It is my observation that some leaders deal, with those whom they’ve been entrusted to lead, with what I would call ‘rough hands’.
Now I am first to agree that leadership is a tough gig at times, but a great leader will use ‘soft hands’, even in the midst of a change or a forced transition period. We as leaders at times need to make the hard call, but in the midst of the ‘hard’ therein lies the need for the ‘soft touch’ of compassion.
For there is a right way to handle people and there is a wrong way. The right way will allow for smooth movement, and provide encouraging, clear and compassionate direction, along with positive support.
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Not my words, but words featured in a PEANUTS cartoon. And if we’re all completely honest, there are times when we all come across people who, how can I put it tactfully, rub us up the wrong way. They are abrasive. They are negative. They are obnoxious.
So what do we do with them?
Love them.
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Albert Schweitzer once wrote, “The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.”
Schweitzer was one of the world’s greatest interpreters of Bach and often gave recitals in cathedrals all over Europe. His philosophical speeches and writings made him famous throughout his lifetime. Yet he chose to become an accomplished doctor and research scientist, in order to spend most of his long life as a missionary doctor in the tiny village of Lambarene, in the Gabon province of French Equatorial Africa.
With the world at his feet, Dr Schweitzer chose to turn his back on both fame and fortune in order to build a hospital for the ‘forgotten people’ on the banks of the Ogowe River.
The world now remembers him not for his achievements in music, nor for his books or even the Nobel Peace Prize he won. He is remembered because he chose to share his life generously with those in need.
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