Leadership is the Business of Work
iLeadership @ Work
On Leadership edition 2825 begins a series on iLeadership in Workspaces.[i]
There are three primary reason why the practice of iLeadership in our workspaces is vital and always topical:
- ‘Work’ is a centre-piece of our lives, time wise and its material impact on our lives and society in general.
- There is perennial confusion and false synonymisation between leadership (in general) and management (in workspaces).
- I receive most iLeadership queries about ‘how to practice iLeadership in business’ (even if people might mean ‘workspaces’).[ii]
On Leadership 2825 introduces the subject matter.
The next edition (2925) will begin to explore how to apply Influential Leadership in workspaces to make them productive and meaningful for the ‘workers’, ‘bosses’ and others…
Work is Our Business (Now)
Yep, there is a proposition that there was a time when humans had it better than gods; humans loafed while gods worked.
Then on a day, while humans were idling away the time, they were disobedient. That was the end of lounging about—now they would have to work forever more to earn their keep.
Work is punishment, it seems
There are of course other propositions about how work came into being.
A Timeline: Life to Work
The shift to working for others to ‘make a living’ is a relatively recent development in human history—emerging only after key societal transformations.
| Era / Period | Work Dynamics |
| Prehistoric Collaboration | Early humans (hunter-gatherers) worked collaboratively, not hierarchically.
Tasks like hunting, gathering, and toolmaking were shared for group survival, not personal income. |
| Agricultural Revolution (~10,000 years ago) | Fixed settlements and farming led to land ownership and resource control.
Hierarchies emerged: some people worked the land, others (chiefs, priests, those with power) managed or benefited from it. This marked the beginning of labour stratification—some worked for others in exchange for protection, food or shelter. |
| Ancient Civilizations | Slavery and servitude became institutionalised in many areas (countries)—China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Rome. (Although slavery probably occurred in every society.)
Labour was often coerced, but paid work began to appear in markets and trades. Roman society distinguished between manual labour (often done by slaves) and negotiated work (in commerce and warfare). |
| Industrial Revolution (18th – 19th century) | The concept of a job—working for wages under an employer—became widespread.
Factories required specialised labour, and people sold their time and skills for money. This era solidified the idea of ‘making a living’ through employment rather than subsistence. |
Exploring Work
| 1. What is work?[iii] | 2. Why do people work? |
| 3. Was work always necessary? | 4. Is all work economically productive? |
| 5. Should all work be equivalently rewarded? | 6. How should work be rewarded and by whom? |
| 7. Is work punishment for something that Human #1 did? | 8. Who invent work seeing that it is disagreeable to most people? |
| 9. If work is disagreeable to people, why do they spend so much of their lives ‘at it’? | 10. If work is necessary, how do we make it as agreeable as possible? |
The sorts of attendant questions and possible answers that arise from a straightforward question often hide great complexity, as the first one on the above list does: What is work?
The tenth point takes us towards the core of our concern in this of On Leadership, namely:
[iii] In the economic sense, not in the physics way. ‘Work’ is often understood as ‘to make a living’. Such a description says much about how we see ‘work’—in its absence we ‘make no living’, i.e., we have no life (?).
What is the best way to make work as agreeable to everyone concerned?
Sleep Just Beats Work
Whenever and however work arose, it is the second most time-consuming thing humans do.
Yep, we sleep for about 33% of our lives (indeed, sometimes ‘at work’) and we are ‘at work’ about 25% of our lifetime.
So, while sound sleep is vital for health and life—work should be too if we are at it so long.
Work is important in our lives, and not just because of the time it devours, but also because it caters for work-associated benefits—the things that contribute towards it being AGREEABLE!
| Work-associated Benefits | Making Work Agreeable |
| Survival and Economic Necessity | At its most basic, work provides money for food, shelter and healthcare. In modern societies, access to resources is mediated through currency—so earning becomes essential.
Some people are self-employed while others are employed—the arrangements, rewards and psychology might differ, but not the work. |
| Identity and Purpose | Work often becomes a core part of personal identity: ‘I am a teacher, ‘I am a musician’.
It offers a sense of purpose, structure and contribution to something larger than oneself. |
| Social Cohesion and Contribution | Through work, people interact, collaborate, build cohesion and organisational culture.
It can also be a way to contribute to society, whether through caregiving, innovation or service. |
| Growth, Learning and Leadership | Work challenges people to develop skills, solve problems, adapt and grow.
It is a platform for personal evolution, and the expression of leadership—not just economic gain. |
Work Engagement
To end off this introductory edition of the series on iLeadership in Workspaces, let me pose three questions:
- In general, how engaged is a ‘worker’ in their job?
- How engaged are your staff in their jobs?
- How engaged are you in your job?
Work engagement is the emotional, cognitive and physical investment a person brings to their job—it is the difference between blindly doing work and being animated in it. It is more than satisfaction or happiness, it is about being energised, committed and immersed.
In general, work engagement centres around three dimensions:
| Dimension | Description |
| Vigor | High levels of energy and mental resilience while working. |
| Dedication | A sense of significance, enthusiasm and pride in one’s work. |
| Absorption | Deep immersion in tasks—where time flies and focus is acute. |
Well Done!
If you have arrived here, well done!
This is a long and demanding On Leadership edition.
All I can offer is that learning and practicing Influential Leadership is demanding—there’s no easy way.
Take small bites of this material to digest it. The next edition builds on this material, so it is important to be familiar with the first building block.
Feel free to chat with me at any time.
Regards,
Colin Donian
Karoo Founder & CEO
Influential Leadership @ Work!
Leadership Note # 2925 | 21.07.25
e: colind@karoo.world
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[i] On Leadership is what used to be Leadership Notes.
[ii] Globally, about 60% to 65% of people work in the private sector, i.e., businesses. The rest are employed in the public sector, NGOs and nonprofits.
