The other day, Hubby and I were talking about how having siblings and best friends taught us more on dealing with different personalities and working on our fledgling communication skills. My older brother was a natural leader and always looked out for his sisters. This was later reflected in his job which involved dealing with the higher echelons of management and looking out for his men. My sister, being the youngest, was feisty, independent and also a born leader and team player. She did both equally well. Both my sibs were well-liked as they were “bosses” without being bossy and gained the respect of their people because both knew what the job entailed as they had previously done it themselves.

Being the middle kid in the family, I opted for peace, not war because most times, I could plainly see both sides of the problem. It didn’t mean I was a  pushover but, I disliked conflicts and tried to search for more peaceful means to settle disputes. In my early working years, this was difficult at times as I naively believed there were solutions to most personality and/or management differences. The final persuasion would have been a thump on the stubborn, argumentative head followed by a good swift kick to the butt. However, that was strongly against management’s mandate.  I have worked with Alpha males who would yell louder and thump the table harder to get their points across. Most times, it was so intimidating that it actually worked, but for all the wrong reasons. Today, we recognize this ploy  as a form of adult bullying.

I know that theoretically peaceful negotiations are the best, but not everyone around the peace table will feel the same. There will always be an aggressor or two—a dominant mind-set—who does not see the grey areas for any compromise; but only the right or wrong sides; the distinctive black and starkly white sides. Hopefully, the more reasonable minds gathered will predominate. Unfortunately, when it comes down to the final vote, the main issue gets lost in the mind-game of consequences. If A votes against B, then B will launch trouble against A’s supporter, C. C wants to continue business with D, but D doesn’t want to support A just to get C’s support. Humans can make life so complicated that what started as peace talks ends up going nowhere. And that’s why Earth is in big trouble—Money, Oil, Power. . . .and big Egos.

The World today  can be a scary place. It needs strong leaders—men who knows what needs to be done and to have faith in those who can make it happen. Strong, wise leaders who have strong, wise advisors; leaders who will listen, gather together all the facts and then decide knowledgeably. What a challenge. If the World had more such leaders, there wouldn’t be so much unrest, conflicts and wars. Life does move on with younger brilliant minds and strategists coming through the ranks, learning from the experiences of their elders. Earth may be battered and weary, but Doves and Hawks may yet learn to peacefully co-exist better by then. We can only hope. . . .