Friday afternoon I got a phone call from a nonprofit executive here in Birmingham. I had been trying to connect with this certain individual for the last several weeks to further elaborate on my interest in his firm’s work…..an amazing organization! I have been quite sick recently and could not make our appointed meeting time; so I just left a note for him to call me on my cell phone if he had a spare minute. You see this man is about as busy in responsibility as anybody I know, but he still made it a priority to call me after hours on Friday afternoon because this is just the kind of person he is. Actions speak LOUD to me! I have been exposed to organizational bliss of people being treated as commodities. I have seen people come and go not only in my life but also in recent surrounding circumstances. You may have to excuse my vagueness. As an author, I must be careful about who and what I write about. You of course can respect such as the reader.
I HATE when people are treated like numbers. Simply we are all children of God and warrant the respect of being equals in His eyes. I think the leader that I mentioned above understands this fundamental truth in loving people. He does not see me or anyone else as some disposable entity as many corporations do in these economic times. That does not necessarily mean that someone can neglect their responsibilities in career choices and expect to keep a job. In this economic time, employment cuts are rampant, and individuals are seen as ledger balances more than people of equal measures. From what I hear on the news and from family and friends who have been laid off, some leaders recycle groups of people every few weeks without losing a wink of sleep. Replacement after replacement continues with a perpetual groove of never thinking twice about those who have bills to pay or mouths to feed. I firmly believe that great leaders try their best to make it work before great decisions for the better or worse are made…..it is those with poor examples of poor decisions that never consider such things. Great leaders must make hard decisions that often include laying off/firing people – I get that! But at least we could perhaps act as if it is a difficult thing to do. Men of no faith would perhaps act in such ways.
I believe there is a shortage of GREAT Men Making GREAT Decisions with GREAT Examples – hence all the fatherless in this country. Simply when things get hard, men and women bail. It is just so much easier to do that than own up to mistakes made with prevailing consequences. My generation must rise up with this blog entry mentality before this economy and country rips itself apart with every single person looking for a free hand out. In many countries, if you do not work, you do not eat. The Bible mentions this simple principle as well, that perhaps you reap what you sow.
I am fed up with leaders who just do not care about people, but I am grateful for the men who call me on a late Friday afternoon to remind that there still are men who set great examples with great decisions made in leadership. I am fortunate to know such individuals, but unfortunately in my rising generation, WE are few and far between. Therefore we must learn to stay the course from those who live under an Audience of One with Jesus to further and fully develop into such God characters with unwavering faith. We can then push and pray as great leaders do in overwhelming storms of adversity.
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