In a recent post (hunting wild boar in Croatia) I expressed an opinion on the need to encourage more woman folk to participate in what for many years has been a male dominated sport. I appreciate the feedback in whatever form or content, and decided best to respond in a Blog under the category of “leadership and philosophy”.
I have strong opinions, in the corporate world I would tell my teams “my opinion vs. your opinion, I win. Your facts vs. my opinion, you win”. I respect others points of view but I must be convinced with facts. I have no personal ego for my position and will change when others have a better way forward.
I have received no creditable feedback that changes The Powder Keg commitment to encouraging woman in shooting.
Ego, another leadership pitfall where woman mostly fare better than us men. Ego is a big downfall in becoming an exceptional leader because ego gets people to take positions, the deeper the argument the more entrenched positions become. People with strong egos typically keep digging their hole deeper. Maybe Trump has a bigger ego than rocket man.
I learnt hard lessons after moving to Europe; I was too quick to judge. You must live in a country to understand WHY before opening your mug. For instance, I was extremely critical of the fact that woman had 12 months of maternity leave and companies had to protect their positions during this absence. I came to Europe with a tunnel vision of my perspective of how things should be; just as I was ignorant about custom guns.
In managing the European business I found that woman have extreme competence in business, dare I say more than many men folk. Finding competent workers is a big challenge that leaders have; for me to protect the positions of competent woman during their maternity leave was worth every cent.
I am reminded of the penguin story; 10% of penguins look for a better place, 80% wait to see which way to go, and 10% are blockers. For hunting and sport shooting to gain a better image we should focus on the 80% and get them to our side. Forget the 10% blockers. Woman will be influential in that 80%.
In Slovenia on average 99% of woman work, it has been like that for generations. The system nurtured that outcome. Woman never compromise their independence. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction; in my opinion the men are no-longer “manne” and that is not a positive trend either. Fewer and fewer younger people are joining the hunting families (in Slovenia); they were too slow to involve woman and now the woman have got them by the “balls” and the woman are not interested in shooting. Too late.
A reason that I quickly came to recognize the strength of woman in Slovenia was due to a precondition that all my direct reports had to be stronger in their functional roles than I was. Many woman fulfilled that criteria. Good leaders have a high level of self-confidence; with self confidence they surround themselves with strong teams.
In Austria in recent years a greater number of woman are enrolled in the hunting system than men. Woman folk want to enjoy the outdoors too. Ask professional hunters here and they will tell you that woman quickly become competent marks-woman because they do not have that testosterone and ego which can be a handicap in precision shooting.
Unlike all other sports where testosterone gives men the advantage; in shooting it can be the opposite. Off-course this is not relevant in every shooting discipline; like when shooting guns with heavy recoil, strength does count.
Nations that enjoy the greatest woman rights, in my opinion, will have the greatest advancement. Children spend most of their childhood with mothers. Characters are mostly formed as children. Minds are the most absorbing when young. Spending those early years with a respected and competent mother count a lot; hence I question the advancement of those nations that depress woman’s rights and rely on oil reserves only.
Maybe I am an Alpha male and that is what allows me to empower woman and still know that I am in charge:) Oysters not needed but they are good.
One of my leadership philosophies has been “2 balls in the hand vs. 20 in the air”; probably because I am an Alpha male I am limited to doing one thing at a time. I have observed that woman (and Omega men) have a better ability to multi task. I am not suggesting that is better, simply an observation.
We shoot better when our actions are subconscious; in the conscious state we are deliberate, slower and clumsy. Maybe our testosterone might keep us men away from the subconscious state more than woman, meaning that we need more practice (repetition) to be in that ideal state of precision shooting.
Congratulations Lauren Parsons for your silver medal in the ladies division of the Field Target World Championships held in Wales! We pleased to read your reliance on Kahles optics in your achievement.
