Pichtonia
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Senator
Cabinet
Deputy Minister
Honoured Citizen
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- Pronouns
- Him / He
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
AUTHOR: PICHTONIA
AUTHOR: PICHTONIA
A Conversation With: Lloenflys
It's election season in Europeia, and we are faced with huge changes to the game we play and the communities we have built. Europeia is paddling along, but not everything is rosy, and the region has suffered from a lack of engagement. The next term will likely be a crucial one.
Who are the brave souls daring to tackle this challenge? What guides them, defines them, as candidates and leaders?
For this election, I invited the candidates to sit down for an interview with me. The few rules are easy: I will ask a question, the candidates will answer. Without a strict time limit, but without any big breaks to discuss an answer first or to do a whole lot of research. This way, I was hoping to get the most heartfelt answers and a good flow of conversation. For the third and predictably final iteration of the series, I interviewed Lloenflys, our current Speaker of the Senate.
Lloenflys is polling as one of our most respected and valued players, a reputation I feel like he earned - not least - with his outstandingly positive personality. Among other things I majorly wondered, however, whether this goodness he has in him would also come with downsides. We talked for about an hour, and that is including some breaks (among other reasons because I burned my hand. F). That's half an hour shorter than Hell's Soldier & Gaudosia (without breaks) and two and a half hours shorter than the Lime interview (with breaks as well, Lime is moving). But in the moment of the conversation, and that is what mattered to me most of all, I either asked what I wanted to know based off of his answers or felt satisfied with the answer he gave me, so there was no reason to prolongue it artificially.
If Lloenflys gathered your interest, check out his and HEM's platform here (click) and find out/ask more - especially about policy!.
Good evening, Lloen. You’re the last in a series of three interviews for this Presidential election. Did you read the other interviews? Do you have any expectation of what I will ask you?
I had a chance to glance over them briefly, but I did not read them in depth. I kind of felt that it would be cheating a little if I read them too closely since they didn't have the advantage of seeing them, but I do confess to having peeked!
Well - I actually want to start this conversation a bit differently, maybe in an unusual way. Obviously we’ve known each other for a bit now, we’ve worked together, ran against each other, then with another, had many fun voice chats.
To begin, I want to ask you, only slightly tongue-in-cheek: Do you ever feel hate? Do you ever get really angry?
Oh absolutely! I was just really angry the other day at Fed Ex due to what I was freely calling incompetence, lol! I also can get really angry at work sometimes! But historically I don't like it when people see me angry. It is usually not a helpful emotion (occasionally it can have a role but only when it is controlled). There are only a handful of times in NS that I would say I have been angry, and never REALLY angry. And I have never hated in NS - it's hard for me to hate. I actively dislike certain things but I have trouble saying I hate anyone. Certain idealogies of course I hate, but that's abstract hatred. I don't generally hate when it comes to the specific.
I asked this because of something you write in your platform. You say that you would leave your Ministers mostly alone, unless they were struggling. Now -- of course you can’t say you’d leave them alone even if they were struggling. And I tend to side with you when it comes to hate - arguably hate is even a wholly different category, one that shouldn't belong here. But you always appear to me like someone who is very kind hearted, warm, friendly. And I struggle to imagine you firing someone. Would you fire someone? When?
I have sadly had to fire people in my current job. It has happened more than once. One time when someone actively broke very clear rules, one time when someone was so negligent as to endanger the entire company, and one time when we had tried everything to give someone the tools to succeed and it simply didn't work, resulting in the person not performing at a level where we could even break even off her work. I haven't liked doing it any of those times, but sometimes it is necessary. If I noticed a minister struggling, the first thing I would do is talk to them. Maybe they don't know - I have been surprised at times to realize people don't always understand they aren't performing up to task, which is ultimately on their boss (the President in this case) to make sure they understand their expectations. If that fixes things, great. If not, then the question is how do you get that person the support they need to step up and start succeeding. If that doesn't work either, and the person either refuses to take the help that's being offered, or the issue doesn't diseappear with the extra help, then yes I would let someone go. We only have 70 days in a term to make things happen ... if someone isn't doing their job, then they have to be moved on.
Do you wish the President's term was longer?
Part of me does - 70 days goes fast. That said, it is a big job and from a combating burnout perspective, it's probably better set at 70 than at a longer term like 90. It just means you need to do a good job of planning and make sure you don't waste any of your time if you want to make sure to have a chance to get things done!
I was planning on asking about it later, but I feel like this is probably a good time to ask, since you just mentioned it. Burnout - this has been brought to our attention again in recent days - is a serious matter even in an online community such as Europeia. How would you like to protect yourself and your team from burnout?
