Back in the day, there used to be a popular singer. I don't listen to the radio anymore so maybe she's still popular. Anyways, her name was (and still is) Britney Spears. She sang a beautiful song that uses a phrase that millions people (me included) use - "Ooops I did it again"

I have once again gone on a long period of silence without notice. I have no defense to this. All I can do is give you this cute picture and hope you forget about it.

So, I've been doing a lot and I've been learning too. You see, before you become enlightened, there are very many things that you take for granted. Today's story is about my newly found appreciation to the leaders out there. This includes all Teachers, Headmasters, Captains, Sisters in Charge, Engineering Managers, Captains, etc.

Managing people sounds pretty simple. You create a fancy piece of paper with nice words written on it (including the word objective), and get a bunch of people to do what you write on your e-mails and call it a day.

No.

Life says no. I cannot make things easy for you. I have to make them hard. You see, people are not like potato sacks or stones. Of course potatoes can't read e-mails, but that's not the point. The point is that people have different visions, objectives, goals. They aren't simple creatures that follow your plans 100%. 

Managing people is hard. You have one person who comes in saying they want to leave because their dead donkey's cow is eating some fans in Egypt. Their excuses make absolutely no sense whatsoever, and the harder you think about what they say, the more your head hurts. Soon after, you talk to someone whose dead cousin came back to life and died again - and they need to go to their funeral (again?). When they come back, you realize that the dead person changed genders and after further interrogation, you realize that it's not one person who died but actually 2. What are the odds.

You have another person who comes in with a very genuine problem that you solve with speed. Your solution then screws a large group of people and then you face a dilemma - have one happy person or a large group of happy people? As any normal person would do, you choose the latter and guess what? Nobody is happy. All are very unhappy. Too bad.

You retire to your place of work and guess what? You have 20 calls. Everyone is unhappy - including that guy you've never talked to. Who is he, and What the hell is he unhappy about? No idea. And you can't dodge the bullet because you've got absolutely no clue where its coming from (and where its going). That sucks.

When you've finally got the phones quiet, you then have to go and provide motivation to many people to do things that they are supposed to be doing. You now officially have the (extra unpaid) title of being a Motivation coach.

I have deep respect for leaders. Managing people is hard.