The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-30

to him who perspires the least goes the
fatted calf And IT, perchance, he should
stump his toe while striding forward to
claim tho obese veal, there will be no
lack OF seemingly cheerful underlings TO
hand it over to him-the which shows
that servilltyjis the handmade of obe-
dience.
1t has been argued (rnosty by those
with executive ability) that the quality
of leadership is the capacity to eschew
trivalities and to jump right into the
middle of things with superb contempt
for real or fancied obstacles. But these
same bosses get hopping mad When one
of their subordinates tries to make such
fancy jumps And an acrobatic feat Of
this character, once tried, Is not apt to
f be repeated. So 1t won't do, to seek to
have executive ability by overlooking
the myriad hosts of5oflcal microbes that
keep us scratching all through business
hours.
Napoleon always shows his skill by
having some other fellow founder in the
mud while the said N. B. sees the job
we'll done, and possibly adds zest to the
occasion by few carefully injected and
critical cuss-Words.
Still others say that when one puts
his finger on successful boss, one puts
his finger on a thinker-on an Individual
who, though sometimes seemingly inert
physically always keeps his dome Of
thought a-bubblIng. This may or may
not be so. It Is hard to tell. One does
not enjoy the familiar privilege Of squint-
Ing through some restricted orif1ce at his
superior's gray matter, as one looks
through the peep hole of childs kadel-
doscope, or through the tense OF a micro
scope, at a fy's leg.
But no matter. The wisdom theory
doesn't solve the mystery. For when ono
meets somebody else's boss-a creature
Of recognized executive ability in some
establishment other than ones own-the
holy terror looms up as very common
place, chuckle-headed. gumptionless NOR
tai, not the least bit calculated to i'm
press or terrfy.
Moreover. 1t Is but an everyday occur
renee to sec underlings whose intellectual
powers would appear to be vastly supe-
5rior to those of their official superiors
Only they aren't. For who besides
blooming idiot wouldn't be boss dog II
he could? Who wouldn't do precisely
as the executive genius does II he had
half a chance? Who wouldn't gobble
up the prize money after the powder
begrin1ed men behind the guns had bat
tered the excelsior out Of the enemy?
All, when you come right down to It,
we are all just alike, save that the boss
has about ninety-nine per cent the best
OF the business and we'd all like to slip
into his shoes and give him little
run for his money, Ny. wouldn't we have
HIM a-sweating and a-pufing and a-blow-
ing II conditions were reversed. In fact,
II our Executive ability" were recognized
Ut goes without saying that we have !D,
we don't know but what we might be
quite as autocratic as lean shanked Mr.,
Tappcrtit OF "Barnaby Rudge.' But un-
fortunately, our executive ability never is
recognized and probably never will be.
Some are born to be 11ewers of wood and
drawers of water. while other-well don't
let's talk about the others. Promotion,
glory and wealth come so easy to them.
that we get dizzy looking at their sue
cess. And maybe, too, II we didn't look
at the lucky ones so much. we might
whoop up a little executive ability"
ourselves.