A Hardball Leadership Essay Example for Free

A Hardball Leadership Essay Politics is a battlefield for power. Throughout history, politics play an important role in shaping leaders and forming powerful states. Wars are even conducted to be able to get the advantage of politics. However nowadays, to get ahead into politics warfare is not necessary; it all depends on how an individual handles it. It is more than just the leadership skills, the charisma and the motivation to serve. It is the usage of the smartest strategies to get acquainted with the ‘who’ and to get the ‘what’. â€Å"The end justifies the means. Machiavelli famously imprinted these words in the world of politics. For Machiavelli, politics is more than just a career, it is an art that should be mastered and should be maintained. For Chris Matthews, politics is a game that should be learned by playing according to a set of rules. Both authors have goals in mind: to be on top of the power. Their works serve as guidelines on handling politics. Machiavelli and Matthews provide strategies on how to be an influential and effective political figure. These rules were patterned in the context of their current society. Though Machiavelli’s attack on The Prince is more aggressive than Matthews, this is mainly because of the political turmoil that has occurred during his time. Matthews on the other hand, wrote practical approaches that can be applied not just in government but as well as in business, job promotion or other aspects of life. This is to convey that politics is everywhere. Nonetheless, despite the differences between Matthews and Machiavelli, their works are cohesively direct to the path of power. To be the best player in the field of politics, one must maximize everything – including flaws and opponents – to his or her advantage. While Machiavelli focused more on state affairs, Matthews applied strategies not just to politics but to general ways of life. Like Machiavelli, Matthews related in his book on how to rise to power and maintaining it the moment it is achieved. The spread of influence and the utilization of wits will be able to bring someone to the top. Matthews enumerated his practical strategies that people within the Washington circle used. The ability to appear powerful is one of the tactics which Machiavelli has also cited. The embodiment of power is important to acquire power itself. From the famous saying of ‘what the mind conceive the body will achieve,’ people and competitors will believe a person portraying as a powerful individual. It creates a strong impression. To convince others that one has a power; it should reflect the outer attributes and incorporate the attitudes of a powerful entity. The Politician will have to utilize everything to be able to reach the top and at the top, his resources should be exhausted even more to maintain his or her stature. The Prince has the same aim. Machiavelli described most of his tactics with the likes of being a fox and to be a lion at the same time. On the other hand, Matthews associated it with a term of aggressive sports. In the field of sports, an athlete needs to play hard and it is necessary to lay out the strategies to be able to win the game. The aspects of deception and manipulation clearly reflect a Machiavellian theme situated in the White House. The politician works closely with the enemies rather than shunning them away. It gives the politician an opportunity to watch the actions of the enemy directly. Their capabilities can be used in favor of the politician’s gain. Both authors have stated the importance of alliances to strengthen influence and gain trust. Machiavelli stressed the importance of taking sides rather than going neutral. Win or lose, the Prince still has allies to aid him when crisis comes. Matthews mentioned having alliances to gain loyal supporters. He was able to portray in Washington, that people who actually do favors for the politician become great allies. The work of Chris Matthews is often compared with Machiavelli. Both of them preached the same aim of acquiring power, though their subjects are different. It can be viewed that Machiavelli’s The Prince is solely based on an individualistic approach since he focused on monarchies as a source of power. On the contrary, Matthews’ approach is more inter-personal. By the title of his book Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows The Game, it gives the impression of sports which is composed of individuals and teams. To be on top means to be the captain of the game. Hardball can be a useful reference for people who want to get ahead with life. As mentioned earlier, Matthews’ approach is not as aggressive as Machiavelli. This can be applied in other aspects of life because as what Matthews mentioned in his introduction, â€Å"there are enduring human truths in the rules that politicians play by† (Matthews 17). Matthews depicts politics as an exciting and thrilling environment where the most amusing personalities are passionately involved. Machiavelli, on the other hand, gave a cruel and ruthless picture. Since politics is compared with sports, the major player from Matthews’ book is a prominent figure in world politics. The United States is one of the most influential countries, economic-wise and political wise. As a state, the U. S. is good at keeping their alliances. The long years of friendship with other countries (i. e. Great Britain) contributed to numerous gains which helped the US to be a super power in the international community. Behind its status is the most powerful political figure in the United States. For the upcoming 2008 US Presidential election, it is notable to mention a candidate that created a name for him as the first colored American to be nominated for presidency. Barack Obama can be a perfect example of a major player in Matthews’ political field. Being raised in a multi-racial background, this became an asset for him to reach different minorities in the country. This particular asset of Obama became one of his forefronts of his campaign which focused on thriving for change. Modern United States is a diverse country made up of various racial origins and Obama thought that his colored skin can be an advantage. Obama revealed in his memoir Dreams from my Father about his previous lifestyle of smoking and drinking. Relating this particular detail of his life, it can be seen as a target for his opponent to dwell on. However, this can also be viewed as a method derived from Matthews’ book. Before the other party can even use it against him, he does the broadcasting himself. Admitting one’s flaw can lessen the negative impact of it, and the rivals will have to search for a new attack to use against the politician. Citing this example, it is seen how Chris Matthews’ strategies are put to use. This kind of political play inside the White House reflects how the United States moves in the arena of world politics. Taking that into account, Chris Matthews gives the readers a clear picture of the inner workings of America’s political center. Washington is portrayed as the battlefield, wherein politics is the game, and the athletes are the politicians who play hardball.

