Now Go Home and Stay Home!
Dave Buzanko
Business Development Leader | TEDx Speaker | Ironman Triathlete | Resilience SME
Leave a place the same or better than the way you found it and you will always be welcome back. That was my father's Golden Rule of leadership and that might be all you really need to know.
We talk a lot about developing leadership skills in business, but the truth is, leadership starts at home by raising good people. Those people grow up to be good leaders.
I live right beside a Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. When the Federal Government's "Go Home and Stay Home" ban was lifted a couple of weeks ago, people were just itching to get outside and who could blame them? Summer was just around the corner and people were craving blue sky, clean parks, green trees and all of the natural beauty that Canada has to offer.
The result of fewer planes in the sky, fewer cars on the road and fewer factories emitting toxic gases resulted in cleaner air and clearer skies in just a few weeks.
Then we let people go outside again and look what happened.
Overflowing garbage bins in Provincial Parks and a total disregard for public health with PPE gear thrown on the ground forcing the closure of our local treasures for the summer.
Now, instead of enjoying our freedom and the beauty of Canada's Provincial Parks, we can enjoy park closures and security guards. I stopped and spoke to one of the security guards today and thanked her for the job she was doing. While she didn't want to be pictured in this article, she told me that while local people like myself seem to be understanding, tourists visiting the area for the day don't seem to care that the parks are closed and are sneaking around on the side roads avoiding the main parking lot looking for other options to trespass.
As I was out for my morning run around the park boundary today, I noticed garbage discarded all along the road at almost every access point into the part. The final straw was a discarded PPE mask with a used piece of chewing gum stuck in it that was just left on the side of the road.
What kind of person does this and what leadership values are we really teaching our kids?
When I got home from my run, I kept thinking to myself...what would my dad do? What could I do that would make my dad proud? (even though he passed away 2 years ago)
Then I thought about how proud my 22 year old daughter was to tell me about how she and one of her housemates went out with garbage bags a few weeks ago during the lockdown and just started picking up garbage from a local hiking trail. Good leaders just instinctively know what to do because good leadership values are what they are raised with. Kids can lead their parents as well because leadership isn't about seniority, it's about choice and sometimes doing the uncomfortable or hard thing is the right thing to do.
So, what did I do? I took a cold shower after my run, got in my car and went back out in the 30 degree heat and started picking up all the garbage I saw along the road during my run.
Character is about what you do when no one else is watching. Leadership is about what you do when people are watching.
Looking for something meaningful to do with your kids this summer? Why not enroll your kids in leadership camp at home. Following the herd is easy, that's why leadership is hard. Great leaders aren't born, they are raised by other great leaders.
Not sure how to get started? How about some R.O.L. play? Random Acts of Leadership. Fill up that van with your entire family, get some rubber gloves and garbage bags and go pick-up garbage from your favorite parks and hiking trails. Practice giving rather than receiving. Practice doing the right thing, not the easy thing. The next time you decide to go for a picnic, if the garbage cans are full, lead by example and bring your garbage home with you. That's the price of leadership, sometimes doing what might look and feel uncomfortable.
Your kids are watching you. They will grow up to be just like you, so be the leader you hope they will be.
P.S: DON'T CRAP WHERE YOU EAT! That was my dad’s second Golden Rule.
Do you agree with me or am I missing something?
#leadership #resilience #socialmedia #sustainability #education
Retail Store Manager at Bulldogs Feed Company LLC
4 年While I applaud people for taking their masks with them while outdoors (very responsible) it is mind boggling that they feel it is okay to just drop them wherever or even in a public area (garbage can or not) - take your potential germs contained therein and dispose in your own trash can. Chris and I would pick up trash every time we walked Main Street in our small town and spoke to town councilmen about increasing the number of public trash cans. It is disappointing that so many people are indifferent to how they leave a place - like you said - leave it cleaner than when you got there!
Talent Strategist ? OD, HR, and L&D Leader ? Teacher & Coach ? Ph.D. in I/O Psychology ? Building People & Organizations
4 年Dave, I know that you research ideas and issues deeply, so consider looking at Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory. Many cultures are moving more rapidly toward individualism than collectivism, meaning that they focus more on themselves and those immediately around them than the community they share with others. Over my lifetime, we have developed "there's a pill or app for that" and "drive-thru" orientations. We eat boundless quantities of chili cheese fries (well, they are good) and count on a surgeon to fix the damage with stents or other surgery. We litter the most pristine environments in the world, with unapparelled beauty, and expect that someone else will clean it up. We ravage natural resources and expect that nature will adapt and correct. Many people have lost their long view about life, expecting immediate gratification instead of putting in the work needed to build lasting friendships, marriages, careers, and happiness. Your compelling story is an example of that, friend.
Professional Live Race/Event Announcer, Presenter, Sports Commentator, and Event Emcee
4 年Beyond the serious health implications of COVID-19, I have thought this to be more of a giant test of commonsense and civility. Some of the stuff that I have seen go on, by seemingly otherwise, sane and rational people, is mind boggling!
Professor of laboratory sciences, education... and lover of mountaineering and rock climbing??♀???♀?????????
4 年??I am very impressed by the ugly scenes of unculturedness