Professional and Personal Advice for Jeff
Jeff’s life is in a greatly devastated state because of the complexity of situation he is currently in. He lost one of his most beloved sons and their family business, M&D, is currently on a critical state due to several market changes, plus the different external challenges that it must face (the commencement 3 year old government road construction in front of their store).
Problems like these are the usual ones that could cause great weakness even for a great leader. And yes, Jeff is a leader and he has to consider that there are a lot of people who depends on him as their leader. The employees of their hardware store, his wife and their remaining kids are all looking up to him as a leader.
Even the greatest man on earth makes mistakes and they sure have to suffer from the consequences of those. Jeff is currently facing the consequences of his being reckless in making decisions with regards to the expansion of M&D. Well, family problems are another part of the story but it does not change the fact that Jeff has to solve those problems both, one way or another.
Jeff has four endowments just like every other man. Fortunately, there are events in the case where Jeff was seen to have manifested evidences of having these endowments. Jeff’s should be feeling some conscience about the possible people that could lose their jobs once he succumbs and lets their family business close.
Jeff has to be thoroughly aware about what his problems are. One of the four human endowments which is his self-awareness, should tell him that he has to respond correctly to every situation he is about to face. I would like to commend Jeff’s act of listing his problems because it shows how aware he is of his situation. Jeff should also try to incorporate conscience and imagination (2 of the 4 human endowments). Jeff should learn how to teach his conscience by learning, listening and then responding to whatever problems may arise in his life as a father/husband and as a businessman.
Finally, it really takes judgment for Jeff to know the right thing to do in his situation but he has a lot of choices and it is really up to him whether he will choose to start solving his problems or just succumb with them. Additionally, Jeff has to be proactive, be a good planner, and ultimately, he has to know how to put first things first or sort out his problems before heading out to solve them. This way, he could ensure private victory and any type of problem, whether they are about business or family matters, wouldn’t affect his life too much.
Failures, Disappointments and Crucibles
Being a great leader could sometimes mean that you have already gone through a lot of situations; ones that come in the form of challenges. A leader who does not know how to handle failures, frustrations, disappointments and hindrances along his way couldn’t really be called a real leader.
It is easy to lead people to work and to motivate everyone to be more effective but one of the hardest parts of being a leader is being courageous and consistent no matter how tough the situation is. Perhaps what Jeff really need is courage in the first place.
He witnessed how his parents fought hard to endure the challenges both in business and their personal and family life. Jeff has to have the strength and courage to do the same because it is kind of clear that he currently does not and this is probably due to his son’s death. So yes, being able to endure pain is a part of being an effective leader.
References
Covey, Stephen. Four Human Endowments to distinguish reality from illusion. Dream
Manifesto. March 2007. December 2011.
