Over the years I’ve seen a lot of squadron commanders come and go.  Their styles and personalities run the full spectrum.  At the one end you have guys who want to continue being “one of the guys” when they become the guy in charge.  It usually doesn’t end well.  Then you have the guys who become the “my way or the highway” guys and they usually reach similar ends.  But I’ve been most entertained by the guys who started out as the “guy in the back of the room”.  Let me explain.

Every organization has a person, sometimes more than one, who likes to sit in the back of the room and, regardless of who’s up front speaking or making decisions, makes snide remarks.  Sometimes the remarks are just audible to those in close proximity but sometimes they’re meant for everyone to hear.  Often times he’s the “life of the party” kind of guy who’s just looking for a quick laugh but sometimes it’s just someone who likes to stir the pot.  Either way, they take pride in the fact that they’re, obviously, much smarter and cleverer than the people up front and everyone needs to know it.  The fun happens when one of those guys becomes the guy in charge.  It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it a thing to behold.

I remember one commander in particular who, after years of making smart remarks from the back himself, threatened to take disciplinary action against anyone who did it when he was in charge.  He was nearly laughed out of the room.  You can learn a lot about people by where they sit in a room.  When a person is new to an organization they’ll usually sit in the back, getting the lay of the land, and then they’ll slowly migrate closer to the front as they become more invested and want to be in a position to make positive inputs.  But the folks who stay in the back, even after years of participation, often fall into the “whine for whining’s sake” black hole.

I’ve actually met people who have told me that their “gift” is the gift of dissention.  In other words, they feel it’s their obligation to disagree with everything those in charge try to do.  I don’t know if it’s the union mentality of “the man’s trying to keep me down” or if it’s just some strange personality disorder.  I’ve looked and looked but I can’t find any scriptural reference to that gift.  I just keep coming across crazy things like love, and peace, and joy, and hope, and gentleness, and kindness, and patience, and goodness, and self-control.  I just don’t see whining, and complaining, and being negative listed as godly attributes.  But maybe I’m missing something.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is always room for disagreement, but there is a right and a wrong way to communicate that.  Undermining the organization is not the way.  Creating your own agenda without knowing all of the facts, or making assumptions, is not the way.   In fact, I’ve always felt that there’s a special place reserved in hell for those that won’t take a leadership role, in anything, but perpetually criticize those who do.  I think it would be a room,  single exit, with a fire raging just outside.  There would be an unlimited supply and variety of fire extinguishers available but everyone would have a different opinion about which kind to use and no one would make a decision because no one wanted to be responsible if they were wrong.  All of this happening, for eternity, as the fire made the room hotter and hotter.  Maybe I’ve put too much thought into this!  Or maybe I’ve just seen it happen too often.

Following isn’t always easy but, I can promise you, leading is much harder.  You just have to remember that it’s never leaderships goal for an organization to fail.  To viciously, either publicly or privately, undermine leadership is telling your audience that those in charge don’t care about the future and are actively seeking failure.  Do you really believe that to be true?

Thomas Paine had it right, “Lead , follow, or get out of the way”

You can’t lead from the back of the room.