I don’t think so
If you were there, you would have laughed. Maybe. But I will be transparent about something that really ruffled my feathers the other night.
The more that I think about what happened, there more I realize that there is a lesson to share.
I have been a leader in a group that is supporting a senator that I admire very much. We have come a long way since the beginning. I have had meetings in my home. I have written about his bill in my blog. I have supported him in Facebook and I have been one of the administrators on a Facebook forum that supports his ideas.
We had a meeting at my house the other night with my senator friend along with a handful of other not yet leaders.
A comment was made that I had so much on my plate that maybe I should pass the baton on to another member. I said “Don’t touch my baton!” The other member called me a “Control Freak”.
It took me a moment to get over that accusation. But here is what I said. “Apparently we (I said we, because I am kind) are missing the whole point of these meetings. The purpose is not for me to lead the same group that is sitting there; meeting after meeting. The purpose is to have a meeting and pass out new batons. If there are 25 of us here, there should be 25 batons. Each one of you should pick one up and take it home and make it your own. Write on it, glue sparkles to it. Put streamers on it. But do not take the one that I have already decorated to suit me.
Take your baton and go home. Have your own meetings with new people. I will have more meetings and try to gather more people to fill your seat. Soon there will be hundreds of meetings with new people.
The lesson?
This is where communities get themselves into trouble. A leader rises up and accomplishes something. Others who have not previously stepped up want to take over. Really, the best thing is to learn from others who have gone before you and start your own “new” thing.
This is much more fun!
Silly wabbit! You were thinking of a racing baton. But the baton that I hold is a twirling baton. It is not for passing. It is for drawing attention.
