Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 28 "This is the Art of Managing Many."

If you're following along closely, the first reading of this verse is that it refers to previous verses in this chapter, especially verses 24 - 27. The second reading is that it presages the coming two verses, 29 & 30 and is therefore a summarization of what we've been studying.

Technical students of the document might argue that repetition and summaries are just problems in the process of transmitting the text itself through the centuries, and they may be right. As I've approached it, though, I employ them as moments to deepen the lesson.

Consider, it is to my thinking NOT obvious that there is an art of managing the many. I can assure you, I'm not good at that art. I always focus on the few. Most often, I focus on just one person. We all know, though, that there is a current master of the art of the many.

@realDonaldTrump has been perpetually attacked over his obsession with ratings. Yet, he remains the greatest ratings bonanza the news industry has ever had. Their hypocrisy is stunning. He speaks to the masses as no leader in decades, really since Reagan. He may be greater even.

Master Sun tells us repeatedly, precisely what this art is. As his students we must be crystal clear, there is an art to managing the many. In our terms, today, this art is called leadership. He calls it command and discipline. The Way, Heaven, Earth, Command, Discipline.

In order to understand how we got here, in America, with the first president since Reagan actually leading, we must study leadership. We must also study its misuse and abuse. The Bush presidents did not rightly lead. Clinton and Obama misled. It is these failures @POTUS faces.

I was never follower nor fan of Bush 41. I was, until he broke my heart, a follower and fan of Clinton. I absolutely WAS a follower and fan of Bush 43. It was, as I've shared, @realDonaldTrump who made me regret my support, but that's another story, previously covered.

Obama was, if nothing else, a master of the art of managing the many. That he did it with lies, manipulation, pandering and criminal abuse of his powers in no way changes his mastery. Rather, it highlights the challenge faced by @realDonaldTrump.

Obama's art of communication was matched by his brilliant abuse of power. Cloaked in righteousness, his administration happily broke every law in coloring the 2016 election, and then, in attacking its successor administration. This is unprecedented in American history.

As Master Sun's students, it is our job to redefine the term "many," in application to our own efforts. That is, none of us have @POTUS' reach. Yet we also do NOT have zero reach, either. So, we must determine, specifically, who are the many we seek to serve.

Allow me to recommend two such breakdowns. The first is the domain you target your missions within. Local, State, or National. Once you determine that, who are the friends who will embrace the mission and follow your lead? The second level we may call your team.

Picture your team with as many as 8 followers, no more. Picture your team embracing the art of followership, with Master Sun's level of discipline. This team of no more than 9 souls, multiplies your efforts far more than just 8 times over. They are your most important "many."

In recent management studies, focusing on small, high-performance teams, the art of managing this little "many" has been broken down into four stages. Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Of the four, we can identify why each is the MOST important, very simply!

1) If you don't FORM, you never exist.
2) If you don't STORM, you can never build a real work method.
3) If you don't NORM, you never stop storming.
4) In the end, PERFORMING is all that matters.

What does it mean to PERFORM? We'll discuss that more in the coming two verses, reviewing what Master Sun has already shared, and deepening and extending it. In essence, though, we will be learning the art of managing the many who our team is designed to serve.

Let's return to @realDonaldTrump's 2016 example. He won hearts and minds. He did it throughout the debates. He did it throughout the primaries. And he ultimately did it throughout the entire nation. Hearts and minds. He touched them, persuaded them, led them.

Wherever you and your team turn, there will be hearts and minds to win. It will often be getting people who already agree with you to join in action, to get to the voting booth, to make a small contribution, etc. In other cases, it will be tipping the scale of doubt into support.

Wherever you and your team turn, there will be opposition and enmity. There will be lies and crimes. Your constitutional rights will be trampled upon. You will be excoriated in public. You will be targeted and the subject of vile and vitriol, evil power and oppression.

Once again, consider @POTUS example. The Russia Hoax. The complete weaponization of the greatest powers in the American government, targeted to obliterate his presidency. He is your leader. I am not ashamed to say he is my hero. We follow his lead.

I often disagree with him. I am often made deeply uncomfortable by his style. Yet, I always step back, knowing I am NOT in his shoes. He fights by his own rules. And he, far more than Obama or any previous leader, is the master of the art of managing the many. In respect, I bow.

All of which is to say, @realDonaldTrump leads, he is today's greatest leader. He knows how to get ratings. Yet, he is driven by principles that the other side can never see nor acknowledge. He leads the many, us, we Americans, we previously forgotten Americans.

I urge you. Do not allow inspiration to turn into mere worship. He is flawed, as are you, and as am I. He's just a man. But as our leader, he can inspire us to rise and attain our own mastery of the art of managing the many. I can assure you of this. Master Sun bows too.

Trump is Master Sun's greatest student. As such, Trump should inspire you to study Master Sun too. And, he should inspire you to raise the level of your own art. Form your team. Storm. Norm. And then PERFORM. That's what the mission of #SunTzuForMAGA is all about.

181 verses completed, 241 to go.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21. You'll find the digital table of contents for this series, there. Please retweet each entry you enjoy.