A Eulogy I'd Like to Deliver

Dearly beloved,

We are gathered here today

To pay our respects to a leadership style

Borne out of a desire for safety and

A fear of losing control.

A leadership style that, paradoxically,

Fosters fear and strips us of agency.

You knew him as Boss or The Big Man,

Feared knocking on his office door,

And wondered if he knew you had kids.

But today, we call him by his formal name:

Command And Control.

Command and Control lived a good life.

Well, maybe "good" isn't the right descriptor.

Command and Control lived a long life.

He or She (but mostly He) had noble intentions

Even if he never seemed to fathom

The massive gulf between those intentions and his impact.

He demanded excellence and left so many

Wondering if he was human. If he had feelings.

The truth? He had feelings

Feelings of being found out.

Feelings of being exposed.

You see, Command and Control lived in fear.

He felt like an impostor.

But CAC was of an age

When you didn't acknowledge your feelings.

You kept a stiff upper lip,

Didn't let them see you sweat

Rubbed some dirt on that pain.

Throughout his long and storied career,

Command and Control accomplished so much.

Just ask him.

But do me a favor

Don't ask those whose souls he crushed.

And while death can be a sad occasion

We can all rest easy knowing he lived

Many years past his expiration date,

Squashing creativity and punishing risk-taking

During times of change and disruption.

"If I wanted your opinion," he would chuckle

"I would have given it to you."

"You'll do it because I said so" and

"It's the way we've always done it."

These were his mantras.

The stuff on his Bingo Card.

Peter Drucker and Jim Collins and so many others

Diagnosed him as terminal fifty years ago

But he fought the good fight.

Screaming and threatening.

Berating and badgering.

Cheating death and cheating life.

Let's honor his legacy not by living as he lived

But by remembering how he made us feel

By remembering the wake he left.

From this day forward,

May we empower our teams and

Help people see the greatness in themselves.

May we rise to champion trust, collaboration

And the courage to lead with humanity

And let us once and for all say goodbye

To our old foe, Command and Control

The world is a better place

For him having taken his rightful position

As worm breakfast.