Leaders and the 8 ages of man: 14

In the eight ages of man, as defined by Erik Erikson, the fourth stage that we go through from the ages of six to twelve is known as the school phase.

In this phase, the developmental goal is to learn the deeper lessons of hard work and move beyond laziness to become industrious. Industriousness means being hard-working and is a fundamental lesson that we must learn in this phase of our lives.

However, some people skip this phase, either because they are not busy enough, not stimulated enough, or not exposed to enough things in life that can help them learn how to be industrious. When we don’t achieve industriousness, we sit with inferiority, which leads to an inferiority complex, causing us to believe that we have no worth.

Feeling inferior can make us believe that we have no value, and we often find value in what we can accomplish and how we can perform. Therefore, it is crucial to work hard and learn how to be industrious during this phase of our lives. If we are not stimulated or encouraged, we might grow to become inferior.

As leaders, it is essential to acknowledge that some of the people in our teams might harbor feelings of inferiority. We can help them deal with these feelings by encouraging and inspiring them to greatness.

It is crucial to master the ability to inspire our people to see their own value, amongst other things like delegation, giving instruction, and working with our teams.

In summary, as we go through the school phase of our lives, we should learn the lesson of hard work and be encouraged and inspired to achieve greatness. As leaders, we can help our people deal with feelings of inferiority by acknowledging them and inspiring them to see their own value.

So, as a question to ponder, in what stage of human development are you?