The Executive Position

Amazing what self-confidence can accomplish. A serene personality, an unflappable demeanor, an aristocratic bearing, and a patient character. So unlike most people. It's often been said that unintelligent people can appear otherwise, if they merely listen, and say nothing. Their silence is taken as a token of their intelligence. They withhold their counsel, as wise men often do.

People who are good listeners, who permit others to have their say, unburden themselves of the weight of their thoughts, are able by that very act to impress people, to earn their respect and their loyalty. One or two choice words, can earn them great credibility. Timing is critical, choice of words imperative to render maximum effect.

Of course highly intelligent people are also capable of presenting themselves in the very same way. It's up to the listener to determine the depth of the character, personality and intelligence being presented, to accurately assess, to separate the dissembler from the astute and knowledgeable presenter.

So it's a bit of a crap shoot, and what else is new. In that sense, it resembles much else in life. First impressions are important, and one builds upon that. In the beginning there was the word. And from the word sprang a great anticipation. An overwhelming exhilaration overtook the people, and they viewed their man as the candidate.

A political saviour, if you will, to bring the populace out of the shadow of the valley of uncertainty, of self-doubt, of fear of the future. Hope. That's a powerful word. Trust. That too. Change. That can promise anything one construes it to represent. Hope, trust and change. Or you can alter the sequence of the words, to suit yourself.

Much can be inferred. And in so doing, it launches a frenzy of expectations. Responding to the zeitgeist of the time.