Illuminating Leadership

We can be suckers or we can be sober. What will you choose?

My fellow Illumination writers, and those whom we all thank for regularly reading our hen-pecking, if I may.

Today I read the following apology from Dr Mehmet Yildiz, for not publishing one of his monumentally detailed and exceedingly useful-to-all-of us daily lists:

I began my response in the comments, then realized, no. This is for ALL of us. Stay with me here.

Here is what I penned:

You do not owe us an apology for taking care of business.

My good friend, if I may use this opportunity to make some points for all of us here on both Medium and our home Illumination. This is written for our entire community. As with all things I include myself in this conversation.

While I understand the anger and offense, I would challenge you all, just as I do myself, to first, watch the emotions as they rise. They are legitimate, they have power. And, as they often do, they can sweep us into dark places of fear, overreaction, and the notion that we are out of control.

The FAKE notion that we are out of control. For indeed you and I can control our reactions.

Second, allow the feelings time to subside. Even twenty minutes later or less I am calmer, can find the humor in the stupidity, and make better decisions.

Third, consider what the actual issue is, separate from your reactions to it. Our feelings often make things far more threatening than they are. In the cold clear light of day, what do you/I really know?

Then, what can you/I really do about it?

If not you or me, then who needs to take action? Have they been notified? And if yes, is our voice necessary to support the effort?

You and I can, as Dr Y points out, lose valuable creative time being upset over the “tempest in a teapot.”

That makes us what a very smart Millennial friend calls “media puppets.”

We’re being manipulated. We lose, they win. They want to throw us off our game, shame folks into giving up their writing.

Are you and I so easily convinced of a manufactured threat that all it takes to scare us off is one dickhead doing damage because of…god only knows? Maybe the bully needs some Vitamin B12. Doesn’t matter. But do you really want to hand over your agency to some schmuck with an axe to grind for lack of something better to do?

NO? Then stop it already.

Sick people have been handed the keys to the quality of our lives when we get overly upset, angry and reactive over fake news, issues which neither affect or concern us, or something that is handled directly, with sober professionalism, as Dr.Y did here.

With respect, I got upset, as did many, about the poorly-worded Medium changes in their TOS.

I wasted time being threatened about it. I wasn’t alone. Dr. Y did the work, published the changed wording, all is well. It is highly likely that the change was a strategic move on Medium’s part to battle the website that hijacked our material.

However, be that as it may, both issues are in bed and buried. Till the next one.

There WILL be a next one.

Because early on, as early adopters will recall, we had a bad apple in our midst. That taught all of us, much smaller numbers back then, that the collective effort of our community, the collaboration and utter unwillingness to allow abuse, attacks and damaging remarks on our publication meant that we could keep a safe house.

We DO have a safe house.

You and I can do damage to that safe house by not trusting its legitimacy, its strength, and its flexibility. Our leader.

The standards we hold are strong. Dr. Y’s personal commitment to his publication and to every single one of us is clear, concise and regularly repeated.

Trust it. I do.

This is a learning community. These kinds of things are how we learn to be better writers, better at handling our emotions, a whole range of opportunities which are for my part truly uplifted here on Illumination.

I trust Dr. Yildiz to do whatever he can to protect the unique space he has created.

Those who ran in fear, perhaps they aren’t a fit. No matter. If we are needed, if our letters or emails or phone calls or voices are needed, we’ll be told. Meanwhile, let’s please not over-react. Kindly, I am directing that message to myself as much as to you.

There’s a good reason people envy, copy, and try to hijack us. Because we are something special..

Illumination is unique. Let’s please continue to work together, learn to manage our (over)reactions, trust Dr. Y and each other to figure stuff out.

My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Y for inviting me early, for all the intense labor (labour to him) that he puts in for all of us. We simply do not thank him enough.

I will here:

Thank you. You Just ROCK.

Please have a cuppa, rest, and we will welcome you back when ready.