Baradacco’s text article talks about dreams and how they are the inner source of inspiration for leaders. The author tries to show how dreams can go wrong and ruin an individual’s life. This is elaborated by Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman which brings out the two sides of a dream.
The prepositions revealed are that dreams are provoking and that they are also deeply disturbing. The text relies on the play to expound the dream metaphor but focuses on the negative beat of dreams that go wrong. The aspects and the ideologies given in the Baradacco’s article are supported in the paper.
The author’s point of view is that dreams that go wrong devastate families, leaders, and organizations. From the play used in the article, dreams can be clearly stated, dominant or single, based on a multitude of aspirations and hopes. I concur with the idea that dreams give hope and aspiration and that they can be many or single. According to Badaracco “dreams are slow acting poisons” (2006).
Dreams can break a man and literally eat them away, destroying the relationships one had because of an unachievable dream set by the individual. According to Redpath (1998), dreams give human beings ideas that are at best, pure imagination, if not impossible.
From the text, Willy has a dream of his family and the career as a salesman from where he has to divide his time between his career and his family. Long separations can cost a relation as seen in the article. In my view, this is absolutely true because relationships need companionship and this can only be achieved through closeness.
Hope keeps people going because they believe things will change tomorrow. This is what keeps Willy going and when this hope fades, the emotional feelings of hopelessness have to be released. To achieve a dream, support is required to enhance the development and realization. This is what Linda Willy’s wife does by paying the bills and giving him hope instead of being negative.
This kind of support is essential in building and nurturing a dream. At the end of the play, the author notes that Willy is fired, devastated and then commits suicide. In my opinion, failure to achieve one’s dream after dedicating a lot of time can be devastating and may lead to emotional and psychological breakdown.
This phenomenal escapade is what is happening to us and the people close to us. This is because we are forever chasing the American dream whereby success is only defined through status, celebrity, and money.
The projection of the organization that Willy works as uncaring is a clear definition of today’s organizations. Career has robbed off many families in the modern society as it did to Willy.
Remorse and conscience are human traits imbedded deep in our systems and at one point they have to surface. This is what happens when Willy cheats on his wife and lies to his son but he is haunted by his actions. Obsession with a glamorous life drives Willy to an early grave.
Dreams are supposed to be realistic and achievable. What is portrayed in the article is unrealistic dream that can never be achievable. Unrealistic dreams waste resources, time, and energy and lead to defeat. According to Chapman (2002), dreams need to be fulfilling and realistic if one is to succeed. Dreams can poison the mind especially when they seem beyond our reach.
The story in the play tells and shows the reality that exists between delusions and dreams. To me, Willy had delusions and not dreams because according to Holmes (1999), dreams have to come true and showcase the desires of our heart as long they do not hurt us, if not others.
Willy is a night dreamer, unlike Linda who dreams with her eyes open, making her a leader. Leadership comes with responsibilities that one has to be liable to. Multitude dreams can break hopes and the aspirations of an individual. This is what happened to Willy. It is totally agreeable that too many dreams can lead to little happiness and wreak family life. The family is the pillar of the society and leadership begins here.
The failure by Willy as a family man makes him a failure as an individual as well because he has evaded his responsibilities. Leadership is about being responsible and answerable to others. What Willy lacked is priorities in his life; he only pursued a dream that was not real, a dream that was upheld on the realities of yesterday instead of following his heart.
It is true that the dreams of Willy are not his but are merely based on mass culture.Redpath (1998) acknowledges that impossible dreams are nothing but imaginations that are beyond the outer limit. Dreams are sustained by our egos which can be misleading and unrealistic. Dreams need to be healthy and it is true that dreams need to develop and evolve.
Lastly, the article by Badaracco is an eye-opener on what leadership is all about. It expresses well how dreams can ruin one’s life. The aspects and basics used by the author to explain the concept of dreams through Willy and his family is what actually happens in the modern society.
It can be used to educate people and warn them on the dangers of unrealistic and multitude dreams. It is a learning experience that society can adopt in developing their aspirations and hopes. The inner knowing of what one wants makes dreams come true in future (Chapman, 2002).
Reference List
Badaracco, J. (2006). Questions of character. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
Chapman, J. (2002). Live your dream: Discover and achieve your life purpose. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books
Holmes, E. (1999). How to change your life. Deerfield Beach, Fla: Health Communications. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Redpath, P. A. (1998). Masquerade of the dream walkers: Prophetic theology from the Cartesians to Hegel. London: Sage.