The Career of Respiratory Therapist Essay -- essays research papers

Respiratory Therapist Respiratory care makes a difference. And there are reasons why a Respiratory Therapist would be a great job. A guest speaker came into our class to explain more about the job. He explained education requirements, the job description, and the job opportunities. Education requirements, is what a student needs to reach the goal of becoming a respiratory therapist. There are a total of 379 respiratory technician colleges/universities in the U.S. Such as, IUP, CCAC, and many more. For a Respiratory Therapist the most you need is a Bachelor?s Degree, which takes 4 years. For this major you, there is Technical School(1+year), Associate Degree(2 years), and Bachelor?s Degree(4 years). Then the degree you end up with is a Bachelor?s Degree. Then there?s further detail about the job itself. There are many responsibilities in being a Respiratory Therapist. Which include, performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Diagnostic procedures are the arterial blood gas analysis, pulmonary function studies, sleep studies, and more. Therapeutic procedures a...

Course Outline Faculty of Science and Technology Essay

Course Number Course Title: Course Instructor: Credits: Section: Semester: Class Meeting Times: Class Venue: Pre-requisites: CMPS1024 (formerly CMPS150) – Computer Business Application MGMT1014 (formerly MGMT101) – Fundamentals of Management None 2012-2 3 CMPS3012 (formerly CMPS360) Management Information Systems Co-requisites Office Location Office Hours: (Consultation Hours) Telephone: E-Mail Address: Resources Required Text: Other Resources: By appointment Laudon, K.C., Laudon,J.P.: Management Information Systems – Managing the Digital Firm, 11th edition, . Prentice Hall MIS course website: http://odl.ub.edu.bz/moodle3/course/view.php?id=106 COURSE DESCRIPTION COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to provide techniques and knowledge for creating competitive business, managing global or local corporations, adding business value and providing useful product and services to intended customers. Topics include: Enterprise Applications. Systems for Supply Chain Management. Customer Relationship Management. Knowledge Management Systems. Digital Integration. Internet Technology. Database – Design and Implement in an existing Database Management System. COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1.1.1 Knowledge a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. m. Describe the role of information systems in today’s competitive business environment Explain information systems from both technical and business perspective Examine the transforming effect of information systems on organizations and management Explain the impact of internet technology and the World Wide Web on the Digi tal firm Describe the roles of individuals in the business process Describe the types of business structures and how they function and serve clientele. Explain the importance of effective mangers and the roles they play in the business success and the development of innovative services and products Identify the impact, usefulness and benefit afforded businesses through electronic commerce Examine privacy issues and the ways in which to secure a business and its stakeholders from privacy violations. Identify threats of intrusion and other forms of system violation that exists through external sources such as viruses. Describe salient differences between management and information technology specialists and how these differences are mitigated. Explain the various levels of management and the unique systems and structures that are critical to these levels Explain the Rationale for developing and maintaining systems which are reliable, scalable, portable and secure.

