Lessons in Leadership
North America is producing a dearth of future leaders. Each generation seems to have fewer and fewer scientists, engineers, inventors, and “Lions of Industry.” Why is that?
One of my favorite business bloggers, Miki Saxon, recently posted some interesting information as to why this is. Here is a portion of Miki’s post:
You know the old saying, ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t'; for kids it’s more like ‘damned when they do and damned when others don’t’.
Kids stand less chance of developing into strong, balanced, ethical adults now than in past decades; not just in the US, but globally—they are heading for mediocrity.
If you think I’m being overly pessimistic consider the following.
In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default. …
“The new rule, suggested by “involved parents,” is a temporary measure that will be replaced by a pre-season skill assessment to make fair teams.”
Great lesson to teach our future leaders—don’t excel, don’t try too hard, don’t strive too much, don’t field a winning team and, whatever you do, don’t follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Magic Johnson, Dr. Jonas Salk or any of those who surpassed their peers by a wide margin.
Helicopter parents are nothing new, but their actions are getting more outlandish. And whoever said that life is fair?
Miki’s post also deals with some of the problems of our education system, so I encourage you to read her post in its entirety…you can access it here.
Does anyone agree, or do you think everything is just fine with the way we (the “Village”) are raising our younger generations…you know—the future Presidents and Prime Ministers of our nations?
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