You know one of my pet peeves? Something that really pisses me off?
When people in positions of authority and power become disconnected from the community they serve, they become clueless about the feelings of the ordinary person.
This happens in government. We see it a lot lately in Canadian politics. It also occurs in business when the leadership team is so busy “with the big important things” that they forget that the most significant and most important duty is to serve the people. Without the people — the team, the employees and the contractors — there is no company and no leadership team. Who the fuck are you leading if no one is following?
Leaders and managers often forget this:
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
This is why numbers-oriented, operational-minded, task-oriented people cannot be fully trusted to govern people. They’re so focused on the task that they forget that the task is FOR THE PEOPLE! Without the people, what tasks are there to perform?!
This pain is more felt when such disconnected people communicate with their constituents.
They talk in a robotic fashion, void of empathy for the common person, forgetting their privilege of authority and are unable to understand the struggles and fears of those serving.
There’s a social contract between those who lead and those who follow, amongst those who manage and those who do the work. Both need each other. Both benefit from the symbiotic relationship. But too often, each side forgets that they need the other. In most cases, it is those in leadership that take for granted those who follow. In fact, I dare say, when those who follow feel like they don’t need their leaders, this is a good thing. It is a sign that the leaders’ wisdom has prevailed and that they serve silently without praise and acknowledgement. It is wise for people to be free from feeling the need for leadership. And paradoxically, they appreciate it even more, out of love and not fear. Out of pride and duty not obligation.
