Change Agents Become Leaders in Local Government

I once heard it said that “the world is a dirty diaper, let someone else change it”, and of course I chuckled because change can, in some ways, have the same effect on people trapped in a room with a dirty diaper.  They make the face, followed by squirming in their seats, and ultimately they excuse themselves from the room as fast as humanly possible.

Anyone with sense (and small children) knows the situation isn’t getting any better with the passing of time.  Being around people who want to change something because it is long overdue and the current reality stinks is refreshing.  The energy is infectious and leads those who also possess the change agent mentality to do great things.

When given the chance I like to have as many of these little energizer bunnies of change around me as I can.  The hard part is deciding when the change that’s needed is you.  Always in the mix and right in the heart of the battle to make it better can weigh on a person, and sometimes even anchor them to ideas.

Recently I had a supervisor who was looking to improve the department with some ideas he had.  The ideas were sound and the reasoning was solid, but I scoffed about them and was not receptive to the ideas.  The ideas were taken to another person in my organization who worked for me and they began what I call “the End Run” around me through the use of our budget process.

At first I thought “why you little” and then it hit me, your using my playbook for road blocks when the change is part of what we need to get to the next level.  Now the questions began to come to me… How could I respond to the idea that the changes were now being driven by those around me who were closer to the front line and could see them better than I?  Was I now the change inhibitor in my organization?  Why do I think I have a corner on the change market?

The one that resounded in my ears for a while was; is my pride getting in the way of the growth of the machine I helped create?  My Pride? Suddenly I felt small and insignificant not like the man at the helm but the guy with the mop on the poop deck.  Then it hit me, you empowered them to see the change they wanted for themselves.  You’re not the captain anymore, you’re the admiral.  Your work created many captains who all want to see success.  If you did it correctly there will be people in their part of the organization who are looking to sit in the driver’s seat as well, and are being groomed for just such a day. What I was seeing was a person who was saying to me and the world, “there is a better way and I can see it clearly, now give me the diaper bag, the powder and that kid and get out of my way!”

Now that I see my part I can tell you it is very refreshing…