What's new

Alphas, Betas, and Thetas

adil_minhas

BANNED
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
-2
Country
India
Location
India
I wrote this piece for a friend who wanted something for an office debate.

The topic "Rapport building in the corporate world is the greatest competency of the incompetent"


Let’s face it. The world is made up of alphas. Few and far in between. And then there are the swarming multitude of betas and thetas.

The alphas, like their male predator and canine brethren, walk a lonely path. On their own. Hunting. Fighting. Dominating. Mating … oblivious to others in the pack. To pack politics and hierarchies. To pecking orders. To social niceties. Not to be messed with. Kept at warily respectful distance. Or distance guided by strong primal instincts of self preservation. Whichever the case may be.

The betas and thetas on the other hand are pack animals. They thrive in the anonymity of the herd. In the shadow of a leader. The eat off of the kill of others. Safety in numbers. Safety and ultimate lack of specific accountability. Teamwork and all fingers of hand make a fist and lets all pull together become guiding mantras of life. Notwithstanding the fact that no one can really make out who is pulling how much in the melee. But who cares when all get to eat?

Corporate politics and the workplace is like the pack, and its myriad dynamics and intrigues. There are leaders. There are followers. There are hunters. There are killers. There are doers. And there are eaters. There are pack animals. Working together to pull the prey down. And there are lone grey wolves. Stalking and following the prey for days on his own. Till he pulls it down. And woe befall the carrion scavengers who follow in his path, hoping for a free meal.

The alpha never has an easy time. He has the battle scars to prove it. But regardless of the weather or terrain or the pack, whether with him or against him, the alpha always prevails. The alpha always spreads his seed and ensures the continuity of his line. And the alpha never ever goes hungry. Because he eats what he kills. And he has always had to kill on his own. So he’s become very very good at killing. Because the alternative was not eating. Not being able to fight and prevail. Dying. The alpha does not really care who is the latest leader of the pack. Because the alpha has never needed the pack. The alpha is all the pack he has ever known. Or needed. And regardless of the leader or how he fares, regardless of the pack or how it fares, the alpha makes his kill. And eats it. The only way he knows how. He does not care about pecking orders or how close to the leader he is. He does not care about what others in the pack think about him. Because when he truly takes a pause and thinks about it, he’s never really spent a moment of his life thinking about them.

Now the betas and the thetas. They need the pack. Their future and their present depends on it. They need to be in the good graces of the leader. To get the prime cuts of the prey pulled down by all. The largest cuts. The freshest cuts. First. They need to the leader to protect them and ward of challenges from others in the pack moving up, wanting to be closer to the top. Mating with the most fertile females. To breed future lines of betas and thetas. Because without followers, there would be no leaders. And the leader would be forced to actually make the kill himself. Or die. Because without betas and thetas, there would be no pack. No teamwork. No pulling together. The mutual stroking and back scratching society would breakdown. And then there would be death and destruction. Because then there would be only alphas. And a beta or theta or packless leader, ill equipped to fend for themselves.

Cheers! – a battle-scarred Alpha.
 
. . . . . .
The alphas, like their male predator and canine brethren, walk a lonely path. On their own. Hunting. Fighting. Dominating. Mating … oblivious to others in the pack. Not to be messed with. Kept at warily respectful distance.

The betas and thetas on the other hand are pack animals. They thrive in the anonymity of the herd. In the shadow of a leader. The eat off of the kill of others. Safety in numbers.

This parallels the historical differences between the Neanderthals and the Homo Sapiens.

The Neanderthals were very alpha, powerful lone wolves who could easily beat multiple Homo Sapiens without needing any help.

The Homo Sapiens on the other hand were much weaker, and thus had to survive by staying in packs. Safety in numbers.

As someone once said, the meek will inherit the Earth. And that's exactly what happened, the Homo Sapiens won, and have now inherited the Earth.
 
.
I wrote this piece for a friend who wanted something for an office debate.

