Apathy vis Compacency

My friend is frustrated, with what he sees as a senior population that is turning apathetic. He sites low voter turnout in the last Municipal election. (The reality is that the voter turnout for the past 5 years in BC is within 2 points of 50% above in some years, and below in others. This year was no different.) He cited low vaccination rates for COVID boosters. (Yet according to Statista, as of October 9, 2022, roughly 83 percent of the population of Canada had received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose of those around 80 percent were fully vaccinated.) This statistic illustrates the percentage of the Canadian population with at least one dose, partial, or full vaccination against COVID-19 as of October 9, 2022. So, our vaccination rate is not low as he thought. He was concerned that people were not getting their flu vaccination. But at the time of his concern, the flu vaccine was just starting to be given to people. I think my friend was frustrated because people are becoming complacent about issues that he feels passionate about and that he with which he takes a leadership role.

Apathy. Complacency. These two words frustrate leaders when working with people. With these two realities, it feels that those we lead are either going through the motions or settling for a low bar. The lacklustre actions that embody a culture where people seem to lack passion or drive feel overwhelming to many leaders.

Apathy is a complete lack of emotion or motivation about a person, activity, or object; depression; lack of interest or enthusiasm; disinterest. Whereas complacency is a feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble and lack of conviction to strive for anything

As a leader, my friend must see beyond the apathy or complacency of those who he hopes to motivate to action. He has to look within and draw from his successes, not his failures. Many of those who are in leadership positions when they are feeling frustrated focus on the negatives, not the positives. For example, instead of being concerned that only 70% of people did not vote, we should celebrate the 30% who did vote and work with them to see how we can get them to motivate others. Life is too short to dwell on the negative, focus on the positive and move on.