal. You write a post about the job market. You email it to me at PGOAT01@gmail.com. If I like it, you, gentle reader, will find your ontological status upgraded from mere Loyal Fan to Guest Poster.

Some rules. Because I'm bossy like that.

1. Posts must be pseudonymous. We don't want to know who you are.
2. We reserve the right to be picky. We won't promise to post anything and everything that's sent to us.
3. Posts that PGOAT finds funny are much likelier to be posted.

Okay, go!

-- PGOAT

Wherein it is established that philosophers do not need to eat.

From comments:

I hate the predominantly instrumental view of philosophy that some readers of this blog have. None of the great philosophers in history had become great with such a mediocre mentality. Do you think that Wittgenstein or Kant or Aristotle were worried about 'job prospects' or 'job markets'?

Yeah, we're all so fucking crass.

And I like your examples, dude. As it happens, Aristotle and Wittgenstein weren't worried about this shit because they were both independently wealthy. As for Kant, before he got the chair at Konigsberg, he was a privatedozent, which is to say, the old-timey version of an adjunct, for a whole lotta years. He got paid per student, and so busted his ass to teach as many students as possible every single semester. So yeah, every semester he was worried about the job market.

I guess the lesson to take away from all this is that if you set me up with a trust fund, I'll stop worrying about the job market.

-- PGOAT

A little perspective

Apparently the Guardian has an advice column about work that included this little nugget of wisdom:

Q: "Will my philosophy degree work against me in business?"

A: "Being a philosophy graduate student makes you different and quirky; turn that into your unique selling point . . ."

I had it all backwards. I thought being weird made it harder to get a job..

-- Second Suitor

And that has made all the difference

Lately, there has been this choice looming heavy on my mind. So heavy, in fact, that I've been finding it hard to sleep at night and being whisked away to a special dream land in which tenure-track jobs are as abundant as lollipops on Lollipop Lane. The customary warm glass of milk and spoonful of peanut butter at 3 a.m. haven't been working their dormitive magic; I stay up watching infomercials about cookery devices, exercise machines, and combination stationary bicycles/rotisserie grills that can cook cornish hens in the same amount of time it takes to power-the-grill/pedal off the calories you'll take in from eating that same cornish hen.

These things don't help me in making my choice.

It's like I've come to two roads in a forest. One road being writing posts and drawing comics for the PJMB and thus placating the calls from the teeming masses on the comments board whining for more whining from Team PJMB so that they can call us out for whining when we should be writing dissertations. Let us call this the road more traveled (though people may dispute this particular labeling). The other road involves starting and finishing a new chapter, thus placating my advisor (or preparing for the market, or creating a syllabus). Let us call this the road less traveled.

Let's just say that this post should serve as fair warning that I'm about to get all Robert Frost up in this motherfucker.

--STBJD

Do you have what it takes to be a great Leader?

What is a leader? By definition, a leader is someone who leads others towards a common goal, influencing them to do things and creates an environment of trust, support, and teamwork.

Being a leader is not as glamorous as the job title may suggest; it takes tremendous commitment, dedication, and selflessness.

For centuries, people have debated whether leaders are born or made? Actually, there are several answers for this question and all of them conclude that leaders are both, BORN and MADE.

In today’s workplace, we have many managers and supervisors, but few of them are truly leaders. So what are the main characteristics that you should embrace in order to become a truly effective leader?

Think Big

A leader is someone with a vision; he looks at the big picture rather than just focusing on one issue at a time. A leader always has a specific plan according to the situation at hand while maintaining a considerable degree of flexibility that allows him to embrace change and experience new things together with the team.

Be Decisive

Being decisive means more than just making decisions; you should be able to take risks, listen to your intuition and act upon it. That being said; you must never forget that it’s not a one-man show but teamwork and coordination. Anyone who thinks he can make it on his own is doomed to fail. Involving other employees in the decision making process will definitely create an environment of cooperation, teamwork and loyalty, but keep in mind that eventually the final decision is yours to make.

Learn to Have Empathy

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. You should be able to understand other people, how they feel, what motivates them, and the best way to influence them. Showing sensitivity towards others means being receptive to both the verbal and non-verbal cues. The more you understand those who surround you, the more you can help them and help yourself. All in all, greater empathy gives you greater information.

Be Ethical

An ethical leader is someone with integrity. Defining your integrity and ethics gives you consistency in your actions and relationship with others. Being an ethical leader means that you must be able to take a stand when no one else is on your side. Exceptional leaders never say one thing and do another, they actually practice what they preach.

Growing Others

Before you become a leader, success is all about growing yourself. However, the moment you become the leader success is all about growing those who surround you. Invest your time in helping other employees overcome their weaknesses and encourage them to speak their minds; this will encourage them to return the favor through hard work and loyalty. Eventually, leadership is all about getting someone to do something you want done because they want to do it!

Be Consistent

Make sure you have a consistent leadership style, this will help you avoid any confusion or mis-communication in the future. Define the roles and responsibilities clearly and follow through with reasonable and consistent rewards for when goals have been met or exceeded. Being consistent will not only enable you to get through the situation, but you’ll gain the respect and trust of your employees.

Admit Your Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. However, making a mistake as a leader can be more serious since you’re the person everyone is looking up to. Admit your mistake, correct it on your own time and make sure you learn from it. The best thing about admitting your mistake is that it allows you to grow. Realizing that you are not the next best thing since “Mansaf” is a good thing. If you’re not making any mistakes then you’re not doing much.

People seek out leaders unconsciously, and leaders would never hesitate to step up to the plate instinctively. Leaders are recognized, not chosen. They have something within them that others just don’t possess. It is an intangible quality that can’t be explained, but when you come across it, you will recognize it immediately.

Some people are born that way and some need to work on their leadership skills in order to stand out. It’s not so much your technical abilities as it is about inspiring other people to become better at what they do. Anyhow, if you are suddenly put into a leadership position, and are lost for ideas on how to use your influence, simply recall those qualities you admired in others you previously followed.

Wanting to lead is not enough; you have to have the capabilities, the skills, the talents and the ideas. If you believe you got what it takes to stir the crowds and move up to a leadership position, promote yourself on Akhtaboot.com