The topic "Rapport building in the corporate world is the greatest competency of the incompetent"


Let’s face it. The world is made up of alphas. Few and far in between. And then there are the swarming multitude of betas and thetas.

The alphas, like their male predator and canine brethren, walk a lonely path. On their own. Hunting. Fighting. Dominating. Mating … oblivious to others in the pack. To pack politics and hierarchies. To pecking orders. To social niceties. Not to be messed with. Kept at warily respectful distance. Or distance guided by strong primal instincts of self preservation. Whichever the case may be.

The betas and thetas on the other hand are pack animals. They thrive in the anonymity of the herd. In the shadow of a leader. The eat off of the kill of others. Safety in numbers. Safety and ultimate lack of specific accountability. Teamwork and all fingers of hand make a fist and lets all pull together become guiding mantras of life. Notwithstanding the fact that no one can really make out who is pulling how much in the melee. But who cares when all get to eat?

Corporate politics and the workplace is like the pack, and its myriad dynamics and intrigues. There are leaders. There are followers. There are hunters. There are killers. There are doers. And there are eaters. There are pack animals. Working together to pull the prey down. And there are lone grey wolves. Stalking and following the prey for days on his own. Till he pulls it down. And woe befall the carrion scavengers who follow in his path, hoping for a free meal.

The alpha never has an easy time. He has the battle scars to prove it. But regardless of the weather or terrain or the pack, whether with him or against him, the alpha always prevails. The alpha always spreads his seed and ensures the continuity of his line. And the alpha never ever goes hungry. Because he eats what he kills. And he has always had to kill on his own. So he’s become very very good at killing. Because the alternative was not eating. Not being able to fight and prevail. Dying. The alpha does not really care who is the latest leader of the pack. Because the alpha has never needed the pack. The alpha is all the pack he has ever known. Or needed. And regardless of the leader or how he fares, regardless of the pack or how it fares, the alpha makes his kill. And eats it. The only way he knows how. He does not care about pecking orders or how close to the leader he is. He does not care about what others in the pack think about him. Because when he truly takes a pause and thinks about it, he’s never really spent a moment of his life thinking about them.

Now the betas and the thetas. They need the pack. Their future and their present depends on it. They need to be in the good graces of the leader. To get the prime cuts of the prey pulled down by all. The largest cuts. The freshest cuts. First. They need to the leader to protect them and ward of challenges from others in the pack moving up, wanting to be closer to the top. Mating with the most fertile females. To breed future lines of betas and thetas. Because without followers, there would be no leaders. And the leader would be forced to actually make the kill himself. Or die. Because without betas and thetas, there would be no pack. No teamwork. No pulling together. The mutual stroking and back scratching society would breakdown. And then there would be death and destruction. Because then there would be only alphas. And a beta or theta or packless leader, ill equipped to fend for themselves.

Cheers! – a battle-scarred Alpha.

Hi,

Thank you for posting an excellent article.
 
.
Hi,

Thank you for posting an excellent article.

Thank you for the appreciation sir.

Wish my friend appreciated it too :(

Maybe too aggressive for a IT MNC. He's into recruitments and is an alpha trying to move up.
 
.
Alphas are natural leaders, they can also sacrifice when it is needed.

Generally Alphas are accompanied by betas. Alpha is not lonely wolf.

I wrote this piece for a friend who wanted something for an office debate.

The topic "Rapport building in the corporate world is the greatest competency of the incompetent"


Let’s face it. The world is made up of alphas. Few and far in between. And then there are the swarming multitude of betas and thetas.

The alphas, like their male predator and canine brethren, walk a lonely path. On their own. Hunting. Fighting. Dominating. Mating … oblivious to others in the pack. To pack politics and hierarchies. To pecking orders. To social niceties. Not to be messed with. Kept at warily respectful distance. Or distance guided by strong primal instincts of self preservation. Whichever the case may be.

