Note to Self: Think before publishing

I was reminded this past weekend by Bruce Henry that I sometimes push “publish” much too quickly on a blog post.

Go read my post titled “Leadership and Organizational Change” and specifically Bruce’s comment.  Bruce called me out on some of my comments in my post….and rightfully so.

I still stand behind the overall message of the post that good leadership and organizational culture shouldn’t need to ‘create a sense of urgency’ for change to occur….but I think I needed to expand on my thoughts.  The word ‘create’ is what makes me a bit squeamish about this because it makes me feel as though you should ‘conjure up’ some reason for urgency.  A good leader should have already instilled a sense of urgency in their group….perhaps the authors of the book could have used ‘instill a sense of urgency’.  If they had used that terminology, I probably wouldn’t be writhing this post (or the previous one!).

In addition, I made a few comments about leaders not needing to have political acumen and the ability to be persuasive…which are false.  As a leader you must have these skills.   But again, in the context of the book I was reading at the time, it felt a little ‘off’ to me when the authors talked about using politics to ‘win battles’ and ‘convince others’ that you are rights.

Bruce – Thanks for calling me on the carpet and making me think!

BTW – Every reader of this blog should go check out Bruce’s blog…he’s got some great stuff there.  While you are at it, check out Bruce’s company LiquidPlanner…maker of one of the most interesting and exciting project management tools I’ve seen in a long time.  I had the pleasure of having Bruce give me a demo of the tool a few months ago and was extremely excited about what I saw.