It was surprising to hear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defend the actions of the United States in Benghazi with such a flippant remark as, “What does it matter”. To the people who died and their families it mattered a great deal. To the individuals in embassies around the world it most definitely still matters. However, equally surprising is the lack of response by the American people to the Secretary of States remark. Are we really that complacent that such a remark didn’t provoke us to action? I believe the lack of response is pretty “telling” about Americans and the times in which we live.
What does it matter … if a child gets good grades in school in preparation for college? The economy is terrible, there are few jobs and the jobs that do exist don’t pay very much so it isn’t necessary to worry about grades. There is no sense going to college to study for a career in a field of interest when there won’t be any jobs upon graduation. Besides, the child can always live in their parent’s home.
What does it matter … if an employee follows company policies and completes assigned work? The company struggles to stay in business and refrains from layoffs of employees but the employee doesn’t feel they are being paid enough for the job they are assigned to do so the employee just ignores company policy and only completes the amount they feel like doing. Besides, if the company fires the employee the employee will get unemployment benefits and won’t bother looking for another job since there really isn’t anything available.
I could write additional examples but I think I’ve gotten the idea across. What does matter is that individuals try to strive to fulfill expectations. We expect our government to protect its citizens, we expect our kids to learn and achieve the skills required to obtain a job and support themselves in adulthood and we expect our employees to provide 100% of their efforts towards the job they have been assigned. Unfortunately when the people we expect to set good examples fail to do so it adversely impacts more than just them, it impacts others.
I encourage your thoughts on the topic.
Edward Boyle
CEO, Employing Broker
Katchen Company
Katchen Company, founded in 1962, is an integrated real estate company with its corporate headquarters inLakewood,Colorado. The company offers real estate development, redevelopment, property management, brokerage, consulting services, construction oversight and maintenance services to individual and institutional real estate investors throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area in Denver with satellite offices in Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami market areas.
