Wednesday; November 17
The other day I got to thinking about the number of people I have known who stepped away from a position, then complained about how their replacement did (or didn’t do) their job. Unfortunately (for my ego), I got to thinking about the number of times I have quit a job or an organization, then negatively critiqued my replacement. As I reflected on this all-too-human response, I came up with two thoughts. First, if I am fussing about how someone is doing the job I left, why did I leave that job in the first place? If I thought I could do it better, why didn’t I stick it out and make it all it could have been under my leadership? When I leave – especially if I leave someone in a lurch – I forfeit my right to complain. My second thought may have been a bit more painful because it reminded me of a delinquency in my life. If I leave a position and there is no one in the wings to replace me, whose fault is that? Shouldn’t that be an important part of any leader’s responsib