The betas and thetas on the other hand are pack animals. They thrive in the anonymity of the herd. In the shadow of a leader. The eat off of the kill of others. Safety in numbers. Safety and ultimate lack of specific accountability. Teamwork and all fingers of hand make a fist and lets all pull together become guiding mantras of life. Notwithstanding the fact that no one can really make out who is pulling how much in the melee. But who cares when all get to eat?

Corporate politics and the workplace is like the pack, and its myriad dynamics and intrigues. There are leaders. There are followers. There are hunters. There are killers. There are doers. And there are eaters. There are pack animals. Working together to pull the prey down. And there are lone grey wolves. Stalking and following the prey for days on his own. Till he pulls it down. And woe befall the carrion scavengers who follow in his path, hoping for a free meal.

The alpha never has an easy time. He has the battle scars to prove it. But regardless of the weather or terrain or the pack, whether with him or against him, the alpha always prevails. The alpha always spreads his seed and ensures the continuity of his line. And the alpha never ever goes hungry. Because he eats what he kills. And he has always had to kill on his own. So he’s become very very good at killing. Because the alternative was not eating. Not being able to fight and prevail. Dying. The alpha does not really care who is the latest leader of the pack. Because the alpha has never needed the pack. The alpha is all the pack he has ever known. Or needed. And regardless of the leader or how he fares, regardless of the pack or how it fares, the alpha makes his kill. And eats it. The only way he knows how. He does not care about pecking orders or how close to the leader he is. He does not care about what others in the pack think about him. Because when he truly takes a pause and thinks about it, he’s never really spent a moment of his life thinking about them.

Now the betas and the thetas. They need the pack. Their future and their present depends on it. They need to be in the good graces of the leader. To get the prime cuts of the prey pulled down by all. The largest cuts. The freshest cuts. First. They need to the leader to protect them and ward of challenges from others in the pack moving up, wanting to be closer to the top. Mating with the most fertile females. To breed future lines of betas and thetas. Because without followers, there would be no leaders. And the leader would be forced to actually make the kill himself. Or die. Because without betas and thetas, there would be no pack. No teamwork. No pulling together. The mutual stroking and back scratching society would breakdown. And then there would be death and destruction. Because then there would be only alphas. And a beta or theta or packless leader, ill equipped to fend for themselves.

Cheers! – a battle-scarred Alpha.
 
.
Alpha are those who live the optimal life. They live in a way that gives them maximum benefit. Learning, understanding and being at peace is generally what they are about. Leadership comes naturally to them. Recover quickly from setbacks because of the understanding nature and constant convergence towards peace.
 
. . .
The alpha does not really care who is the latest leader of the pack.

The leadership does affect an alpha in his work environment, for alpha is all energetic, motivated, strong decision maker, fair and never say no type, he won't rest unless he finds a solution to the problem. You can say he is always part of the solution and not the problem.

If he himself is not the leader of the pack then he surely needs an alpha to be leader otherwise whatever he thinks, whatever he suggests, whatever he wants to do and improve would be futile ............ betas and thetas hardly have courage to go against the status quo, they are just there to earn their bread and get false appraisals to satisfy their meager egos. An alpha in a pack leaded by a weak leader would be restless and result may be a serious conflict, leaving weak leader psychologically hurt forever as alpha would never care about the consequences when he is in a conflict, his mind accepts the fairness and courage only.

If he himself is the leader then its the most conducive and productive work environment .......... such an environment that the weakest feels empowered. Its all fairness and result oriented no sh*t being given to adulatory.


Especially the parts on mating and spreading the seed etc.

There are rare chances he will meet a strong mating partner. In rest of the cases it would be loss of the seed.
 
.
Question often asked to check for leadership skills.
Are you a hunter or gatherer ? Most ppl say hunter to prove they are able to lead the group.

But if the prey does not move and stays still, it makes no difference whether a person is hunter or gatherer. Likewise alpha,beta or theta is a phase not a person. No person can be alpha or beta throughout the life, it simply changes based on needs & wants or circumstances.
 
.

Pakistan Defence Latest Posts

Pakistan Affairs Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom