Take What You Want

This is kind of linked to last week's post: Don't Ask For Permission. The parallel came to me later that day actually, when I went to go see the film Napoleon in the cinema. I like most of Ridley Scott's film, but this one was okay. This isn't going to turn into a film critique, so I will leave it at that. Napoleon became France's emperor in early 1800s. And what stood out in the beginning of the film before he became emperor was that he took it.

I have a management (business) degree and there were plenty of talks and classes on leadership and power. The classic question throughout history of rulers, aristocracy, nobility, and politics is: How did these people get to those positions? The simple answer is: they took it. And they sure as hell didn't ask for permission.

So the lesson from Napoleon and others who have attained their high stations in life is that they just went after what they wanted, unapologetically, and took the high status position. Now how long they last there depends on how they rule. Tyrants can only go so far and the same goes for nice guys....

However, even for us who don't care to have high positions of governance or of public rule, we can take the lesson. We can either work for someone else or work for ourselves and that's good enough. But regardless, there will always be competition and market forces where you will have to take something to get to a position of being in demand.

So take what you want and let the public speak. Let's just hope it doesn't end with exile (Napoleon) or (equally?) worse beheaded (Marie Antoinette). Yet, there's always a risk for high levels of ambition.... Pick your poison. Live a long, boring meek existence or a short legendary one?

If freedom is power and power is freedom, then you're going to have to take it.