the greater good

if you are in a position of power, with people under your command (be it employees, soldiers, members of an organization) - and you need to sacrifice some of their welfare for what you perceive to be the greater good. and they are unwilling to undertake this sacrifice. without their support, you're stuck. and you think this cause will benefit them immensely and they are just not seeing the big picture.

e.g. the general needs his soldiers to go on a near-suicide mission; the boss needs the employees to work for several months with no pay to keep the company afloat; a spiritual organization requires its members to donate their non-essential possessions to build a place of worship.

are they too dense and too unworldly to understand higher causes? or are you selfishly trying to achieve your own goals at the expense of others? where do you draw the line? when are you truly acting for the greater good, and when are you being self-serving, especially when these outcomes are not mutually exclusive (i.e. you reap the benefits from this greater good)?

is the litmus test - if you are getting proportional benefits, fame or fortune out of it? who determines what is proportional? you? them?

but since the people under you cannot foresee the future - they end up relying on your past behavior. you might be right, you might be wrong. but whether you have a chance of seeing that, will depend on what you've done in the past for your people.