The three conditions which we have been
considering for developing the love of the
game are quite different, appeal to the different
sides of the individual, and are not all
equally applicable to the young man who
seeks to become a leader among his fellows or
to the manager of men who seeks to develop
leaders.
The attitude of independent, creative responsibility
appeals to our individualistic and
self-centered self. It is an attitude that may
be assumed by the ambitious young man and
encouraged by the manager. It is absolutely
indispensable for developing this much-coveted
love of the game in any form of useful endeavor.
It is readily assumed or developed in the chief
executive, but may be developed in subordinates
with great difficulty.
Social prestige appeals to our selfishly
social natures, and yet the desire to secure this
<p 203>
social favor is in the main ennobling. It is
of special value to the manager of large groups
of men. The manager may create the social
atmosphere which is most favorable to the
development of the love of the game in his
particular industry.
The last condition discussed, regard for
the work as important and as useful, makes
its appeal to our nobler and what we might in
some instances speak of as our altruistic selves.
This condition is equally serviceable to the
ambitious youth and to the successful superintendent
of men. We all look out for number
one, but appeals made to the higher self
are not unavailing. We are most profoundly
stirred when we are appealed to from all sides.
However, the love of the game will never be
universal in the professional and industrial
world. We can scarcely imagine the millennium
when all employees would cease to despise
their toil and cease to serve for pay alone.
CHAPTER IX
RELAXATION
AS A MEANS OF INCREASING HUMAN EFFICIENCY
_Be not therefore anxious for the Morrow_
A STUDY of the lives of great men is
both interesting and profitable. In
such a study we are amazed at the
records of the deeds of the men whom the
world calls great. The results of the labors
of Hercules seem to be approximated according
to many of these truthful accounts.
In studying the lives of contemporary business
men two facts stand out prominently.
The first is that their labors have brought about
results that to most of us would have seemed
impossible. Such men appear as giants, in
comparison with whom ordinary men sink to
the size of pygmies.
The second fact which a study of successful
<p 204>
<p 205>
business men (or any class of successful men)
reveals is that they never seem rushed for
time.
_Men noted for efficiency almost never appear to
be hurried. They have plenty of time to accomplish
their tasks, and therefore can afford to take
their work leisurely_.
Such men have time to devote to objects in
no way connected with their business. It cannot
be regarded as accidental that this characteristic
of mind is found so commonly among
successful men during the years of their most
fruitful labor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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