MAVERICK V/s MAVERICK
By: Floriano Lobo
Reading novels was my forte. Alas! Not anymore, since the onset of this
idiotic internet. I had such a large collection that a time came when I did
not know what to do with it. And not wanting to feed the white ants, I took
Augusto Pinto's (our very own books-loving Moidekar) suggestion and
delivered a load to the then newly assembled Moira Club Library. And have
never regretted that decision.
Now, now, what has the word 'Maverick' (or should I say a name) got to do
with all this books and library thing? In deed, everything. The word
'maverick' used to crop up whilst reading, especially the wild western
stories. It was rightly assumed that it had something to do with a stubborn
four legged. But then, I had never gotten to leaf through the pages of the
dictionary to find out what exactly was a 'maverick'.
And since, of late, I had decided to do a piece on this astounding word, I
did take the trouble to hit 'Googles'. See what I got, a treasure of a
lifetime.
1. Someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
2. An unbranded range animal (especially a stray calf); belongs to the first
person who puts a brand on it independent in behavior or thought
3.Hypernyms ("maverick" is a kind of...): nonconformist; recusant (someone
who refuses to conform to established standards of conduct)
4. As according to Judith Germain: 'Being willfully independent'.
And she goes much forward in explaining what is being willfully
independent, such as this:
Quote
a) Mavericks have a willful sense of independence and can be found working
within a company or owning one. It is their acute sense of independence that
is common between the maverick at work and the maverick business owner. The
symptoms that they display is very different which is why the approach that
is used to harness their talent will differ. The definition of a maverick is
important because it is by being sure of your definition will be the key to
the solution.
b) A maverick personality is one where they are willfully independent all
the time and in all circumstances. They are keen to make their mark and do
things their way and often blaze innovation and lateral thinking to the
projects and problems that they are working on. They often exasperate the
people around them and peers can feel that they can't keep up or hurt if an
objective comment from a maverick is delivered in their usual blunt and
brutally honest way.
c) A maverick trait or tendency is when the maverick or 'Troublesome Talent'
is willfully independent in their workplace. They may challenge the status
quo and insist that the company works from a strong sense of integrity. They
take risks that conformist employees shirk at, and push harder and seek
challenges that others feel are 'insane'.
d) Mavericks are easily bored and need to be given constant challenges to
ensure that they are as productive and engaged as they could be. They tend
to come up with innovative solutions and their way of working didn't fit the
established corporate norms. The Maverick is unafraid to question authority,
buck trends or do what is 'expected' and understands that they are a square
peg in a round hole. They have realized that they are under utilized, bored
in their roles and that they often act inappropriately in the circumstances
that they find themselves in.
e) The Maverick hires us directly to work with them. They are keen to keep
the fact that they are working with us confidential from their employers.
The Maverick comes from all types of professions from professional
partnerships like accountancy or law, corporate life or individuals running
their own business.
f) The Maverick at work: This is the type of person who is recognized as
being Troublesome Talent® - definition of a maverick at work hugely talented
but difficult to manage. They often complete targets and objectives with
ease but cause enormous problems with colleagues and peers in the process.
Troublesome Talent® are sometimes said to have a bullying approach and
careless attitude to those around them. They tend to be mono focused on the
task in hand and have the unerring habit of increasing staff turnover and
lowering staff morale because they are unaware or indifferent to the effect
that they have on the people around them.
Invariably they are loved by the customer, which causes the dilemma of
whether they should be sacked or developed. Usually the company hires us to
work directly with their Troublesome Talent® or their managers.
g) The maverick business owner: These mavericks are accidental business
owners who left a secure corporate job because they were unhappy trying to
successfully navigate their way in corporations that could no longer contain
them. Mavericks are easily bored and need to be given constant challenges to
ensure that they are as productive and engaged as they could be. They tend
to come up with innovative solutions and their way of working didn't fit the
established corporate norms. So this type of maverick left corporate life to
set up their own companies.
h) Some business owners are mavericks because they are willfully independent
and are ambitious and determined to achieve their goals.
i) The definition of a maverick is the key to finding the solution to draw
out the positive aspects of maverick behaviour from within the maverick or
Troublesome Talent® and their teams.
Unquote
And, as if she [Judith Germain] was not satisfied if she had imparted the
true meaning and intent of what ticks a 'maverick' she guides the student
thus:
Quote
To find out more about mavericks please view our Maverick Mastery site.
Contact us if you are not sure whether you are managing a maverick or are
one
Our specialism is working with mavericks.
Unquote
Areh Bap-reh. So bloody much ? when one expected a simple one sentence
answer? But all said and done, Judith Germain hasn't said anything about a
'priest maverick'. Am I utterly disappointed?
But then, I have myself been a 'maverick' all my life without knowing what
maverick is all about. Maybe my father (or, for that matter, my mother or
whoever it was that is responsible to give me my Portuguese name) never knew
the meaning of the word 'maverick' too. If he/they knew, he/they would have
certainly named me 'maverick'. Or if it was too early to know how I was
built (mentally, I mean), then at least nick-name me later as 'maverick',
having come to know the stubborn, back-talking traits that I had acquired
and exhibited from young. And come to think of it, one of our parish priests
wanted me to become a priest. Since I was not able to dodge him on his
insistence that I should be a priest, I had, one day, blurted out loud and
clear thus: "Father, if at all I become a priest, I shall be a Jesuit
Priest". Stunned, he had asked me 'why, in particular, a Jesuit Priest?'
And what I had told him next, had shut him up completely, or so I thought
at that moment, because he never again asked me if I will be a priest but
instead gave my name to the Jesuit Provincial at St. Britto's Mapusa. My
good friend Teotonio D'Souza, whom I lovingly call 2-tone D'Souza should
know this well J "My father" I had told him "Is against the so called
COMMUNAL, wealth collecting PRIESTS who consider themselves SECULAR " And
I had gone a step further to tell him that "My father's dictum is ' if any
of his sons should want to be a priest/s, he/they should leave the house
and all family bonds and go after JESUS CHRIST, to serve him. That he has
gone on record to say that he will dis-inherit such a son/s should he/they
become a PRIEST/S."
Voila'
Thank God I had decided against being (any) priest, because some of the
priests that I have known as friends have set is very very bad example, to
the extent that some of them have left priest-hood and have gotten married,
but still seem to be wearing cassocks, some are shamelessly behaving like
married men, telling married men how to conduct the 'being married'
business, have gone ahead to amass such wealth that Jesus Christ Himself
will be put to shame, some of them are hand-in-gloves with CORRUPT
POLITICIANS and seek to get them elected, and some of them have become
daylight cheats and robbers, not of small things but big things like
'Souto Maior's vast Estates' and entire Goa's Islands like 'Vanxim',
directly or indirectly to Goan and/or out of State DEVELOPERS for just
twenty pieces of SILVER.
But had I decided to be a priest, Goa would have had twin 'mavericks' as
priests, one in real name and one in nick name, who would be poles apart and
fighting one another like fighting cocks, proving Judith Germain woefully
WRONG and rendering her TOTALLY CONFUSED.
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