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Have you upset anyone lately?
March 3rd, 2010 by Mike Knutson
Last night I upset someone - and for a change, it wasn’t my wife. While watching my alma mater, Dakota Wesleyan University play in the GPAC Conference Men’s Basketball Conference Championship, a fan from the opposing team yelled at me to “sit down.” Apparently standing up to cheer when your team scores what could be the winning basket is inappropriate at the college she supports.
Even though my alma mater won the game, this scolding still bothered me this morning. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong. Luckily, I caught a tweet from Becky McCray that brightened my spirits. That tweet read:
RT @jrr2ok: If you haven’t pissed off some people in four years, you probably haven’t done much that matters.
In the grand scheme of things, I have to admit my cheering probably didn’t matter that much. And the lady who complained to me was probably just trying to pick a fight with me because her team lost. But anyone who has served in a leadership role in a community can relate to that situation. Doing things that matter causes problems, and leaders have to be prepared to deal with it.
But when you get yelled at because you’re doing something that matters, whether it is supporting a basketball team or fighting for your rural community, I hope someone is there to brighten your day, like Becky did for me. And remember that you don’t have to apologize for it either.
Note: Thanks to Jim Rogers for the original tweet.
Tags: Leadership
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (
4 )
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Amen! No apologies!
(I must matter every day.
)
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Here’s another one.
“Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.”
Usually attributed to Colin Powell, but I think he may have attributed it to Richard Armitage.
And every time in my career that I have done truly meaningful stuff, I have pissed off some people.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Oh yes - I think I have done a little of that, just a little so far ….
I like the point here. I often hear people degrading those in leadership positions as being ‘power-hungry’ and ‘cocky’ etc. But, there are times you have to be to get things done! Can’t make everyone happy ….
March 5th, 2010 at 6:33 am
There’s no doubt that “how” leaders engage the public plays a role in this as well. In other words, are they doing it their way or are they gathering public input. Part of what I like about social media and other Web 2.0 tools is that leaders can use them to facilitate conversation about their community projects. But even with input, someone’s bound to be upset.