I firmly believe that weary or fatigued ones should have their leaders as their advocates. Are you an advocate of this group of people, or do you just focus on strong overachievers and overlook the weary or fatigued around you? Do you ever give them a chance to share their challenges without using them against them? As a leader, do you refresh the wearied ones, or do you dismiss them? How do you motivate them? Do you ever notice the unnoticed service of the weary or exhausted in your institution as a leader? As a leader, do you evaluate the well-being of your subordinate who is not strong and energetic in their purposes? As a leader, do you dismiss your team members when they are overwhelmed after you have gotten out of them all the service they could? When they are weary and tired, probably over-worked in their assignment, do you terminate them? As a leader, do you generously alleviate stress when you find your staff is in distress without dismissing them? Are you fair to the employee who has no strength to keep up with their current task but has previously completed their job just well as their colleagues? Do you remember their former service and help motivate them? As a leader, how much do you care? I love that Kouzes Posner said,
“…the heart of leadership is caring; without caring, leadership has no purpose. Without showing others that you care and what you care about, other people won’t care about what you say or what you know. We need heart because the struggle to the top is arduous. Encouragement boosts performance, strengthens our resolve and improves our health.”
When I am with a leader, I pay close attention to how they treat the people around them. I want to know how leaders care for their staff’s mental well-being. I want to know if the leader can create growth opportunities and an encouraging and motiving environment. If physical, spiritual, professional, and emotional growth is not available, the desire to perform disappears.
We live in a world full of pressure and the circumstances that generate demoralization, stress, and anxiety. These days, people work in seclusion, with health situations, job insecurity, and significant workloads. It is essential to create opportunities that strengthen people to overcome obstacles and recover during times of weariness.
Be a leader who includes empathy, faith, determination, compassion, kindness, persistence, integrity, fairness, and most important, generosity with grace. We must learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord. I love what Charles Spurgeon said.
“You Little-Faiths, you despondencies, you much-afraid, you feeble-minds, you that sigh more than you sing, you that would but cannot, you that have a great heart for service, but feel beaten back in your struggles, the Lord shall give you his love, his grace, his favor, as surely as he gives it to those who can do great things in his name.”
I still believe that there are leaders who are compassionate and willing to lift up the weary and exhausted ones, so they want to do better and be better. I encourage you to be a leader who has a compassionate heart to lead your team out of the ashes. Be the leader who will help people reignite their fire when the light is about to go out. Be the leader who will give everyone hope in challenging times; do not be the leader who specializes in getting rid of people.