When I was a young boy, I once asked my Grandmother what things were like during the great depression. My Grandfather and she had 14 children. He worked a full time job as well as kept a farm in exchange for rent. She sort of laughed and told me they really didn’t know too much about the depression. She continued, they had nothing before it came and nothing once it was here.

She then got more serious and told me of folks that would often walk down the river road in front of their house. She said they were so skinny they would tie their belts in a knot to hold their pants up. Sometimes one would knock on the door and ask if there was any work they might do in exchange for food. Being a kindly women she would offer them a sandwich. Without exception, I am told, they would politely refuse with, "No Mam, I don’t take charity."

At that, she might show them the wood pile or a pile, and they would commence splitting wood. When finished they would come back to the door, "I’m all done Mam, can I have that sandwich now? To me this, speaks very well of that generation of people. They were very self sufficient and believed in working for what they got.

Such people were far more likely to look for solutions within themselves. This may be why such an abundance of leaders seemed to come from that generation. Perhaps this is not a bad example for a modern day manager to consider?