{"id":8497,"date":"2022-06-22T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci02a4491ea0002594"},"modified":"2022-06-22T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T02:00:00","slug":"bitcoin-is-a-leadership-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/bitcoin-is-a-leadership-role","title":{"rendered":"Being A Bitcoiner Is A Leadership Role"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mickey Koss is a West Point graduate with a degree in economics. He spent four years in the Infantry before transitioning to the Finance Corps.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you like it or not, being a part of this nascent community puts you in a very small minority of the global population. With the technology\u2019s potential to fundamentally change the world, whether you like it or not, you\u2019ve been drafted into a leadership role. The importance of leadership cannot be overstated, and much like battlefield leadership, I view Bitcoin leadership as a responsibility and moral imperative. <\/p>\n

The U.S. Army has a pretty good definition of leadership in their FM (field manual) 6-22<\/a>. In essence, it states that leaders are those who \u201cprovide purpose, direction, motivation and vision\u201d to those who serve underneath them. I think that the \u201cBitcoin-famous\u201d Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson would agree that everyone is already seeking purpose. You just have to find it in order to address the direction and motivation pieces of the puzzle. Get this right and you can change someone\u2019s life. Get this wrong and they may be turned off from bitcoin forever.<\/p>\n

Whether it be meme stocks seeking to short squeeze hedge funds, environmentalism or social justice groups, they all have one common theme; people coming together in search of collective meaning. I see them as organic attempts to build communities; opportunities for people to participate in something meaningful, something bigger than themselves and something that they think can make a difference in the world. <\/p>\n

Bitcoin can satisfy all of these needs \u2014 asymmetric returns, community, financial progress, environmental improvement, advancement of social goals and equality. Individuals just need a little guidance; a little leadership if you will. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the most important skill of a good leader in the Army is a counterintuitive one; listening. The best leaders are only decisive when the situation requires it, which is almost never. Overbearing leaders run the risk of pigeonholing their staff or subordinates’ thinking patterns, resulting in suboptimal solutions. Similarly, overbearing Bitcoiners may go a little off the rails on their orange-pilling pitch, turning people off to the life raft they may desperately need. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the most potent orange-pilling technique that I\u2019ve found is to actually listen more and talk less. In doing so, you will be better able to assess peoples\u2019 needs and interests, narrowing down the scope of your discussion, and reducing the risk of alienation. Everyone isn\u2019t necessarily a hardcore libertarian freedom maximalist and that\u2019s okay. It doesn\u2019t mean that bitcoin isn\u2019t for them. You just have to uncover their motivations. You have to lead them. <\/p>\n

Reflective Listening As An Orange-Pilling Technique<\/h2>\n

During my grad school program, I was afforded the opportunity to also complete a Certificate in Advanced Study in Conflict and Collaboration. This was perhaps the most useful piece of the entire experience. One of the most useful skills we learned was called \u201dreflective listening,\u201d which is in essence, listening between the lines and reflecting to the speaker clarifying questions to not only show you are actually listening, but to also gain a deeper understanding of what they are trying to communicate.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

If you want to up your orange-pilling game you need to learn how to talk less, at least at first. You need to understand where people are coming from to determine the best route to lead them down the orange brick road to freedom. You need to learn how to listen better.<\/p>\n

As an example conversation: <\/p>\n

\u201cMickey, can we talk sometime soon? I\u2019ve been looking into AMC and Gamestop and wanted to hear your thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

My response:<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like you\u2019re interested in asymmetric return opportunities for your money. I\u2019d love to talk AMC and Gamestop and also share some things with you that I\u2019ve been working on recently, specifically in the bitcoin space.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bitcoiners are a hopeful and excited bunch. When Bitcoiners see a small window of opportunity and aggressively conduct an information penetration attack in order to try and release the pressure valve of thoughts that have been building up over days, weeks or months. It may be fun, it may feel good, but more often than not we\u2019re just annoying people, pissing them off, or confusing them \u2014 or even shoving them further away from the financial lifeboat that is bitcoin.<\/p>\n

No Agenda<\/h2>\n

The conversation I cited earlier which began with the Wall Street Bets short squeeze plays ended up being one of my most successful orange-pilling moments. The person that reached out to me was actually one of my old commanders, my former boss, from when I was a young lieutenant. One of the reasons it worked so well was first and foremost because I listened first and talked second. And secondly, because he trusted me. It\u2019s hard to orange-pill a random person on the street that you don\u2019t even know. Why should they listen to you? That\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, just because I view orange-pilling as a moral imperative does not mean that I insert the topic into every conversation that I have. Frontal attacks rarely pan out and will likely do more harm than good. No agenda is the name of the game and it takes a degree of improvisation, which requires work in and of itself. A strong improvisational skill requires proof of work to do well; if you don\u2019t understand bitcoin enough then you\u2019ll never be able to help others do the same. <\/p>\n

So here are a few pointers to help keep your relationships intact and your orange pill game strong:<\/p>\n