The People Paradox.

“Ugh, people are the worst.”

I say this sometimes to get a laugh. But it is something I believe, a truism.

We humans are a messy lot. We are rude to each other. We are petty. We abuse each other. We rape and pillage and commit genocide. We even listen to bluetooth speakers on hiking trails.

People are the worst.

That’s my saying, but it came back to mind in my conversation with Dr. Philip Ryken, the President of Wheaton College, in this week’s episode of The Nonprofit CEO Podcast. Here’s what Phil said:

"To me, all of the hardest problems that you have in any leadership role are problems involving human beings. They're people problems. People's weaknesses, their finitude, as well as their fallenness, their limitations and the mistakes they make, how they respond. That's always going to be the hardest thing."

Phil is part of a chorus singing the same song: