Attitude Inspiring

One of the things I like to do when I get the time is to have a late breakfast on a Sunday, come back in and watch Praise Be and Attitude on TV1. Attitude this Sunday was dedicated to New Zealanders who are working tirelessly in poor and war torn countries to improve the lives of the most vulnerable.

 

I couldn’t help wondering if this should be compulsory viewing for all those who spend a great deal of time wailing that New Zealand is a terrible place and doesn’t do enough for them. It seems these days it is a reasonable defense for people who commit crimes to claim they couldn’t help it because they had a deprived upbringing.

 

Anybody who makes such a claim or shouts our health service or similar is third world, should be sentenced to go work in such places as illustrated in the Attitude programme, and see what it really is like. With some luck they might not only realize their excuses are baseless, they may also come to realize that dedicated hard work for a cause often makes a significant beneficial difference – sitting on the couch drinking beer and smoking pot does not.

 

Agriculture provided the revenue in earlier days when the Social Welfare programme was developed. It certainly remains consistently the major contributor to our economy, not that many people who we pay to do nothing would realize and appreciate that of course.

 

That in mind, I had the pleasure, actually and upon reflection, the privilege, to be in the company of some of the young people who will influence the future of the Royal Agricultural Society. They have been involved in agriculture generally all of their lives. They know what work is from plenty of practical experience of pulling their weight and making their share of contribution. They have great families and you can see the tight supportive relationships in the family interactions and how they relate with others. They are keen to learn and to contribute and others notice. Several of them came with us to the North Otago A & P Show at Oamaru. It is one of the oldest shows in the country this being their 150^th.

 

Friday was the official opening by the Governor General, who is also the Patron of the A & P movement of 97 shows in New Zealand. At the afternoon tea following, his Excellency asked to meet the RAS Youth. He spent 15 or so minutes exclusively with them. When their discussion had finished, Sir Jerry Mateparae approached Bruce Orr, President of the RAS, telling him how impressed he was by these young men and women. He had invited them to dinner at Government House at a time to be arranged.

 

One of the RAS Youth who would have otherwise been there was back in Helensville. At 21 he is the President of their show, as his Father was before him. His grandfather had also been a President. Jordan not only needed to be home for his show, but his Father, who had no idea what was about to happen, was to be presented with an RAS Medal of Excellence.

The presentation was made by the Show’s Patron and the Prime Minister placed the medal around Richard’s neck. In so doing he helped acknowledge the huge selfless support Richard had given, and continues to give the A & P movement. I had the privilege of taking over from Richard as the chair of the RAS Northern District. In my notes for Jordan to read on my behalf I noted that if I am able to serve half as well as Richard, I will be pretty pleased with myself.

 

What is clear is that I have a new responsibility, to help these new emerging leaders on their way. 

 

You would imagine that to be the imperative of people who belong to organisations, especially charitable volunteer operated organisations. It seems not, with the emergence of a new characteristic, volunteer blackmail and bullying! Whilst it is not prevalent it only takes a few to put a dampener on volunteer engagement.

 

How it works is that whilst pretending to encourage new blood into the organisation if the newbies try and change the status quo they encounter a vigorous negative response such as, ‘we have always done it this way’, or ‘that has always been my responsibility’. Apparently the excuse for bad behaviour or performance is that, ‘I’m a volunteer and have been for many years!’ The subscript being, ‘this organisation owes me and so do you’, hence the blackmail. 

 

Sadly others don’t want to create confrontation and just acquiesce or more often these days, walk away. Yes. I am emotionally blackmailed, probably more often than I would care to admit. And most of the time, it is my fault because I give in. I should have never allowed it to happen in the first place.

 

The worst kinds are the punishers and the sufferers. 'My way or the highway' is the punisher's motto. No matter what you feel or need, punishers override you. Sufferers take the position that "if you don't do what I want, I will suffer, and it will be your fault". They seem to find volunteer and charitable organisations as fertile ground to ply their manipulation because they can always play the volunteer card to reinforce their position and behaviours. 

 

These people usually have a fear of abandonment or being irrelevant, or being hurt and usually feel a desperate need to be in control of things. Of course we should not give in to the pressure and we must set boundaries to be able to take time to consider the situation and to look at all of the alternatives to make the decision. What we as leaders in such organisations need to do is get some ‘balls’ and stand up to this behaviour. In failing to do so we are compromising the Vision and Purpose of the organisation.

 

We need to protect the new generation and their fresh enthusiasm and perspective.  We need to protect them from suffers and the punishers so their energy is not compromised or dissipated. We need to ensure they have a clear line of sight to the future.