Leadership

Recently I was asked to participate in a panel discussion which focused on the topic of leadership.  Despite any qualifications, I found that it was necessary to reflect on this subject prior to committing myself to a viewpoint, and as I did, realized that leadership is about one’s ability to balance the abstracts of human nature.  I gave three examples to support this view, and thought it might be worth sharing.

(1) Develop your companions, colleagues, and customers so that they rely on your support, but do not require it.  

(2) Be wise beyond your years, but do not dare be omniscient.

(3) Make yourself be known, but do not self-promote.

You, like myself, may feel that discussions around leadership are subjective and perhaps they are.  However, I have realized over time that some of the best advice is the advice that forces you to think in a different way and, if worthwhile, will challenge you to evaluate your decisions.  For this, I feel that subjectivity is a great tool.  

A Brief Introduction

Similar to a book, I thought it would be appropriate to begin this forum (or blog) with a simple introduction.  My name is Jonathan Dix and I currently live in New York City, and like many work in the financial services sector.  If for some reason this has not satisfied your curiosity of my personal character, I have developed a separate “about me” page to describe myself further - including interests, ambitions, and the like.  I suppose this, and the posts that follow, will serve to me as a journal of sorts and will help to preserve my memories, communicate with friends and family, but most importantly of all, inspire others.  

You may ask why the random walk?  I remember studying finance and being intrigued by many concepts within, but one concept oddly stood out.  The “random walk” was the mathematical formalization of irregular steps or events.  Obviously this is a subject that has a range of applicability - from particle physics to finance - but I recall being intrigued by the notion that we can explain such things through mathematics.  In finance, the famous formula knowns as Black-Scholes, originally published in the Journal of Political Economy, uses a derivation of the random walk principle as an underlying assumption when modeling for option prices.  Anyway, I stray from the point, but I call this series of posts “My Random Walk” simply because my interests as well as the decisions I make every day…every second are unique unto themselves.  There is no pattern or theme to what follows, just the things I find interesting enough to include as part of my story.  I hope that you enjoy.