Tag Archives: leadership

Biden Is No Beowulf–And That’s Okay

Biden lacks Beowulf’s leadership charisma but has other gifts, ones recognized by Wiglaf.

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Joe Biden as a Tom Robbins Character

Think Biden is too old? See what Tom Robbins in “Jitterbug Perfume” says about such complaints.

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Homer’s Masterclass in Leadership

Homer’s “Iliad” functions as a leadership clinic. So don’t heed Plato’s dismissal of the poet.

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Kipling’s Stellar Advice for Leaders

For a new incoming college president, Kipling’s “If” provides excellent advice.

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Boehner’s Monkey and Ellison’s Sambo

Speaker John Boehner may keep a wind-up monkey to express how he feels jerked around by the rightwing Freedom Caucus, which prompted him to resign. There is a similar puppet in Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” also signifying emasculation and humiliation.

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Literature as a Social Experience

Sharing newspaper clipping about Shakespeare is one way to share one’s love for the Bard.

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Obama Passes the Beowulf Test

When subjected to the Beowulf test on good leadership, Obama scores surprisingly well.

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Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” Franklin Roosevelt memorably told a nation in the midst of its greatest economic crisis. As I look at America today, I see a lot of our politics dictated by fear. It is as though the unscrupulous and the irresponsible are stampeding us into extreme positions. Some want […]

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Using Beowulf to Defend Lebron

Sports Saturday Lebron James has been taking a lot of heat recently for joining the Miami basketball team. (Did you catch the pun?) This past trading season was termed “the Lebron Sweepstakes,” and teams from around the country trekked to Cleveland to play court to “King James.” James made the occasion particularly gaudy by persuading […]

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