¶ … Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making Living by Randy Komisar
Komisar makes some valid distinctions in The Monk and the Riddle. He observes the differences between leadership and management, drive and passion. Passion is to leadership as drive is to management. That is one of Komisar's main points. The example of Lenny is a good one for showing what an individual consumed by drive looks like: Lenny has a set of expectations that have to be met. He is obsessed with the idea of winning to such an extent that doing something for the love of doing it is almost completely foreign to him.
And yet the point that Komisar makes can't help but make me feel that he is being a little disingenuous. For example, Komisar made his way in the early days as a lawyer by annihilating the opposition in the courtroom -- the same people he would know and be friends with on social settings. He ignored the "rules" of the courtroom -- respect, courtesy -- to challenge and obliterate every single one of his opponent's points. This made his boss shake his head at the same time it made his boss gawk in awe. Komisar was driven to win. He was driven to win at all costs. He didn't mind making his friend, who happened to be representing the other side, look like a fool. Was that drive? Was it passion? No doubt, it was both. It was also skill, sense, and a dash of salt -- that don't-give-a-damn mentality that often accompanies the head honchos in the world.
And indeed that is what got him to the point that he is now at: the envy of all people who secretly desire to be the guy who is Mr. Business but doesn't have to dress the part -- the born leader, the t-shirt and jeans guy working deals with Mr. Suit-and-Tie, the man who carries no cell phone -- the man who is only found if you know somebody who knows him. The man who has what others want: this is the man who is Komisar. But what makes him unique is that he retains a sense of humility in spite of this "status" that he has attained. He wants to help. He sincerely wants to be a leader for those who, like Lenny, haven't a clue. And that is what makes him special and what makes the book so readable. We identify with his desire to get away from the guy making the Funerals.com pitch -- but we like him even more for staying and giving Lenny a helping hand.
My question is this: How did Komisar get to that point? Did he get that way by passion or by drive -- or by both? No doubt, Komisar loved obliterating opponents in the courtroom -- and no doubt he loved working deals with IBM's Mr. Suit-and-Tie. He had a passion for challenging tasks, but he also had the sense to know how to win, and he had the ability -- the drive.
A guy like Lenny is too naive, too unrealistic to see the forest for the trees. He is looking for the get-rich-quick scheme -- the shortcut to success -- the homerun. And everything he does is geared towards this. Is this drive? I don't think so. I think it's mistaken ambition. Lenny obviously has passion, which is demonstrated in his drive, his relentless pitching of the funeral idea. But what he lacks is direction -- guidance -- a teacher. Komisar senses this and out of pity for Lenny decides to try to be Socrates to his Euthyphro. Komisar displays leadership in this instance -- he is the messiah to Lenny the manager -- the ineffective manager, moreover.
So while there is a difference between management and leadership, as Komisar notes, the difference should not be pointed out so as to suggest that management is unnecessary because it is inferior or even simply just different. Komisar leads and manages -- that is evident. He manages his life (no cell phone is his terms) and he does what he loves (he meets those ambitious Silicon Valley dreamers, with whom he "riffs" on ideas and bounces ideas off the wall). Komisar has the cash to afford this lifestyle and he has enough creative impulse to enjoy interacting with the dreamers and visionaries and auteurs and wunderkinds.
But how did Komisar get to this point? The answer...
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