You know, it occurs to me that
there’s a whole lot of critics in this world.
It must be nice to sit behind a keyboard and criticize everybody and
everything. What that tells me is that
you have way too much time on your hands if you partake. This isn’t just in politics – it’s
everywhere. While thinking about this,
I was reminded of a quote from President Theodore Roosevelt:
“It is
not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit
belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and
again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does
actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great
devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the
end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at
least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those
cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
I remember making the terrible mistake of falling into this category for real – not the schtick I use when I write - as a goof. One day I was pulling this stunt when a wise old leader came to me and said this: “Do you have a solution for what you are bitching about? If you want to have a conversation with me that’s great, but remember that identifying a problem is easy – hell anybody can do that, but what is your solution - that's the hard part?" I honestly couldn't answer the question, and so he went on: "Look, I know you're smart, and I know you care, but take the boulder off your shoulder, challenge yourself and fix the problem - don't rely on me to tell you how to. Moving forward, if you come to me with a problem, you had better have a solution.” So now, I try to be a little less of an asshole. So from here on in, challenge yourself -
So I guess what I’m trying to say
is to all these a-holes out there disrespecting everybody and everything –
stand up, go to the police station to apply to become a copy or even just for a
ride around or file paperwork to run for office. Be the adult in the room.
But aren’t our leaders missing
this simple point? Bitching without
tangible solutions. Zig Ziglar once said
“You don’t build
a business – you build people – and then people build the business.” It seems to me that politicians in
all areas and corporate and stuff could really use this simple yet eloquent
line. Get away from the numbers and walk around. Lead your people - train them, give them purpose and ownership.
Comments