A good friend of mine said this the other day:
“The Status Quo is Stupid Here”
Cowardly Leaders too often gravitate toward the safe ground. They operate and supervise from a position of fear. Safe ground + fear = maintaining Status Quo.
David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times, wrote the following recently: “We have a word for people who are dominated by fear. We call them cowards.”
Great leaders are strategic thinkers, and great leadership is dynamic in nature. No serious, significant improvement can be made in any governmental organization by maintaining a safe, status quo environment, such as when:
- The staff organization remains stagnant
- Current staff are not held accountable
- Standards are not improved or increased- what has been, is good enough
- Internal review is ignored, i.e., the possibility of discovering problems is too great, which would require a change
Dr. Travis Bradbury, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, says: “Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. So are boredom and apathy. No one wants to work for a boss…who’s just going through the motions.”
So why is the Status Quo stupid HERE?
If “HERE” is a superbly managed organization at any level of government: federal, state, city/county government, – school board, park district, whatever- then the status quo is working. The organization just needs a tweak on a regular basis. However, when the current structure is fundamentally flawed, maintaining the status quo is stupid. When personnel have been in place for decades with no review, no personnel oversight, and no evaluations, the status quo is stupid. When elected officials run on a campaign of “change” but change is merely facade leadership-only doing what is safe- the status quo is stupid.
Dangling our feet
I could not find the short clip anywhere, so you will need to skip to the 9:15 mark through the 12:00 mark. But it’s worth it. Watch what happens when safe, and status quo, are priorities in governmental leadership. And what happens when a leader who is being cowardly- decides to be a leader again.
It’s frustrating to those who want to see change, particularly when the status quo is stupid. Leaders want to lead, and real, authentic leaders, regardless of their position, want to work for a courageous leader. It doesn’t matter where I live or work. It doesn’t matter where you live or work. I want, and most of you reading this want, strategic visionaries with passion who set a clear direction. That’s half of the battle.
The other half is taking that strategic vision and implementing it. Making the changes that need to be made. It’s what I’ve always tried to do as a leader.
The frustration occurs when those in positions of authority feel no desire or yearning to make any changes that really matter- when “dangling our feet” is as good as it gets.
And THAT…is when the Status Quo is stupid.
II-22
