Roycelle Parker, MORTAR Office Manager
September 9, 2019
Man! I hated being the oldest girl!!! I even had two brothers older than me, but that didn’t matter. Whatever went wrong at our home, it felt like I was always the one to get blamed when something didn’t get done or when something wasn’t done right. I didn’t realize the lesson of the requirement of leadership (even when it is thrust upon you) until later in life.
My father passed away when I was 6 years old, so my mother was left raising 5 children alone. Most of the time, she worked two jobs to make ends meet, which meant the older children had to take on the reins of running the household. My older brothers and I were divvied out responsibilities to take care of the house by our mother, which included our managing and caring for the smaller two children.
Everything would run smoothly until my “mischievous” brother would decide he wasn’t going to do his chores. This would result in his going outside to play while my “good” brother and I would be left to carry the load. Later on my “good” brother followed the other brother’s lead and they were both found outside playing while I did the chores for us all.
Well of course, I rebelled, deciding that I would only do my chores and they would get in trouble for not doing theirs. As it turns out, “they” didn’t get in as much trouble as I did. I got the speech about my being the oldest girl and that there was an expectation that I would make sure everything got done. It did not matter to my mom that my brothers were older.
Life lesson #1: When you do not fulfill your role as a leader, others are way more affected by your lack of leadership than you are.
Life lesson #2: When a group is given a project, it doesn’t matter who drops the ball. When one person on the team fails, the whole team fails.
Life lesson #3: Poor performance looks bad for business.
Life lesson #4: Rebellion does not negate you having a responsibility to perform.
Life lesson #5: To whom MUCH is given, MUCH is required.
Others are way more affected by your lack of leadership than you are. #MORTARStaffBlog #WeAreMORTAR Click To Tweet
