It is about twice as hard to be a leader in today’s world. We are dealing with a new generation who challenge positions of authority, and who are not motivated about their future. They are being led to believe that opportunities should provide entitlements for them before they are earned. Hard work and integrity are concepts that are foreign to them.
As a senior leader, I’ve come to realize what the real problem is. I asked myself this question many times, “how do you encourage, motivate, and lead people to do the things that I need them to do?” Throughout the history of mankind, many techniques have been used. Some leaders have used ‘fear and intimidation (it is still used today), and others made promises that they couldn’t deliver. The worst 0f course would be the use of brute force, which involved enslaving masses of people.
Work I believe is a gift from G0d. It says in Ecclesiastes 5:19, “To enjoy your work … this is indeed a gift from God.” Work has proven itself to be the conduit in helping so many individuals build their self-confidence, self-esteem, and character. It’s funny, all of us would agree that when we were younger, we didn’t find the fulfillment of work to be quite so rewarding. However, as time went on, we grew to appreciate working because it gave us the ability and control to diligently earn for the things that we really wanted or had need of.
I remember when I brought my first pair of Nike sneakers. I felt a new world had opened up for me. In some ways it did. From that point on, if I wanted to wear fancy clothes or go to nice places, the responsibility would be placed on me and not someone else to make that happen. So it is that I must give honor to those individuals who had a hand in my development of me working. People like my father, mother, teachers, and a few close friends. These were people who didn’t allow me to sit on my ‘blessed assurance’ and be lazy. These people weren’t afraid of hurting my feelings or weren’t worried that I got mad at them for telling me the truth about myself.
Enabling a generation to become lazy and unproductive is in my opinion doing a disservice to future generations. It will carry long-term effects on a person’s life. As a leader, you owe the people you are leading access to all of your experiences, wisdom, and guidance to make sure that they develop good discipline skills for their work. The benefits outweigh the risk as they learn how to enjoy the fruits of their labor while gaining self-respect and respect for authority.