For me personally, I ask myself at the beginning of any run, Senate or otherwise, where I'm at mentally. If I feel there's even a CHANCE that I'm not going to be enthusiastic for something for an entire term, that's when I check out. When I don't run for Senate, that's exactly what that is. I need a break. As for the rest of the team, open and honest communication is important. I will make it clear to my ministers that if they need a week off, then by gosh take a week off. I'd rather they do that than get bitter and disillusioned and feel like they have to step down! Sometimes you can't help it but oftentimes you can. Also, I think making sure there are plenty of helping hands available is important. It's part of why I think interministerial coordination is so important. Major tasks shouldn't fall to one person over and over again, there should be heavy collaboration and plenty of people helping out to try to stop burnout before it starts. It's impossible to eliminate it - people are busy generally! It can happen! But preparing for it and fostering a collaboritive, communicative environment can go a long way to helping stave it off.
Have you already chosen your team? What did you look for in them? Did your wish for interministerial coordination already play a role in your considerations?
The team is not 100% chosen, but significant steps have been taken and HEM and I have either made the decision on who everyone will be or have a very good idea of who we are looking at. There are a variety of reasons things could still vary slightly, but for the most part we are close to locked in. What we were looking for varied a lot. I wanted experience and a deep understanding of process in FA, whiel in some other areas I was looking for a steady hand and in others we wanted to provide opportunity to some individuals who hadn't had much of a chance before. I think it's a good mix. My desire for interministerial coordination didn't really play a role in my selections - I intend to lead by example and to help facilitate that communication especially at the start to ensure it gets off the ground. I can't imagine any of the selections just outright refusing to participate and if they did that probably wouldn't work out. Again, I think it's about communication, and I trust the people we will have in place to communicate effectively.
One memory I will probably always associate with interministerial coordination in Europeia is when Rand was First Minister and had some idea for radio and interior to collaborate on some project. I was Radio Minister that term, and not only did I dislike the idea and wasn't eager to put in any effort myself (I'd try to do what was asked of me anyways, of course), it was just a bit of a mess generally.
That isn't even a question, it's just a memory that came up for me.
lol - I think it's important that it be done with a spirit of collaboration because I can understand that thought though! It's like its an intrusion on your property. But the idea is to get buy-in from people and recognize how it can boost both ministries. It can't just be a "we want you to work together" and artificially make it happen or that's exactly the response you'll get.
I want to return to our earlier topic just for a bit before we move on again, Lloen, particularly struggling Ministries. When you were First Minister, the Ministry of Culture was struggling somewhat. I know - or assume to know rather - that this was probably your biggest regret as First Minister, especially as an engaged former Culture Minister yourself. What did you take away from that?
That I can't take on a failing ministry by myself lol - that was basically what I tried to do there, because there were no deputies to turn to and it had been a big struggle to find someone to serve in the first place. After Shuf left, it pretty much felt like there wasn't an option to bring someone else because no one had wanted it earlier, but I also didn't try to persuade anyone and pretty much decided i would do it myself, and frankly that just didn't work. So the biggest takeaway is you NEED to delegate, you NEED to go out and ask people directly, and you simply can't do it all yourself.
A major focus next term will be FA-based, an area which - please correct me if you would disagree - you haven't had a whole lot of personal experience in. Are you anxious of the challenges that might await you?
I would not argue that my FA experience is more limited. I have been an Ambassador in a couple of regions, and I pay some level of attention to information that comes in primarily from our allies or from ERN events. I am by no means an expert. That's why I will be heavily relying on HEM, on the FA minister, on the individual I have in mind to serve as a Transition ad hoc advisor - these people are going to be there for a reason. Frankly, though, I would be hesitant to think that any one person serving as President would have all of the information necessary to make major decisions like this for Europeia moving forward. It needs to be a team effort because this cannot be one person's project. I think an ability to synthesize and think through information is important, and I can do that effectively. With the proper team in place I don't see it as a weakness. I am not anxious, I am excited about the challenges that I would face in this area, and am confident that the pieces would be in place to provide the necessary information to make and execute decisions that are in the best interests of Europeia.
Lloen, thank you for your time thus far. I hope you have already given our readers some insight. For the next, and maybe last, five questions, I would like you to answer as short as you can - at best within five words.
What do you like about Europeia?
The people!
What do you dislike about Europeia?
Sometimes we can pile on.
What’s an EO you’d love to issue but won’t?
All positions in Euro are now bird-themed.
What role should the Executive play in our political system?
Lead but with the Senate close behind.
What’s your favourite policy from your platform?
Culture, just because I'm enthusiastic about it.
Lloenflys, I was pleased to share this conversation with you. Thank you for your time!
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