African American vs. Caucasian Americans Essay

At first glance some people might consider this paper to be on the racial side, however it was all written by observations made. There are many differences between African Americans and Caucasians, some people don’t see the differences because of ignorance . You must read the paper with an open mind and take none of this to heart. African American and Caucasians function differently in public surroundings. When you see a young African American you usually see them in groups of four of more. However, when one of them gets into a disagreement five to ten more show up in their defense. They are a very close knit group of individuals. I have also noticed that when you see a young African American walking around they are usually singing, talking very loud or running around. Also when they are in groups they are very loud and take over the area that they occupy. On the other hand when you see Caucasians they are rarely in groups of three or more. To top it off when someone in one of their groups gets in trouble the rest of the group is nowhere to be found. Most times when you see young Caucasian people in a group they are for the most part within a normal speaking level. These two groups tend to act differently in the public due to their cultural differences. There are a number of differences between the churches of African Americans and Caucasians. At most typical African American churches there are no true sermons. The African American churches tend to do more entertaining rather than teaching. They also do a great deal of singing and dancing involved in there praising of God. They emphasize fellowship in their churches especially after church when they all gather and close the celebration with a meal together. However at a typical Caucasian church there are a few differences. To start it off when you first walk in you get a program detailing what will be happening through the service. They tend to structure the whole service around a sermon or story. The service every week is very predictable as to what will happen. The Caucasian churches are more there to teach the ways of the lord as they have interpreted it. Although not all the African American and Caucasian churches are along this line a majority of the main stream ones are.

Macbeths Fall from Greatness Essays

Macbeths Fall from Greatness Essays Macbeths Fall from Greatness Paper Macbeths Fall from Greatness Paper Although Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his fall from greatness, the witches’ prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s manipulation assist in his downfall in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. The ultimate downfall of Macbeth would not take place without the initial prophecies of the witches. His demise is outlined in the suggestive words of the witches when they first meet. They entertain the prophecy that Macbeth â€Å"shalt be king hereafter! † (I,iii,54). The success of the first two prophecies of becoming the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor raises ambition for the last to be fulfilled. In foretelling that Macbeth will take over as the king of Scotland, the witches lead him to assume murder as the only way to fulfill the prophecy. Macbeth begins to convince himself that if chance will have [him] king, why chance may crown [him] without [his] stir. (I,iii,154-156). Reluctant as Macbeth appears to be he later reveals that he â€Å"dares do all that may become a man. † (I,vii,51), even if it means murdering the King. Determined to fulfill what the witches told him, Macbeth is willing to sacrifice his loyalty in exchange for power, unaware of the outcomes of his actions. Lady Macbeth, along with her overbearing nature and manipulation, leads Macbeth closer and closer to his demise. Her selfish desire to attain power through her husband manifests itself by means of constant persuasion and belittlement. From the moment she receives news of the prophecy the witches informed Macbeth of, she is quick to calculate a plan. Already, she reveals her manipulative character saying, â€Å"I may pour my spirits in thine ear. † (I,v,26). Lady Macbeth makes it clear that her possession of power will ultimately pave the road for her husband’s fall. She obliges Macbeth to murder King Duncan, telling him to â€Å"look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t. † (I,vi,76-77). Lady Macbeth makes her husband seem less of a man due to his initial reluctance to undergo her plans. She belittles him in saying, â€Å"when you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more than a man† (I,vii,56-58), driving guilt within Macbeth. Lady Macbeth can be held accountable essentially leading her very own husband down the road of his fall from greatness.

