'Who Else Is There To Do It?'

When the pandemic hit an upstate New York town hard in the early months of 2020, many of its older EMS workers opted to resign — leaving rural Sackets Harbor in a bind.  

But a pack of baby-faced high schoolers decided to step forward — putting service and selflessness ahead of comfort and convenience.

Residents of the town on Lake Ontario were a little perplexed to see such young EMTs at their doors after dialing 911, but the kids were by all accounts well-trained, respectful and more than competent.  

“Who else is there to do it if we don’t?” one of the volunteer teens asked recently on CBS Sunday Morning. “Someone needs to. Someone needs to step up.”

It’s a critical question and message that we as leaders should reflect on more frequently.

Each day, we will be around some people who simply can’t get the job done for one reason or another. Some team members will be ineffective, some lazy, some will have other priorities, some just may not be as ambitious or competent.

But the mission at hand still needs to be completed or the repercussions will directly impact us.

“Who else is there to do it if we don’t?”

How easy would it have been for these teens to say this wasn’t their problem or claim they had to focus on school or other activities?

But they realized that the answer to the aforementioned question was “Nobody” and decided to provide a badly-needed lifeline to a hamstrung community.

True leadership and humility means acknowledging that sometimes we’re the only solution to a problem — regardless of our age.