Loyalty

My problem with loyalty, as with so many other grand words is that I don't know what it means.

I wouldn't know loyalty if you brought it to me on a silver plate with watercress around it. Is it the same as self sacrifice? Is it being able to keep one's word without Big Brother watching? Is it the will to take care of your master's property as if it was your own?

You are not loyal in a vacuum, you are loyal to your master because that is the best way to promote your own interest. (And since you cannot serve two masters, sometimes you have to decide.)

If I understood A Man for All Seasons, loyalty is a word invented by the feudal lords (including kings) to exert control over their vassals. Loyalty had to be sworn, and the violation of loyalty (treason) was severely punished.

If I understood the Da Vinci Code, loyalty is a word adopted by the medieval guilds (including Templars and Masons) to exert control over their members. Loyalty had to be sworn, and the violation of loyalty (defection) was severely punished.

I also saw The Godfather...

Loyalty is not something that you can see, weigh or measure. It is a way you act towards something... for your own reasons.

If your organization's vision and mission are reasonably aligned with your own purpose in life, then you are loyal to your organization, and a good thing too.

Others, go through the motions of work motivated by spurs, reins, carrots and sticks.

Fungus