I am not one to arrogantly presume I am the best. As a matter of fact, I admit to my students that there are better teachers and smarter people, but I am the best they can find willing to do what they ask for the pay they offer. It's been a long time since I acted in any leadership capacity, and my current boss has virtually made sure that I will not add much leadership to my resume whilst she is in office. That's fine. She's not really hurting me. She's showing that she's a bad leader, but this post is not about her. It's about a story I heard and what that means to me and to the world at large.
The story is told of a university president who assumed control from another man. As his predecessor left office, the man gave the incoming president three envelopes and told him that when he ran into crisis in his tenure to open the envelopes in order for advice to weather the storm. More than a year passed before the new president faced a huge problem, and he opened the envelope to find a single piece of paper on which was written the advice, "Blame the prior administration". He acted on the counsel, weathered the storm, and saved face as well as the institution. A few years later, another crisis arose, and he turned to the second envelope, which contained a single piece of paper on which was written the advice, "Reorganize your administration". He did so, and the people were placated, things started to run more smoothly, and he prospered personally and professionally. Many years passed before the new president needed the third envelope, and when the time came, he eagerly tore it open for the final useful message from his predecessor. Inside, he once again found a single sheet of paper that instructed him thusly, "Prepare three envelopes..."
When it is time for new leadership, true leaders acknowledge that they are not fit for the job. We have far too many people in positions of authority who continue to use the first bit of advice and unjustly ascribe blame to other people. America has a president who even today is blaming Syria on Bush, even though when we went into Iraq he insisted that Bush was wrong to do exactly what he now proposes as prescient. When it is time to move on, it is time to admit that and act accordingly.
Sometimes, we associate icons with their leaders. I fear for Apple with the loss of Steve Jobs, because as much as I dislike the cult culture of his company Jobs was actually a visionary. However, sometimes it is folly to continue forward without changing the lead horse, as much as you might like it, because the lead horse holds back the entire team.
In other parts of our lives, we do see people realize they might be the problem and withdraw. As much as I dislike the notion that "it's not you; it's me" if that's true, then we are doing everyone a favor by admitting our shortcomings and allowing someone else to take the reigns of leadership. Some people are not interested in real solutions as much as they are in being important, visible, powerful, ad infinitum, and so they sometimes stir up trouble so that they can ride in and save the day. Eventually, the time may come for you to prepare envelopes. I don't think the first two are necessarily true, although they might be, but those who act on the third one are at least true to themselves. Only a fool presses forward and assumes that other people are always the problem. It takes at least two.
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