How to Deal With Young Men

Without deflating their zeal.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a leader is to claw back the responsibility you have delegated to another.

You nitpick what they are doing because it isn’t done exactly how you would do it. You hover over their shoulder. You leave no room for natural learning, and as a result, you endlessly criticize. The worst manifestation of this is reclaiming what you delegated.

This will absolutely crush a man’s ego. He will never really do his best for you again and will probably start looking for another job.

Or, he’ll just quit.

You can’t give a man responsibility and then take it away. Instead, it’s more honest if you just fire them. If you delegate something, give them the parameters you require, and then get out of the way.

If it’s a volunteer situation like at a church, you’ll wake up one day and wonder why you’re still doing everything yourself. Where did all the workers go? Why aren’t the men stepping up? Because when they step up, you yank their pants down around their ankles.

Young men are especially susceptible to this impulse and frustration.