An Electromagnetic Analysis of Noise-Based Intrinsically Secure Communication in Wireless Systems

An Electromagnetic Analysis of Noise-Based Intrinsically Secure Communication in Wireless Systems The research on noise-based secure communication systems is mainly carried out from an information theoretical point of view, and is focused on evaluation in different communication conditions of the secrecy capacity, which is defined as the maximum achievable perfect secrecy rate, where the perfect secret rate is the amount of information that can be sent not only reliably but also confidentially. He noted that the channel capacity of the authorized channel is higher than the channel capacity of the eavesdropper, and one coding strategy is able to transmit information to the authorized receiver with a vanishing block-code error probability in a completely secure way, at a rate limited by the difference between the authorized and eavesdropper channel capacity. This causes a decrease in the channel capacity of the unauthorized receiver compared to the authorized receiver, which can transmit information buried in the additional noise affecting the eavesdropper. In this paper, it will be shown that, in the noise-based unconditionally secure communication systems, the degrees of freedom of the electromagnetic field are used in a third way. Paralleling the analysis undertaken in, it takes advantage of the concept of the number of degrees of freedom (NDF) of the electromagnetic field, defined as the minimum number of functions required to represent the field on an observation manifold within a given representation error, fixed by the noise corrupting the observed field. Successively, in a seminal paper, Wyner suggested that the presence of additional noise when information is tapped from a line makes the unauthorized channel noisier than the authorized channel. Broadly speaking, any antenna uses the available degrees of freedom of the electromagnetic field mainly following two possible goals: to concentrate (and possibly maximize) energy on the receiving antenna or to maximize the amount of information available on the receiving antenna. In this framework, an approach to obtain unconditionally secure communication based on the use of the degrees of freedom of the electromagnetic field is discussed. Signal and noise are transmitted at the same time using a strategy that avoids any increase in noise at the authorized receiver taking advantage of the degrees of freedom that are not used to transmit information. The physical mechanism at the basis of the secret communication is explained by means of the degrees of freedom of the field, which are able to convey information and noise in spatially orthogonal channels. As a final observation, in order to make the channel secure, a non-negligible percentage of the available power is radiated as artificial noise. According to some fundamental results of information theory, it is possible to hide information in the additional noise affecting the eavesdropper. Loosely speaking, the allocation of power to noise causes a decrease in the channel capacity of the system that follows logarithmic law.

Graduate Reflection Paper 4(a) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Graduate Reflection Paper 4(a) - Essay Example There are many factors that create a leader with strong communication skills. Covey (1989) states that being a good listener brings many benefits for the leader. It helps the leader build relationships and it is a very important part of appraisal and training. Covey also suggests that communication has four components: speaking, writing, reading and listening. Caputo et al. (2003) suggests that leaders must create a system of effective communication with their employees and leadership must have effective communication in order to have complete leadership. Covey (1990) created seven principles regarding communication: "Be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win/win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergize and sharpen the saw" (p. 41). Covey talks about these habits as human endowments that enhance a leaders communication skills by placing them in a frame of mind that creates their ability to move their employees forward (Covey, 1990). This means that they also need to have a voice in communication. Leaders must be active listeners, create a space for employees to speak their minds respectfully and help their employees to recognize their own voice (Covey, 2004). Each leader must be influential which means they also need to understand how to persuade their employees. This does not the must coerce their employees but rather understand how to move them towards what is expected or needed. Carnegie (1964) suggests that the one way to get someone to do something is to make them want to do it. A strong leaders does this by helping their employees improve, not by criticizing them. Also, leaders must show employees that they are appreciated. These ideas will help employees stay motivated to communicate well with their manager. This also means that the manager must seek to find a